Mutts and Cats,
I have no idea of the why there is an apparent correlation between DCM and pea/legume /potato ingredients. It could be a antinutrient factor, a metabolite, a toxin, possible related to growing conditions, something about the overall formulation, all of the above or none of the above some combination of the above creating the perfect storm. If it was simplistic, like not enough protein from meat, we’d have had the answer by now, but we don’t and who knows if it will ever be discovered. Many years later, the causation of chicken jerky /Fanconi like syndrome hasn’t been found. It is interesting how the pet industry embraced that association, possible because of the “from China” tagline and that it came on the tails of the melamine crisis. but seems they are fighting this one (DCM) with the same vigor the tobacco industry fought the association between its products and cancer.
The idea that FDA was looking to damage small companies never made any sense to me. I suspect the larger companies hold a greater market share of the “grain free” offerings. I think the association just caused so much cognitive dissonance in some people that they had to come up with a way to resolve that.
