[Katie K]

I’ve heard about this twice within the past week and tried researching it. It sounds like the majority of people in this thread read the same article that I did. To me, it was very unclear. What makes them Think certain foods are causing this? Is it simply because the number of dogs with heart problems have gone up and more and more people are feeding their dogs grain-free? I would think that they would want something more conclusive before spreading this belief. What if a new vaccine is causing it? Or something environmental? Or it could be genetic, with the amounts of dogs in puppy mills. And the way it talks about taurine… A lot of dogs with a heart disease are deficient in taurine. But then again, a lot of them aren’t…?
My dog does have sensitive skin. He has allergies to some things. I feed him grain-free. He does great with the food I have him on. Is he allergic to grain? I don’t know. I do know that when his skin is irritated, he chews. When he chews, moisture gets into his skin and yeast starts to build up. Grain feeds the yeast and causes it to spread. A grain-free food won’t worsen the problem. If you feed a grain-free food with the right balance/amounts of probiotics, it actually fights the yeast. If, for some reason, his food were to cause a taurine deficiency, I would rather give him a supplement than switch him to a food that causes him to be itchy all the time.
This article isn’t just recommending to stay away from grain-free foods. It also says that “boutique” foods can cause heart problems. That term, “boutique foods” is kind of vague, no? So grain-free foods, “boutique” foods, and a raw diet.. According to this article, they’re all no good. Well, what does that leave us with? Hills Science Diet? This article talks about a vet who is researching this whole grain-free causing heart problems. Morris Animal Foundation is funding his research. Who started this foundation? The same person who started Hills Science Diet. What kind of food are vets recommending we switch our dogs to? Hills Science Diet.
Vets have been recommending and selling this food for decades. The more they sell, the more perks they get from the company. This food is so unhealthy but was very popular for a very long time because people trusted their vets. Now that we have the internet, more and more pet owners are educating themselves and making informed decisions on what to give their dog. I am sure Hill’s sales have dropped dramatically. It sounds to me that they are desperate to get back on top.
In my opinion, if your dog is doing well with the food s/he is eating, don’t change their diet. ESPECIALLY to Hill’s Science Diet. If they ever have proof to back this theory, of course I will take it seriously. But for now, it seems to me that they’re trying to take advantage of our love for our dogs to line their pockets.

[Katie K]

Whatever shampoo you do end up uskng, make sure oatmeal isn’t one of the ingredients. Most people think of it as soothing (and it is to us humans), but it is not good for dogs. Oatmeal is a grain, and just like grain in food, It will make yeast spread. I use Vital-ketodine shampoo on my westie. It has chlorhexidine and ketoconazole in it. And if you’re using the right shampoo, it won’t dry out your dogs skin. People used to say that back when everyone bathed their dogs with human shampoo. Out pH levels are different than dogs so they shouldn’t use the same shampoo we do. When Finn is having a flare-up, we bathe him between once and twice a week. One reason why I really wanted to respond to this though…

You mentioned goats milk. I give my dogs goats milk every day too. I recently heard that goats milk soap works miracles on dogs skin! A customer of mine was selling it and another customer of mine bought it to try on her dog who had been scratching like crazy. After just one bath, the dogs skin cleared up. I heard the same thing from someone else a couple days later. I can’t wait to try it. Btw.. I don’t think the whole human/dog pH level thing would be a problem with something so natural.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 3 months ago by Katie K.

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