It depends - it CAN be reversed with diet change and/or heart meds if caught early enough. But it's not a guarantee unfortunately. OP, if you can speak to a cardiologist it's likely you can find some really effective interventions here.
The FDA so far believes the issue with grain free has more to do what they replace grains with, like legumes/pulses. Grain free wet food isn’t an issue, because they lack these ingredients
I think your OK with any of the three. Some dogs don't do well with some foods so you may end up switching if that's the case. I had a dog that would just make the most gigantic poops on science diet. Nothing bad about the food, it just didn't work for her.
All three will be complete and balanced, but how they get to that point will be very different. Don't bother looking at ingredients unless he has some kind of sensitivity. Ask your vet for guidelines based on his condition. Should you be limiting protein or fat? Look at the calorie count, it may vary widely. Could he stand to drop a few pounds or are you struggling to keep the weight on?
Just got a call into my vet and he is ordering us a prescription food for him. We’re going to start there and see what happens. Along with the meds, we should be on the right track.
I am so sorry to hear that you are going through this! Please do not beat yourself up, it seems like you were trying to do the very best you could for your dogs. Marketing and dog food messaging is confusing out there and the marketing noise from many brands can be very loud and appealing to our human food sensibilities.
I don't think you can go wrong with those three brands. Many pups who are treated for DCM are prescribed one of these foods for their diet. Ask your vet if they have a specific recommendation on brand or a prescription diet specific to this condition - for example, I have known some dogs are treated with Royal Canin Early cardiac, a food specific to support cardiac function. If your vet doesn't have a specific prescription diet or recommendation, pick which is most accessible to you and that your pup does well on. For my dog, he does great on Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Skin and Stomach. I know you probably want to switch your pup asap, I would also recommend getting a probiotic like fortiflora to minimize stomach upset during the transition. Hope it goes well.
Does you vet have any suggestions on which one might work the best in his condition?
I personally feed Purina! I also have horses and cats, and all my animals are on it. It makes it easy just sticking to the one brands for me personally, as I can get my horse and cat food all from the same store lol. I’ve also found it to be the most cost effective out of the 3 and I have no complaints!
Lhasa apso's aren't genetically prone to DCM, and the dog has been on an implicated grain free diet for years. It's pretty likely the food -- and diet changes and heart meds have reversed or at least slowed the disease even in older dogs.
I have read that this quickly reverses once you dump the old dog food. Grain Free was always a scam
It depends - it CAN be reversed with diet change and/or heart meds if caught early enough. But it's not a guarantee unfortunately. OP, if you can speak to a cardiologist it's likely you can find some really effective interventions here.
The FDA so far believes the issue with grain free has more to do what they replace grains with, like legumes/pulses. Grain free wet food isn’t an issue, because they lack these ingredients
I think your OK with any of the three. Some dogs don't do well with some foods so you may end up switching if that's the case. I had a dog that would just make the most gigantic poops on science diet. Nothing bad about the food, it just didn't work for her. All three will be complete and balanced, but how they get to that point will be very different. Don't bother looking at ingredients unless he has some kind of sensitivity. Ask your vet for guidelines based on his condition. Should you be limiting protein or fat? Look at the calorie count, it may vary widely. Could he stand to drop a few pounds or are you struggling to keep the weight on?
Just got a call into my vet and he is ordering us a prescription food for him. We’re going to start there and see what happens. Along with the meds, we should be on the right track.
I am so sorry to hear that you are going through this! Please do not beat yourself up, it seems like you were trying to do the very best you could for your dogs. Marketing and dog food messaging is confusing out there and the marketing noise from many brands can be very loud and appealing to our human food sensibilities. I don't think you can go wrong with those three brands. Many pups who are treated for DCM are prescribed one of these foods for their diet. Ask your vet if they have a specific recommendation on brand or a prescription diet specific to this condition - for example, I have known some dogs are treated with Royal Canin Early cardiac, a food specific to support cardiac function. If your vet doesn't have a specific prescription diet or recommendation, pick which is most accessible to you and that your pup does well on. For my dog, he does great on Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Skin and Stomach. I know you probably want to switch your pup asap, I would also recommend getting a probiotic like fortiflora to minimize stomach upset during the transition. Hope it goes well.
Does you vet have any suggestions on which one might work the best in his condition? I personally feed Purina! I also have horses and cats, and all my animals are on it. It makes it easy just sticking to the one brands for me personally, as I can get my horse and cat food all from the same store lol. I’ve also found it to be the most cost effective out of the 3 and I have no complaints!
I feed Purina Pro Plan and it’s been wonderful for my dogs.
Dogs also just get DCM. Especially at that age. I wouldn’t count on diet being a fix all at this point
Lhasa apso's aren't genetically prone to DCM, and the dog has been on an implicated grain free diet for years. It's pretty likely the food -- and diet changes and heart meds have reversed or at least slowed the disease even in older dogs.