Vet Says Not To Feed Grain Free Food To Cats

Hello,

I feed my fur friend Grain free wet and dry food. Our veterinarian wants me to switch the dry food from grain free to Not grain free. I feed Skye (my kitty)
Wet:
Almo Nature, weruva, Cat in the kitchen, snappy Tom, Pride and Fancy Feast ( I have to rotate because she doesn't like to eat the same food every day?

Dry food:
Instinct by nature's variety grain free.

To make the story short...
The vet told me that grain free is causing heart failure in dogs and it could cause it in cats too.

I'm worried that I could be feeding the wrong food to Skye. What are your thoughts or experience with this?

Thank you!!

There is a lot of debate about this one right now. In my non-professional opinion, unless your vet is a feline nutrition specialist I would take it with a grain of salt. Vets that see both dogs and cats seem to be jumping on the grain free is bad trend because large breed dogs that are already prone to heart disease are having higher instances of heart problems and seem to eat grain free. While it might be a true causation, right now we only have correlation and only for large breed dogs that are already inclined towards heart disease.

I don't know. I've always felt the grain free in general is more of a starting point when it comes to picking a diet. We know cats are obligated carnivores, so they need high protein, moderate fat and low carb. We know grains can cause weight retention in the midsection which can also have health ramifications. We also know that peas add protein that cats can't digest so feeding a pea heavy diet probably isn't any better then grain heavy; but we don't know if it is worse. We know that cats and dogs are not biologically the same so what applies to one doesn't necessarily translate to the other.

I would agree, if you don't have a dietary or financial limitation that is keeping you on your dry food, look for better. But everyone should be constantly reevaluating their cats diet. Wet food tends to have less problems and shouldn't be impacted by the grain free controversy since it shouldn't have the peas/potatoes to replace grains that are thought to be the root of the problem for dogs. If you can, I'd go to wet only and look for food with minimal fillers. I'd look for a low carb dry option (like Dr Elseys or young again) or at least lowest carb/highest protein combo if you need to feed dry. But that's not because of fear of grain free but because it would be better in general if you can afford it.

That's just my two cents. We can't do any better then we know to do. Making the best choices we can to pick a food our cats will eat and we can afford. There will always be the next big trend and there will always be the next big controversy. Until there is some actual correlation between cats and grain free food causing problems I will continue to look for grain free wet (which doesn't usually have replacement fillers for the grains) and lower carb dry not out of fear but because I believe that a biologically appropriate diet is best. Which means both grain free and minimal peas/potato. I have to feed some dry and it has to be poultry free which limits my options. So I feed a mix of dry with different binders so they don't have an overload of peas but a mix of peas, sweet potatoes and potatoes as the binders. I keep an eye out for lower carb options and will change if there is a better option I can afford.

The investigation is for canine dilated cardiomyopathy. They are investigating canine heart disease, but have still asked that any reports of cats developing heart issues be turned in.

Thank you so much for your reply, very helpful.
I wish I could feed Skye wet food ONLY. It's was a struggle and took a very long time to get her to eat wet food ( more wet than dry) she was on Purina veterinarian diet Essential kitten care for wet and dry ( only sold at the vet's office and it was very expensive) she gave up wet food and only wanted dry ( it was crazy) I introduced to her soooo many brands of wet food and finally found something that she would eat some times so I decided to change her dry food wich since then she actually eats more wet than dry. Her vet was not too pleased when I told her I changed the dry food so she always recommends Purina, Royal Canin, Hills Science, Iams and Eukanuba ( nevera heard of that one)
I found that those brands have a lot of fillers ( same of what Skye was eating before) I know a lot of people feed Dr. Elsey and young again in this group and I'd love to try it but where I live they don't sell it.

What's is your opinion on the above mentioned dry food and the one I'm feeding Skye now wich is INSTINCT by Nature's variety?
Thank you!!

Nature's Variety is a good food. Some of the grain free are just a marketing ploy, they just use fillers other then grain so they can call it grain free. Nature's Variety isn't one that did that. From what I have read they think it has to do with taurine which would explain why it is only showing up in dogs. Cat foods have taurine added to them because it is has been known for a very long time that cat food needs that supplementation. Dogs aren't cats, they have very different nutritional needs.

Thank you!
It makes me feel better about what I feed her, I love her dearly... I don't mind paying a little extra as long as is the right thing for her

GGG said:

What's is your opinion on the above mentioned dry food and the one I'm feeding Skye now wich is INSTINCT by Nature's variety?

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I use Nature's Variety LID version as one of my mix. I'd like less carbs but when your dry can't have poultry it limits your options. I do like their food in general though and my cats do really well on it. My Mom recently visited a friend of hers and came back saying our cats look noticably healthier then her friends cat both in terms of body weight and coat condition. Nature's Variety, as one of their core foods for the past six years, probably has something to do with that

Our former vet said it was ok to feed science cd to our cats. The male was prone to crystals. After he passed away in his late teens, the female cat developed diabetes. This prompted me to start reading about cat foods. It turned out the science cd was filled with grains. I put the female on a natures valley instinct chicken and her health improved dramatically.

Take everything with a grain of salt (pardon the pun, cause we are talking about food), and mix thoroughly with common sense.

There is another current thread that addresses this topic, albeit beginning at a different (but very pertinent!) angle. You might like to check out:

Cat Food Without Peas, Pea Fiber, And Pototoes?

There seems to be a lot of confusion about this subject. The headlines on news articles today seem to say "all grain-free foods are bad," but that's not actually what the FDA reported.

In reading the FDA report (and their FAQ page) about grain-free foods, it doesn't seem like they are attributing the heart problem to lack of grains at all. The problem appears to be other carbs that pet food companies added in to grain-free foods, such as lentils:

FDA is investigating a potential dietary link between canine dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) and dogs eating certain pet foods containing legumes like peas or lentils, other legume seeds (pulses), or potatoes as main ingredients. We began investigating after FDA‘s Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) received a number of reports of DCM in dogs eating these diets.

DCM itself is not considered rare in dogs, but these reports are unusual because many of the reported cases occurred in breeds of dogs not typically genetically prone to the disease. Additionally, most of the cases ate diets that appear to contain high concentrations/ratios of certain ingredients, such as peas, chickpeas, lentils and/or various types of potatoes. Some of these were labeled as “grain-free,” but grain-containing diets were also represented.

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Just trying to clear up some confusion, because I keep seeing that people are condemning ALL grain-free foods, and only grain-free foods, when that's not what the FDA is reporting.

Also worth noting that at this time, they have only received a handful of reports of cases in cats that may be related to these foods.

Of course, it's hard to say at this point what this means for pet owners, in terms of next steps. The FDA has not yet given any recommendations for pet owners whose pets do not have DCM, on whether to switch foods or not. They state that it is still unknown how any of these foods might cause DCM, and they're still investigating the link. I wouldn't worry too much about it at the moment, until we have more evidence of what the causal factor is, and if cats eating certain foods are at an increased risk.

My Moki has been getting, and eating heartily, Purina Muse, chicken. When he was younger, I tried minimum of 8 other brands from pet store, none of which he truly smacked his lips on. Alas, I know Purina uses grains, etc., but I will give him what he wants. He has received lots of comments about his super shiny fur, which I attribute to the added pumpkin in Muse.

Vets give advice based on what they hear just like the rest of us and the census changes every other day. The biggest thing that vets and pet parents have to understand is that cats and dogs are totally different and need different things. Dogs can eat a wide variety of food and need more range than cats. Cats and obligate carnivores (meat and meat byproducts only).
I keep in mind the human foods that are dangerous for dogs but besides them, I actually do give my two leftovers once a week to every two weeks. Their regular food is just Alpo prime cuts wet food at night and I make dry food available during the day (but they really just snack on it). The miniature dachshund is 15yr old and has never had a health problem and our pittie is a perfect weight and no health problems either but she is still young.
My grandmother has a little dog that is about 18yr old and she feeds her the same way.
I understand that certain diseases would require specific diets and I know that many companies are specializing in the most recent “fads” and the price reflects it. I have a bit of a different view. Companies that have been around for decades with little to no customer complaints, probably have it just about right.
I remember the cats at my old country vet’s house (he practiced out of his home) were 23yr old and 21yr old. He fed them regular store bought food and if he hadn’t told me their ages, I would have NEVER guessed. This was 30 years ago when there were no “special diet”.
Of course we want the best for our babies and for them to live long, healthy lives. I would just hold off on any of the newest fads because they are what tend to be criticized after a few years of being used.

I think it's incredibly irresponsible for vets to jump on inconclusive research. Grain Free food is under scrutiny right now from the FDA and if their findings come back saying YES there is a causation between GF foods and DCM, then by all means they should educate their patients, but until then it's just fear mongering.

...and they're probably going to try and push their food while they're at it.

That being said, if you have a dog breed that is known to have DCM I think it's fair for vets to side on the cautious side and recommend a grain food. But for cats? There's been no issues that I'm aware of for a cat to be on a GF diet (as long as they are getting an appropriate amount of wet or raw).

It is not true that this FDA study has only found DCM in dogs with the genetic predisposition for it. They have been finding it in dogs that do not have the predisposition including small breeds. That was one of the main reasons they began the study. The only thing all these dogs had in common was a grain free diet. Also, I did see it mentioned briefly that there were a few reported cases of DCM in cats and they were on grain free diets as well. I've been reading up on this issue and I've found several articles that say that the amount and type of vegetable ingredients in these grain free diets could be interfering with the absorption of amino acids and causing a deficiency of taurine in the dogs and they think that is what is causing the DCM. This is still just a theory. I'm not sure I buy it, because if it was causing a taurine deficiency in cats, wouldn't their main symptom be blindness?
As for what is the best food for our cats? I'm sticking with good old meat and rice. Poultry and fish with rice for my cats, salmon and rice for my dog. Brand name doesn't really matter. My dog's been on the grain free diet for 6 years, she seems fine, but I hope there was no damage to her heart. I started switching her over to the salmon and rice diet yesterday. Better safe than sorry. I never noticed any improvements in any of my pets after going grain free, anyway.

Cats and dogs don’t need any type of carb in their diet. I’d like to see it all go in a perfect world. Until then I’ll be feeding high meat low carb foods. And usually that falls into the grain free category.

My cats died from DCM and contributed to the FDA report. You're better safe than sorry, until more is known. I suspect there is a reporting bias that is limiting for cats, since people are passing this off as a dog thing, cats hide their symptoms and are more likely to die before diagnosis of a specific cardiomyopathy form, and other reasons. The problem is that many pet food companies do not hire qualified nutritionists (with a PhD or DVM) and do not conduct feeding trials on their formulas, and they haven't bothered to research whether or not legumes are an appropriate ingredient in pet foods. Taurine depletion during the cooking process of cat food was an issue back in the 80's, and DCM issues were largely resolved in cats when taurine was added to commercial foods. However, legumes are relatively new in pet foods. They are not digestible to cats, and could very well impact whether or not taurine is being absorbed or could increase excretion of taurine, based on a few scientific publications I have read that suggest plant protein impacts taurine levels in cats.

What you really should look for is low carb, not grain free since as mentioned they can put other bad fillers. And yes of course grain should not be a main ingredient in dog or cat food.

cheesycats said:

Cats and dogs don’t need any type of carb in their diet. I’d like to see it all go in a perfect world. Until then I’ll be feeding high meat low carb foods. And usually that falls into the grain free category.

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I agree! To me, the DCM problems are just another reason to avoid cat foods with legumes and potatoes. They just don't belong in cat foods to begin with, particularly since they're so often used as fillers and non-meat protein sources. And as Weasel21 notes, it's quite possible they affect taurine absorption.

I'm very, very sorry to hear about your cats, Weasel21.

J JoyM , the thing to keep in mind is that pet food companies owners regularly sell them to other companies. So the company you are trusting may have a different owner now than when they built the goodwill.