Curious.. Anyone Have A Cat With Dilated Cardiomyopathy?

[MegAH2]

Hey guys! I am curious, has anyone had a cat with dilated cardiomyopathy? I fed her commercial wet food mostly for the past few years, (wheat free). I figured out she was probably celiac/gluten intolerant because she kept throwing up, and stopped when I switched food. However, 3 years down the line or so, she had really bad dilated cardiomyopathy (lack of taurine for the majority), and I am wondering if anyone else noticed this with a food sensitivity (taurine is absorbed in the small intestine). Just curious! Maybe I am too much on the look out for stuff like that because I am celiac, but it made me wonder!
Thanks,
Megan

 

[Anne]

This is the first time I hear of a cat affected by taurine deficiency when fed a commercial diet. Can you share which type? Is it labeled as "complete and balanced"? Does your vet think this is related to the food or could there be another reason for her condition?

 

[MegAH2]

Well, it was fancy feast, no grain variety, and also friskees, no wheat variety. She ate dry food up through probably age 6. I am just curious, because the vet seemed to wonder what I was feeding her. I only question the connection, as I knew how much she used to throw up on a wheat diet. I also know that I ate hardly any wheat for 2 years, ate enough to get evaluated for celiac over a few months, and I still had no villi whatsoever. So, if her villi in her intestine didn't grow back (assuming she had "kitty celiac" or something!), it is possible that she wasn't absorbing it? I don't really seem to find a connection exactly to celiac and taurine deficiency in online research, but something like that would become way more clear within the cat population, who absorbs 100% through diet, and doesn't make it through other means, like humans and other animals.. it's just something that's crossed my mind! One of those things I'll probably never know