Impact of Nutrition and Diet Associated with Canine Dilated Cardiomyopathy

Rita Lee

doi:10.7273/000003766

Dilated cardiomyopathy is a heart disease commonly seen in large breed dogs (Nelson, 2021). It is characterized by enlargement of the heart chambers and development of poor pumping ability in the heart (Nelson, 2021). A potential link between diet and dilated cardiomyopathy in dogs has been brought up by the FDA in 2018 (FDA, 2018). An alarming number of cases of dogs consuming grain-free diets and developing dilated cardiomyopathy have emerged in the U.S (FDA, 2018). While job shadowing at a veterinary clinic, I became interested in this topic after hearing client concerns about this issue. Grain-free diets are a rising trend in the pet food industry, consisting of diets that have replaced grains with other ingredients such as legumes (peas, lentils) and other non-traditional starches like potatoes (FDA, 2018; Carlson, 2020). I decided to conduct a literature review to evaluate the effects of diet and nutrition on the development of dilated cardiomyopathy in dogs. I reviewed research articles and journals on the following topics: taurine-deficient dilated cardiomyopathy, grain-free diets and dilated cardiomyopathy, and diet-associated canine dilated cardiomyopathy. According to the literature, there are multiple nutritional factors affecting dogs that result in diet-associated dilated cardiomyopathy. One factor is dietary intake. Larger dogs appear to be predisposed to developing taurine-deficient dilated cardiomyopathy due to dietary intake (Ko et al., 2007; Backus et al., 2006). Taurine is an important amino acid for the heart (Takihara et al., 1986; Schaffer et al., 2010) and studies show the significance of taurine in improving cardiac function in dogs (Kaplan et al., 2018; Kittleson et al., 1997; Sanderson et al., 2001; Bélanger et al., 2005). When considering the effects of proposed taurine-depleting diets, such as lamb and rice diets and grain-free diets on dogs, researchers found contradicting results. While lamb and rice diets observed decrease in taurine levels (Delaney et al., 2003; Ko, Fascetti, 2016; Bélanger et al., 2005), grain-free diets did not (Pezzali et al., 2020; Donadelli et al., 2020). This contradicts a study reporting taurine-deficient Golden Retrievers diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy consuming grain-free diets (Kaplan et al., 2018). Excess bile acid excretion (due to disruption of the reabsorption of bile salts) and low protein digestibility are predicted to cause taurine deficiency in these diets, but only increase in bile acid excretion was noted (Ko, Fascetti, 2016; Pezzali et al., 2020; Donadelli et al., 2020). Plant-based or vegan diets have also been found to cause taurine-deficient dilated cardiomyopathy due to low protein digestibility and nutritional imbalances (Dodd et al., 2018; Mansilla et al., 2019; Zafalon et al., 2019). An analysis of the top three vegan dog foods found that these concerns are warranted, as all three diets had at least one nutrient that did not meet recommended minimum levels set by the Association of American Feed Control Officials and the European Pet Food Industry Federation (Zafalon et al., 2019). In addition to taurine, carnitine is another amino acid that has been suggested to be important in heart function (Sanderson, 2006; Kaplan et al., 2018; Kittleson et al., 1997). However, there is a lack of research confirming its potential association to dilated cardiomyopathy (Sanderson, 2006). I conclude that there is evidence supporting the importance of diet in association to dilated cardiomyopathy in dogs. However, further research is necessary to arrive at a definitive cause for this condition.

Impact of Nutrition and Diet Associated with Canine Dilated Cardiomyopathy

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