Is Hi Tek dog food safe for my dog, considering grain-free news?

Grain free diets are not recommended. They are marketing hype to cater to owners that think grains are bad for dogs. They are not. These grain free diets have been linked to causing heart disease in dogs. Please do not feed these diets. ( https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/24/health/grain-free-dog-food-heart-disease.html ) If you need a nutritional consult you should speak to your vet. That is what they are there for. There is no "best " diet. Diets are subjective. Each vet has their favorites. It doesn't mean one is better than another.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Trixie. Very few dogs have true grain allergies. Grain-free diets were developed as a marketing strategy. There has been a new study released by the FDA detailing an association between diets and a specific type of heart disease. So at this time, I would not recommend feeding a grain-free diet. I hope this information helps!

I don't know what Science Diet formulation you are using but I would stick with that. Science Diet is an excellent company with a great reputation. All their diets are thoroughly balanced and tested. Wholehearted is grain-free and there is new evidence (scientific studies) that are showing a link between grain-free diets and heart disease in dogs. I would stay away from grain-free diets. Just my personal opinion. Best wishes.

I like the supplements you have picked for Rocco, and the powdered probiotic is just fine. There is only a risk with the fish oils if you give him more than the recommend dose. No, grain free is no safe at all. It does increase the risk of DCM. Grain free is a dangerous fad, a marketing tool. Grain allergies are actually really rare in dogs. I would switch his food. I hope this helps!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I definitely understand your concern. I do think it would be best to switch them to a regular diet. There are many types out there that are affordable and good. I like the Purina Pro Plan shredded blends in that category because they are palatable, affordable and of very good quality. Good luck and have a great day!

Unfortunately no one knows for certain right now. The concern seems to be with diets containing potatoes or legumes as a main ingredient, and this diet does have potatoes early in the list. It also seems that dogs that develop heart disease and that are being fed these diets have low levels of taurine in their blood, but at this point it isn't entirely clear if the diets are deficient or if there is something else going on that is interfering with the dogs' ability to absorb the taurine. I would recommend talking to your vet about options - if Brody has a medical condition you could discuss an appropriate alternative or potentially even check a blood taurine level and echocardiogram to look for signs of heart disease. If Brody does not have a medical problem it would be safest to go ahead and switch foods. This link has more detail: https://www.fda.gov/animalveterinary/newsevents/cvmupdates/ucm613305.htm

Grains are very rarely the cause of any skin issues so switching Kyya to a normal, grain containing diet is recommended. Keep in mind that the link is not understood but as long as the pet is not showing signs of heart disease, changing the diet will help avoid any heart pathology. The brand I like best is Royal Canin. You would pick the large breed formula. I also like Purina ProPlan. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.