BSM Partners is a full-service pet care research, consulting, and strategy-to-shelf product innovation firm tackling DCM.
BSM Partners is a full-service pet care research, consulting, and strategy-to-shelf product innovation firm tackling DCM.
Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is the most common cardiomyopathy in the dog, resulting in thinning of the heart muscle, decreased pump function, congestive heart failure, dangerous arrhythmias, and, often, sudden cardiac death.
While DCM is a primarily inherited disease, other complex disease processes may also lead to DCM phenotype.
Over the last decade there has been a significant increase in the number and sales of grain-free and legume-rich dog foods and treats, and today millions of dogs are thriving on these diets.
There has also been discussion about a speculated link between grain-free and legume-rich diets and DCM. At the moment, there is no research showing a definitive connection, and more data is needed to draw sound conclusions about the relationship between nutrition and the heart health of dogs.
DCM Incidence Study
In March 2022, veterinarians and scientists from BSM Partners, the largest pet care research and consulting firm, and the University of Missouri, published an analysis of a retrospective survey that evaluated the annual incidence of canine dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) diagnosed by veterinary cardiologists across the United States, along with previously unknown information regarding the growth of grain-free pet food store sales. The peer-reviewed article, which appears in Frontiers in Animal Science, includes data that did not indicate a significant increase nationally in DCM incidence over time, from 2000 to 2019, while grain-free pet food store sales grew 500% between 2011 and 2019. Researchers also found no significant correlation between the national DCM incidence rate in relation to grain-free pet food sales.
The full text of the article can be found here.
In June 2020, researchers from BSM Partners published their peer-reviewed benchmark review article on Dilated Cardiomyopathy in dogs, the review was the first in a series of peer-reviewed works.
The authors found no peer-reviewed evidence of a causal link between grain-free and legume-rich diets and DCM. The full text of the peer-reviewed article appeared in the Journal of Animal Science.
Veterinary Practice News wrote about the publication of the literature review.
Despite much discussion regarding the hypothesized link between grain-free and legume-rich diets and dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), more data is needed to draw sound conclusions about the relationship between nutrition and canine cardiac disease.
To better understand this issue, BSM Partners has made a significant commitment to develop and implement multiple scientific studies. These include original research related to:
BSM’s scientists will be examining amino acid levels in the cardiac and skeletal muscle of dogs and how dogs absorb amino acids from different types of diets.
Below is a wide variety of educational resources. If you would like to share additional resources, please contact us using the form on our homepage.
*BSM Partners does not endorse any organization noted here, nor the data or services they may provide*
Pet Food Industry / Watt Global Media Webinars
North American Veterinary Community
Companion Animal Science Institute
Kansas State University – Pet Food Program
Texas A&M – Engineering Experiment Station
University of Illinois – Companion Animal Nutrition Certificate
Southern Illinois University – Companion Animal Nutrition
In order to fully understand the true causes of DCM, BSM Partners is conducting appropriately controlled, original research to determine the relationship between canine diets and dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). We welcome support for our work from veterinarians, pet food stores, veterinary scientists, pet food companies, and anyone concerned with canine health.
We also call upon our peers in the veterinary, veterinary cardiology, animal nutrition, and related fields to undertake their own peer-reviewed controlled studies on these important topics. Additional research and collaboration are critical to bettering our understanding of canine health.
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