Pet Food Processing - January 2024 - 12

INDUSTRY INSIGHTS
When pet owners are faced with situations
where the science is unclear but scary
news headlines are abundant, they don't
know who to trust and don't have enough
information to make an informed decision. "
BSM Partners
a published, peer-reviewed analysis of data collected
from veterinary cardiology clinics across the country
found the incidence of DCM remained relatively flat
over the last 20 years.
Similarly, in 2022, The College of Veterinary Medicine
at Cornell published that there was, " Certainly a rise in
copper-related hepatopathies. " The authors of a 2021
viewpoint article in JAVMA, which was also reposted in
an AVMA News article, claimed, " Over the past 15 to 20
years, we have seen what we believe to be an increased
incidence of copper-associated hepatopathy in dogs. "
Despite this comment, the actual incidence rate of
Dietary copper
makes its way
into dog food
formulas through
the inclusion of
ingredients like
beef liver, flaxseed,
buckwheat,
barley, sweet
potatoes and
others.
©Bit24 - stock.adobe.com
copper-associated hepatopathy in dogs is still unknown.
Acknowledging the rise in awareness and testing, it is
crucial to differentiate between heightened awareness
and genuine increases in incidence, as demonstrated in
the DCM scenario.
Removing outliers
Concerns about a rise in disease around copper and
grain-free diets are rooted in the notion that hepatopathy
and DCM are suddenly being observed in dogs that
are not already genetically predisposed to developing either
disease. There will also be animals that are already
sick or have existing illnesses that can be precursors (comorbidities)
to the disease in question. So, when assessing
records of dogs diagnosed with hepatopathy or DCM,
scientists must screen out both of those groups. However,
this is not what happened with DCM. The link between
copper restriction and hepatic disorders in certain breeds
should not be extrapolated to healthy dogs, but this is exactly
what some researchers appear to be doing.
Veterinary researchers spent hundreds of hours analyzing
a FOIA request for all the FDA information, including
medical records, obtained of all dogs referenced
in the FDA's June 27, 2019, public release on the number
of cases of diet-associated DCM that they received from
the public.
The results of that analysis are as follows:
* The FOIA release mentions only 361 dogs reported
to the FDA when it was claimed that 560 dogs
had been reported to the FDA from Jan. 1, 2014,
through April 30, 2019.
* 143 of the 361 dogs identified were confirmed as
being predisposed breeds to DCM.
* 160 of the 361 dogs identified had some form of a
medical record identified in the FOIA release, the
others did not.
* Of the 361 reported dogs, 62 had a co-morbidity
that could impact cardiac function, and 34 dogs
had a co-morbidity that could directly contribute
to a DCM diagnosis.
Confusion for pet owners
When pet owners are faced with situations where the science
is unclear but scary news headlines are abundant,
they don't know who to trust and don't have enough
information to make an informed decision. As we saw
in the case of DCM, they turn to veterinarians
who similarly are not nutritionists
and don't have enough time to
stay abreast of the latest developments.
As recently as 2016, there were concerns
in the veterinary community that
there were insufficient levels of copper in
pet food, which then led to an increase
in requirements for copper under the
Association of American Feed Control
Officials (AAFCO). Today, some veterinarians
are claiming that there is too
much copper. How is a brand or a manufacturer
to know what is correct?
The only way to do so is to help support
prospective research, with control
groups and a large enough number
of dogs. This is the only true method
to validate and improve the guidance
provided by nutritional guidelines that
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Pet Food Processing - January 2024

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