Let me start by saying, Luke and I love our three dogs. They have very unique personalities and BOY do they keep us on our toes.

Finn, for example, wishes he was a cat. Grass? No thanks. If we put a litter box in the house he would be thrilled. He also loves to slowly ruin the back of my couch by perching himself on the cushions all day long.

Carl…oh where do I begin? I can sum him up in two words. Water and Playing.  Oh, and he snores & farts like a grown man. It’s lovely.

And then there is Pete. Sweet Pete. Look, I’ll be the first to admit he’s a handful.  He’s terrified of anything that throws him off guard.  He pretends to be a statue when a man enters the home, hoping maybe, juuussst maybe the person may not notice him. He barks each time I open the backdoor because there’s a chance a cat could be in the yard. Better safe than sorry, am I right?

Pete is such a weird dog…..and I LOVE it. So when he began having seizures and various health problems, I was concerned. Thankfully, all seemed to regulate with daily seizure medication. We took Pete back a few weeks after he started his medication to ensure he was tolerating it well.  It was then that my vet told me he heard a heart murmur. Can I be honest for a second? I wasn’t that concerned. Maybe out of ignorance, or possibly because the vet eased my concerns.  I scheduled a follow up appointment, per my vet’s request, to check on the status of the murmur after a few months.

Okay, this is where my writing gets really choppy. It’s where I don’t have any fact based information; other than the FDA link I am going to provide. My reason for telling you this is because I hope all pet owners start reading in to what is going on in the healthcare industry for animals.

Essentially, my vet sat me down and told me that Pete has DCM (dilated cardiomyopathy). A disease of the heart, which is progressive and can’t be fixed by way of surgery. Pete is a labradoodle. According to my vet, DCM is not common in his breed. So uncommon in fact, it bothered him. He proceeded to tell me about a recent FDA release that is linking certain foods to the development of DCM.  They believe that certain ingredients are suppressing the amino acid, taurine. He, and many other vets, think that Pete’s condition may be linked to his diet.  Because of this, Luke and I switched all three dogs to FROMM Gold. *Sidenote: There are grain-free foods that don’t have the top ingredients they believe are linked to this issue, so if your dog needs grain-free, don’t fret.

Listen, I know this isn’t a super exciting post and I’m certainly not going to pretend I’m an expert on the topic. All I know is that I was the dog mom who cried so hard my eyes were swollen the next two days.  I was the girl who felt completely blind-sided and crushed when I was told my 3 year old dog may only have 2 years left to live. Instead of becoming frozen, I am choosing to take action and spread the word.  I am going to love my pups for as long as I can and boy I will be on top of their health care.

Spread the word, or at least the FDA article! Dog owners will thank you for it.

xoxo,

photography: Kelsey Wilson Photography