A nurse and dog owner shares an urgent PSA to Goldendoodle owners after grain-free dog food led to her own dog’s death.
In a TikTok with over 658,000 views, content creator Charissa Angel de Luna (@charissa23deluna) breaks down how her 8-year-old Goldendoodle, Mila, suddenly became sick and later died, and the gain-free dog food-related condition Charissa learned was the cause.
“I’m making this video for anyone with a Goldendoodle or golden retriever,” de Luna begins.
A Goldendoodle PSA
She says that she first noticed things were off with Mila “about a week ago,” when she observed that her dog was lethargic and not moving around much. By the evening of the same day, though, de Luna says Mila was back to her old self, eating her food and drinking her water like normal.
“We didn’t think much about it. We thought maybe she had a stomach bug or just wasn’t feeling good. That was that,” she says.
Two days later, however, after a successful morning of errands, Mila was once again acting lethargic and not moving by the afternoon. Even more concerning this time, Mila’s breathing was labored and according to de Luna, her eyes looked “scared.”
“I could tell if we didn’t get her to the vet soon, she might pass. I didn’t know what the issue was, but I know as a nurse, looking at her breathing, I was like, ‘This isn’t right. Something is majorly wrong.’”
When de Luna took Mila to the vet, she was told her Goldendoodle was in critical condition. After completing scans on Mila, the veterinarian returned with devastating results.
“[The vet] was showing us how big her heart was. It was pushing down on everything, her lungs were being pushed, they looked like they might have fluid in them, her liver, her kidneys. It was a multi-organ situation.”
The culprit? Dilated cardiomyopathy.
How does dog food come into play?
De Luna says the vet then asked what food Mila is on, to which she replied a grain-free food. Purina defines a grain-free dog food as “Any dog food made without wheat, corn, rice and other grains.” Since dogs still need carbohydrates for energy, however, grain-free dog foods use alternative sources of carbs like potatoes and pea flour.
While she’d put Mila on a grain-free dog food to help with her skin and stomach issues, de Luna was unaware of its link to DCM.
“[The vet] tells us that grain-free food can actually cause dilated cardiomyopathy. I had no idea,” de Luna says.
What is canine dilated cardiomyopathy?
According to the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University, Canine Dilated Cardiomyopathy, or DCM, is “a primary disease of cardiac muscle that results in a decreased ability of the heart to generate pressure to pump blood through the vascular system.” While a definitive cause of the disease is still up for debate, nutritional, as well as infectious factors, and genetic predisposition have been implicated.
While de Luna was unable to save Mila, she says it is important to her to inform other dog owners.
“It was really hard to lose her, but I wanted to share this information because we didn’t know,” she says.
In her caption, de Luna writes, “please hug your doodle for me.”
Viewers offer condolences
Users in the comments shared their condolences, gratitude for the information, and their safer dog food recommendations.
“I’m so sorry. I have a Goldendoodle and we feed him Purina Pro Plan. Sending so much love to you!” One user shared.
“My deepest condolences on the loss of your sweet baby. Thank you for sharing this information to help save others,” a second viewer offered.
“Immediately called my vet to confirm this and switched my doodle’s food. So sorry for your loss, but thanks so much for sharing,” came a third comment.
“I have two goldens on grain free…the Lord put this on my FYP, I know it. I’m sooo sorry, going to talk to their vet right away,” a fourth user wrote.
In a follow-up video, de Luna shares images of Mila, calling her “the sweetest dog ever.”
The FDA announced in July of 2018 that they had been investigating reports of canine dilated cardiomyopathy dogs eating “grain-free,” dog foods, which contained “a high proportion of peas, lentils, other legume seeds and/or potatoes in various forms as main ingredients.” The agency’s official word based on the data collected so far is that “the potential association between diet and DCM in dogs is a complex scientific issue that may involve multiple factors.”
@charissa23deluna I will comment below the royal canin dog food the vet recommended, please hug your doodle for me ❤️💔#goldendoodle #goldendoodleeducation #dog #dogtok ♬ original sound – Charissa
The Daily Dot reached out to de Luna via Instagram and TikTok private messages for more information.
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