Diet-associated dilated cardiomyopathy in dogs linked to certain grain-free and legume-rich diets represents an emerging welfare concern requiring nutritional management alongside cardiac treatment.
Diet-associated DCM causes the same cardiac welfare compromise as genetic DCM, with reduced exercise tolerance, breathlessness, and risk of sudden arrhythmic death. The dietary nature of some cases offers the potential for prevention through nutritional management, but identifying at-risk individuals before cardiac disease develops is challenging. Dogs developing DCM on specific diets may improve with dietary change combined with cardiac medication, offering a welfare-positive intervention not available for genetic DCM. The uncertainty around mechanisms and the continued marketing of suspect diet categories means that dogs remain at risk from owners making well-intentioned food choices that inadvertently harm cardiac health.