Sporting Gun UK – May 2019

62 SPORTING GUN M AY 2019 http://www.shootinguk.co.uk

GUNDOGS

Dog health

Dog’s dinner: a bowl of complete feed

AL AMY,

NICK

RIDLEY

Vet’sadviceNeil McIntoshSG’s gundog health expert

The problem:

The trend of

exotic diets

I

certainlyagreewithyouthatmany

ofthe‘facts’aboutanimalconditions

thatarecirculatedonsocialmedia

arecompleteandutterdrivel.Recent

examplesinclude:leptospirosisiseasyto

treatanddiagnose.(Of 99 dogsinfected

byleptospirosisthatwerereferredto

specialistvetsfortreatment,onethirddied.)

Leptospirosisvaccinekillsdogs.(I havebeen

vaccinatingthousandsofdogsannuallyfor 35

yearsandI haven’thadonedieyet.)Bravecto

killedmydog.(Noit didn’t.Somethingelse

did.)Allareexamplesofopinionexpressedas

fact,whichjustgetrepeatedandrepeated...

Asa scientistoncesaid:“Peopleareentitled

to their own opinion but not their own facts.”

“IsallthestuffI amreadingonsocialmediaaboutgrain-freediets

causing heart problems true or is it just more nonsense?” J WITHERIDGE,WILTSHIRE

Thesensibleoptionis

tostickwithknown

brands, says Neil

Grain-freediets

Thatsaid,grain-freeisdifferent.Itallstarted

withinformationcomingoutoftheUSAthat

grain-freedietswereassociatedwitha heart

conditioncalleddilatedcardiomyopathy

(DCM).Basically,theheartenlargestoa

sizethatit cannolongerworkeffectively

asa pump.Weakness,exerciseintolerance

andfaintingarecommonsymptoms.

DiagnosiscaninvolveX-rays,ultrasound,

ECG (electrocardiogram) and a blood test