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  • Dogs & Country

    A Quick Update on Taurine

    A few weeks ago, I posted about taurine and, more specifically, about some breeds which might be less efficient in producing it (you can read everything here). As taurine deficiency can lead to DCM (dilated cardio miopathy) I think all those owning a breed at risk should assess their dogs. I eventually tested Briony and her results fell in the normal range: she eats an homemade diet and, apparently, despite my poor cooking skills, she is getting enough methionine and cysteine that she can convert into taurine. As said above, her results are within the normal range, but I showed them to a nutritionist (Lucia Casini, Professor of Veterinary Nutrition…

  • Dogs & Country

    Taurine, English Setters & other breeds

    Last week the server crashed after I published an article on tyrosine and dark coats. I stayed away from the admin panel for ten days because I was afraid I could crash it again, but now I am back discussing another amino acid. A couple of days ago, an English Setter owner living in the USA posted on FB about her dog’s being diagnosed with congestive heart failure. The dog had developed DCM (dilated cardiomiopathy) and the cardiologist suggested testing his taurine blood levels. She tested him and her other dogs and the tests confirmed that some of them had indeed very low levels of taurine. Curiously, those with lower levels…

  • Dogs & Country

    Own a dark dog? Read this!

    Black dogs sometimes turn rusty brown.  People tend to attribute this to “too much sun” but, indeed, some black dogs never turn brown, while some others are brownish all year round, winters included.  I owned a black dog only for a couple of months: he was a rescued Greyhound and he was, indeed, brown but this was caused by severe anemia and leishmaniasis.  We all known systemic diseases can affect coat colour, but nutrition can as well. Yesterday, my friend Lucia Casini, who is professor of Veterinary Nutrition at the University of Pisa, shared this study with me “Tyrosine supplementation and hair coat pigmentation in puppies with black coats –…

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