Dilated Cardiomyopathy

Dilated Cardiomyopathy is a disease where the heart muscle progressively becomes weaker. In about 17% of large breed dogs, blood levels of taurine is low. Taurine is an amino acid that is not thought to be essential is dogs. Other studies have demonstrated low taurine and carnitine in dogs with DCM. Some of the dogs with low levels of these two nutrients showed improvement in cardiac function with supplementation. This is good news for dogs with a progressive, debilitating disease.