Jake’s Story

by Denise in Muskego, Wisconsin

Jake, our Shollie, was diagnosed with DCM and congestive heart failure (CHF) in January of 2018. They told us to not even hope for six months. We were devastated – and still grieving the recent loss of our 6-year-old Emma, who died of the same thing just two months after being diagnosed. Emma’s story is on this website, too.

Jake was 7 years old at the time of his diagnosis. Five or six months later, when the FDA first announced a link between grain-free food and DCM, I switched Jake from grain-free food to Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Skin & Stomach. Jake began improving over the next few months and we decided to have another echocardiogram to see if there was any improvement. To our surprise, there was! His heart and left aorta were normal size again, his CHF was considered very well controlled, and he was no longer listed as end-stage, uncontrolled CHF caused by DCM. The left ventricle had not improved, and his heart function was still minimal, but this was still overall good news as we did not think he would improve.

Jake wasn’t expected to make it to 8 years old, but he did! We celebrated his birthday on September 9, 2018. He is still with us in 2019.