New Developments I was surprised to learn about two new developments this year: Firstly, a doctoral thesis by Karin Kristrom, which is open access through SLU, and focuses on genetic factors associated with low blood taurine in English Cocker Spaniels....Read More

New Research: The CURE Project from Sweden In August 2024, Swedish researchers published a study titled “The Canine taURinE (CURE) Project,” investigating low blood taurine levels in English Cocker Spaniels and their association with clinical signs of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM)...Read More

During my research for the cause of Allie and her littermate’s DCM, I met many people in different parts of the world who were all very helpful. They ranged from breed enthusiasts and breeders, to well known researchers who are...Read More

Is it possible that both Allie and her littermate acquired DCM from a secondary cause? That they were both deficient in taurine, or shared some other reason despite living on opposite sides of the continent? If Allie’s DCM is not...Read More

The Research Continues Life Expectancy My immediate question was about Allie's life expectancy. Because of her age and the early development of DCM, this proved to be more difficult to answer than I anticipated. Since DCM was thought to be...Read More

My Research Begins After my 15 month old English Cocker Spaniel, Allie, was diagnosed with DCM, I began researching the causes of this disease. I started out knowing very little, and was only vaguely aware of the FDA research about...Read More

Allie, DCM, and the Twig In late May of this year (2024) we received the devastating news that Allie, our 15 month old English Cocker Spaniel had Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM). How we found out was a total fluke! It began...Read More