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Background Recent studies have investigated dogs with presumed diet‐associated dilated cardiomyopathy (daDCM), but prospective studies of multiple breeds are needed. Hypothesis/Objectives To evaluate baseline features and serial changes in echocardiography and cardiac biomarkers in dogs with DCM eating nontraditional diets (NTDs) or traditional diets (TDs), and in dogs with subclinical cardiac abnormalities (SCA) eating NTD. Animals Sixty dogs with DCM (NTD, n = 51; TDs, n = 9) and 16 dogs with SCA eating NTDs. Methods Echocardiography, electrocardiography, and measurement of taurine, cardiac troponin I, and N‐terminal pro‐B‐type natriuretic peptide were performed in dogs with DCM or SCA. Diets were changed for all dogs, taurine was supplemented in most, and echocardiography and cardiac biomarkers were reassessed (3, 6, and 9 months). Results At enrollment, there were few differences between dogs with DCM eating NTDs or TDs; none had low plasma or whole blood taurine concentrations. Improvement in fractional shortening over time was significantly associated with previous consumption of a NTD, even after adjustment for other variables (P = .005). Median survival time for dogs with DCM was 611 days (range, 2‐940 days) for the NTD group and 161 days (range, 12‐669 days) for the TD group (P = .21). Sudden death was the most common cause of death in both diet groups. Dogs with SCA also had significant echocardiographic improvements over time. Conclusions and Clinical Importance Dogs with DCM or SCA previously eating NTDs had small, yet significant improvements in echocardiographic parameters after diet changes.

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Background Body surface area (BSA) can reflect metabolic rate that might normalize dosing of chemotherapeutics across widely variable weights within a species. The current BSA formula for dogs lacks height, length, and body condition. Hypothesis Computed tomography (CT) imaging will allow inclusion of morphometric variables in allometric modeling of BSA in dogs resulting in an improved formula for BSA estimation. Animals Forty‐eight dogs from 4 institutions with whole‐body CT images. Methods Retrospective and prospective case series. Body surface area was contoured using whole‐body CT scans and radiation therapy planning software. Body length and height were determined from CT images and also in 9 dogs by physical measurement. Nonlinear regression was used to model the BSA data sets using allometric equations. Goodness‐of‐fit criteria included average relative deviation, mean standard error, Akaike information criterion, and r2 (derived from the r‐value generated by regression models). Results Contoured BSA differed from the current formula by −9% to +19%. Nonlinear regression on untransformed data yielded BSA = 0.0134 × body weight [kg]∧0.4746 × length (cm)∧0.6393 as the best‐fit model. Heteroscedasticity (increasing morphometric variability with increasing BSA) was an important finding. Conclusions and Clinical Importance Computed tomography‐derived BSA was used to incorporate body length into a novel BSA formula. This formula can be applied prospectively to determine whether it correlates with adverse events attributed to chemotherapy.