What is the current working theory for the cause of SARDS?
My thesis is that SARDS is first and foremost an adrenal problem that stems from the “modern-day lifestyle,” that is — commercial pet food, annual vaccination, and chronic pesticide exposure — three modern-day elements that are physically irritating. Afterall, SARDS has only been diagnosed since the late 1970s. Of these three, I suspect diet is probably the biggest piece because it’s something we do to the dogs twice a day every day. I do not believe it is any one thing in pet food, or any one type of vaccine, or a single chemical. They all irritate the body. Chronic irritation increases adrenal gland activity and the hormones that are produced there. (See: SARDS, diet, and lifestyle study.) In addition, there certainly must be an indirect genetic tendency to the problem, otherwise every dog in the America, and certainly every dog at the local dog pound would have SARDS. And even though SARDS affects many breeds, it was first reported in Dachshunds and Miniature Schnauzers at higher ra
