dog food

[Catlady711]

I don't believe anyone's ever said that ALL vets/tech don't know anything about nutrition. The fact is, a lot don't. My vet didn't even know HALF of the organic/all natural dog foods when we spoke about foods one day. He knew Science Diet, Iams, etc.

I may just be fortunate enough to work for a hospital that isn't into trying to make a profit from the sale of dog food. From what I've heard from many of our new clients, it seems to be common at other vets to 'push' a particular brand for profit, and toys and try to compete with the pet stores.

However it's comments like this one earlier in the thread....

Unfortunately, veterinarians and vet techs don't know everything. It's up to pet owners to fill the niche between our dogs and their doctors.

and others far worse I've seen in other threads that seem to generalize that ALL vets/techs know nothing about pet nutrition. If I worked for one of those 'push the dog food brand XYZ' type of hospitals I'd probably not be quite so bristly about it.

If our vets are unfamiliar with a particuar brand a client is using they ask to see the label and look at not only the ingredients but the % of things in it to determine if it's a good food or a lousy one on a case by case basis for that particular dog and it's health needs. If we find a particularly good one they usually ask where the client about where they got it and how much it cost in case they want to refer it to another client.

[ramanth]

Well I must say that I love my vet and the staff. They are very knowlegable about diets and do not sell any food at their office other than prescription diets.

And they are confident enough in themselves to know if that can't treat something to send their clients to MSU. Which they've done with me twice now. I know they wish they could help, but they are not about to risk the life of my pets trying to fix a problem they know they can't.

I understand such a blanket comment could make you upset, but please don't judge the whole board or certain threads by one members opinion.

[bckrazy]

Catlady, my Vet is awesome! They sell Wellness, Solid Gold, Evo & pre-made Raw, and he is happy to give me Raw advice. I went through 4 other Vets before finding him... all except for 1 pretty much shunned me for even suggesting feeding Raw, and pushed Eukanuba & SD & Iams instead. Not ALL Vets are poorly educated about nutrition, but unforunately many are, and prefer to give "safe" advice & push popular, lower quality kibble. In a way, I do understand why many of them do it, but nothing is going to change until more Vets at least try to recommend premium kibble. My friends stepmom has been a tech for years & years... she didn't even know what Evo, Solid Gold, etc, is. She feeds her animals Iams & SD, and although 2 of them are quite unhealthy, she refuses to even consider feeding them something better.

"It costs me basically 70 cents a pound to do this way- verses any good "commercial diet " ( including bil jac or solid gold, timberwolf etc) that is over a dollar a pound."

I pay about the same per lb for Raw all together... however, because of the moisture content, feeding 1 lb of Raw is very different than feeding 1 lb of kibble. ;] I paid about $2 per lb for Evo, and although in the long-run I do pay more for Raw, it's absolutely worth it if I factor in the cost of daily greenies/chews/teeth cleaning/supplements/etc. Plus my two (especially Gonzo) are phenominally healthy.

[Catlady711]

I understand such a blanket comment could make you upset, but please don't judge the whole board or certain threads by one members opinion.

Thank you. I will try to keep that in mind next time I see a post like that.

[wolfsoul]

My vet is great, in fact we just went to see her today! She sells a tons of different premade raw diets, Innova, Timberwolf Organics, Canidae, etc. She will educate anyone that feeds foods with bad ingredients, but won't push her own foods on them -- in fact she will recommend foods she doesn't carry. Most of her clients feed raw anyways.

[borzoimom]

I love mine also.
The comment about moisture content on "logs" is correct. I make my own diets- proven over years and it works..

[mike001]

Have fed raw for years and have healthy dogs with no health problems. I'm not a kibble person. If I was to feed kibble I would probably go with Chicken Soup or Royal Canin.