dog and cat nutrition. To believe vets or not

[BlackBart]

I have read many threads on the same subject from all types of forums, mainly Equine. The horse owners quickly become more educated in feed than their Vets.

One thing that seems to be consistent is several questions.
"Exactly how much basic education in nutrition does a Vet receive in school?" this doesn't include nutritional bulletins by feed companies on their own food, which to me is biased
"Did a pet food company help educate the Vet or partially fund the school curriculum?"
"How much profit is the Vet making off the sale of the product?" leans toward bias in my opinion
"Is the animal actually allergic to corn or is it GMO corn, perservatives, soy etc?"

I have fed all the dogs I have had, in 40 years of having dogs, a good kibble (not cheap, not expensive) and raw meat, kitchen scraps etc..
I don't listen to the Vet when it comes to nutrition.
I have listened to a un-biased University educated animal nutritionist who is not employed by any animal food company nor will benefit monetarily by recommending one food over another.
I would go with your gut feeling.

 

[Crazyland]

Not all vets are created equal.

I have had both. And I select them as carefully as I choose my children's doctor.

Last time I was in I was taking in our puppies. They were very impressed with the condition of the pups. I said this IS what I do and laid it out. They asked about heartworm and flea meds. I said no thanks I use ivermectin and DE. The vet actually was happy with what I did and never tried to push what they sell. Only one of the front desk people try to push things on me and snub her nose at how I care for my pets. She didn't even know about Titters and the office does provide it!

Mostly if you have knowledge in hand a vet will back down. But being as young as you are I am sure the vet wasn't about to let a "snotty little kid" tell him what is best.

 

[redhen]

I'll always listen to my vet when it comes to nutrition...
Just my opinion though..
Not saying that a more "meat" balanced food isnt better for them....
I believe it most likely is better for them
But my vets not an idiot either...

 

[Smoky73]

My vet tried to get me to switch my elderly cat and my dogs to Science Diet. I showed them the printout of the nutritional facts on Flint River food and they could not find anything wrong with it at all, and actually my main vet was pretty impressed with it. Yep, its expensive food, but we have all greatly noticed an improvement in all our pets, including the elderly cat who was supposed to be on a urinary tract food but the Flint River food is already geared towards that so I did not have to feed anyone anything special. I personally think that the food gave him an extra 2 years of life as we really thought he was going to die while we were on vacation a few years ago. He did not pass away until this year. The animals all love their flint river food, and I buy the dogs the lamb and rice and it has NO CORN and had meat as the first ingredient. They eat it like it was cookies while the older bigger dog used to only eat sparingly. The vet has commented on how good their coats all feel and how shiny they are. I will never use anything else. Plus, its a three click reorder online and shipping is free. I get my food in 3 days usually. A 20lb bag of dog food will last my 50lb dog and 22 lb dog about a month roughly. Their food is also cut in half, the large dog only gets 2 cups of food a day and the smaller dog gets 1 cup per day. The cats eat free choice and their food (9lbs) lasts them about 2 months. www.flintriver.com

 

[Kansaseq]

I'm a working tech and can get Science Diet at a discount from work. I would rather feed TOTW because I think it's better food. My dogs didn't do poorly on it, the Science Diet, but if given the choice, I'd rather feed something that doesn't list corn as the first few ingredients.
I also believe that you have to match the food to your individual dog. Some will do great on Purina Pro Plan, and that's great. Others have a problem with it. Now, I would never recommend anyone feed Old Roy, ever, but if you choose to feed a 'cheaper' dogfood because that is what you can afford, and your dog does well on it, well, I guess no harm done. I will always feed the best food I can afford for them. Right now, that's Iams. When I'm flush again, I'll buy more TOTW or Blue Buffalo.


How much is a 40lb bag of Flint River Ranch? I've heard good things about it.

 

[redhen]

Quote:
Whats TOTW??

 

[Amyable]

Quote:
Medical doctors go to school for 8 years too and don't know a lick about real nutrition, IMO. Nah, don't change your eating habits, just take these 25 pills...

Bock, can you buy the feed you want for your dogs and cats yourself? Then your folks can't complain about the cost. Or at least offer to pay them the difference between Purina and Blue Buffalo/Taste of the Wild?

 

[Kansaseq]

TOTW = Taste of the Wild
My dogs go ape for it, and it's a good food, just more expensive. I was paying about $40 for a 30lb bag.

 

[noodleroo]

I have a friend that feeds her dogs one rabbit a day and has them fast one day about every 2 weeks. They eat fur, bones, everything. She buys them frozen by the case and thaws out one rabbit per day per dog. Their water is supplemented with a little crushed garlic.
They are extremely healthy, parasite resistant dogs.

My vet just about had kittens when I asked him about feeding my dog a raw diet of rabbit; he was concerned about a disease that the dog could get from an infected rabbit. So I decided not to do it because of his opinion. I wonder if anybody else feeds their dogs raw rabbit and if they've had any trouble doing it?

 

[EweSheep]

Quote:
I had pre-Vet classes and Horse Science Tech. for two years in college, yep, I agree with you. We only had very little information on nutrition but focus mainly on the percentage, and math-wise in the feed, how much protein, how much carbohydrates, etc. It was only for ONE semester for Nutrition class for all species of livestock and some pet animals like cats, dogs and pot bellied pigs.
We did not have a pet food company come out and give their input. Only one local feed grain mill company came and we were shown around and how grains were processed.
You BET the vets do get a kick back from selling the products. Just like your own family doctor getting those RX sellers come knocking on their office door to sell some Celebrex, Coumdin, etc.
I'd rather listen to the un-biased lecteur to inform me how grains were grown in the US and how our animals were affected by the products they are selling.

I've tried the Blue Buffalo cat food and for some reason, my cat did eat it but her coat was not shiny, it was dull and very thick even in the summer time. So I switched back to the Purina natural foods and her coat was sleek and shiney and her eyes were bright. She was MORE active on the Purina than she did for Blue Buffalo which she was laying around, no energy to do anything. however her manure in both feeds are very good, good intake and less outtake and not a bad smell either. I used to feed my dogs ProPlan and they have done well with it many years ago.

I think each animal's needs are different and how they would respond to it. I would give it some time for it to work and if it does not work, go back to the product you think it works best. I dont care for Science Diet...my cats hated it and turned up their noses at it.