Vets and Dog Food

ShadowCat

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#1
Why do vets recommend dog foods that aren't very good? I'm trying to convince my mom to stop using the Royal Canin diet food because it's not any good, but she keeps telling me that all of my information is from unreliable sources and that the vet recommends it so it must be good. Does anyone have any obviously reliable sites that I could use to convince her?
 
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#2
All I can tell you is from my experiences within the NCSU vet school is that they are not taught much about nutrition at all. Some vets take it upon themselves to further their knowledge by themselves, but most just don't particularly have interest in the field of nutrition.

If you want to convince them that it's not a good food, just show them an ingredient & definition list from the AAFCO to see what the ingredients really mean, and that should speak for itself.
 

wolfsoul

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#3
The majority of vets only get a lesson about nutrition that lasts a few hours to a few days. They are taught by dog food representatives (who get to spend their time endorsing their product). Science Diet and Medi-Cal also help pay a vet's way through school or give them free dog food while they are in school in exchange for selling and endorsing their product when they become a vet.
 

wolfsoul

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#6
No I don't, that is just what my vet told me from her own personal experiences (she's holistic now), and my friend's vet said the same thing (except he still sells Science Diet -- he just discourages people from buying it).
 

wolfsoul

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#7

CLee

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#9
every food is different for every dog. if your dog is thriving on it... why change it?

but if you see need/room for improvement, seek it.

some dogs thrive on "lower-quality" food and some don't. same concept for "higher-quality" food...

there really is a lot of biased information out there...

like i said, everything depends on the specific dog.

as for vets... same idea... the dog foods they suggest may have worked well for his/her clients... but all dogs are different.

it's just their recommendations...whether its based on company's "funding" or based on their own knowledge/experience.
 
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Dobiegurl

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CLee said:
every food is different for every dog. if your dog is thriving on it... why change it?

but if you see need/room for improvement, seek it.

some dogs thrive on "lower-quality" food and some don't. same concept for "higher-quality" food...

there really is a lot of biased information out there...

like i said, everything depends on the specific dog.

as for vets... same idea... the dog foods they suggest may have worked well for his/her clients... but all dogs are different.

it's just their recommendations...whether its based on company's "funding" or based on their own knowledge/experience.
I feed Chico IAMS and I will NOT be changing it because it is the only food that he's taken too well. His coat is shiny, his stomach doesn't grumble anymore and he doesn't throwup constantly like he did when I tried Innova.

I doubt that they only spend a few days regarding nutrition, because that is a HUGE part in caring for an animal.
 

Mordy

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#11
When I checked out the curricula of the veterinary colleges in the US, I found that the average time nutrition courses take up is 2-3 credit hours, often only during one semester. That's not a whole lot of time.

What's even sadder is that these nutrition courses aren't even focused on specific species - they include dogs, cats, poultry, horses, cattle, swine, sheep and so on. It's more of a broad overview of nutrition in general rather than discussing specific needs. (I've completed such a course.)

Those vets who actually have a solid knowledge of nutrition (which are very few, the majority relies on information from companies like Hill's etc.), have done their own research and completed further studies on the subject.

I agree that feeding is, or should be a huge part in caring for animals, but most people are pretty clueless in that regard and just rely on whatever BS the pet food industry feeds them.
 
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#12
I doubt that they only spend a few days regarding nutrition, because that is a HUGE part in caring for an animal.
I know you WOULD think that, but it's not true. I am a student in the animal nutrition department of NCSU and the vet students have only taken a nutrition class as an undergrad (broad, like Mordy said--ruminants to small animals) and they only have one more in vet school, which is technically optional (some decide not to take it and fill another requirement like an extra oncology class, etc). It's really sad. :(
 
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#13
This is also true with doctors for humans. Most are not educated in nutrition. There are so many things you can do by just changing your diet. Doctors are so quick to put you on some kind of drug. This is why I go to a holistic vet.
 

Mordy

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#16
Boxerowner said:
Here is a site you can look at it tells you were your dog food ranks from 1 star to 6 stars. http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/

It looks as if most Royal Canin only gets 2 stars.
Unfortunately that site is not very accurate. The person who runs it doesn't even have correct definitions for a lot of ingredients. I doubt he/she has ever even read an AAFCO publication.

It's really sad because the concept is good, but the "analysis" is just not worth much if you don't even know what exactly certain ingredients really are.
 

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