Interesting Facts I learnt at the Vet yesterday

[Chelsea and Bailey]

So I could post this in the food group but thought it might reach more people if used in the general section.  I was at the vet yesterday with Bailey (for her urinary problems, AGAIN) and the vet was kind of stumped and suggested to try to change her food.  She has what are called struvite crystals in her urine, which if left untreated can cause infection, or in her case infection could have caused the crystals. Anyways thats a whole other topic. So when she said to change food (Bailey is on TOTW) I told her that I had done lots of research on what is good, staying away from corn, soy, grain free, etc.  And here is what the vet told me:

-grain free is something that has no backup scientific research behind it and does not mean that it is better

-corn is a HUGE misconception, she said to make sure it says whole corn, same with rice, make sure it says whole wheat rice.

-Byproducts- says that in fact some byproducts can actually be good

-protein- there are no regulations on how to handle the protein.  She says often they put small amounts of protein in the food and inject it with water to make it bulk up and heavier, which they are absolutely allowed to do

-foods stated homeopathic- completely unregulated and could have anything in them, so dont buy into it!

-She also stated that just because it says chicken on what we think is a good quality bag of food actually may still be the intestines and organs.

-The #1 thing she just wanted me to know was that all pet foods are unregulated and what might be in one bag of food with the same company may not be whats in another, which is why some people are baffled when they stay on the same food but all of a sudden their pet has allergies with a new bag of food.

 

Now some of you may think that she was just trying to sell her food at the vet, but she was completely non-judgemental and just wanted to let me know what was out there.  She stated she worked at a pet store before becoming a vet and knew what they told the employee's. She gave me two brands that she has followed and knows are regulated with the exact same ingredients in each bag and also followed the health results in pets, and thought I should try those, and yes one was at her store, but one was also just a normal pet store brand.  I thought I would just share this with you all and see if anyone has any input.  Being trained in medicine and research myself I know not to just read an article off the internet and believe it unless it has been peer reviewed and research tested, but I have to say I jumped right on the band wagon with all this grain free marketing going around without finding any REAL research on it.  So im off to try and search and see if I can find anything... I'll post it here if I do find!

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I also love my Vet, but she's the first one to admit that she is NO expert on canine nutrition.  What I respect most about her is that she really WANTS to learn.  When I presented her with my home cooking plan for Guinness after his IBS diagnosis, she really did her homework.  She started researching, because I was asking her to "bless" my plan.  Since then she has become a total believer.  I'm sure she's still "selling" the "Hills", but she was at least willing to accept that there are better options for some dogs.  She did tell me that she does present home cooking as an option for dogs with issues similar to Guinness, but in general her clients are not interested.  I just give her credit for being willing to understand and adjust her thinking.

[Stella]

I love our new vet (we recently moved), but like many other vets she is a good business woman who knows little about suitable dog foods!  Both of my boys are on Acana but we can't buy it where we live as no-one here sells it. We have to drive 1 1/2 hours to get it!  As a result, my vet has never heard of it!  When he was younger, my one dog used to get conjunctivitis in the winter which she interpreted as him having 'allergic tendencies' (Karen, I can hear you laughing already!!) and recommended we change him onto their food as it was great at boosting the immune system and reducing allergies (they sell Hills and Medical food).  I politely smiled and said we would stick with the food we were on thank you!  There are many times I will follow the advice of the vet to the letter, what I should be feeding them is not one of those times!!