What the Vet told me about food

[Ruby Goldendoodle]

Picked up our new puppy on Sunday. She is very sweet, a little thin. We have had a lot of potty accidents today, but trying to be consistent. The Vet asked what I was going to feed her. I told him that she is on PMI Exclusive right now because that is what the Breeder had her on. I said I would switch to either Nature's Domain or one of the Blue foods. He said to be careful with all these new food companies because they don't regulate dog food like people food and he said the Science Diet, Iams etc.. do lots of testing. He was a great Vet and seemed very up to date on things. My understanding is that the Science Diets etc.. are not good food?? How soon can I start switching out her food? She does not seem overly enthused by her current food. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Wait two weeks minimum, for several reasons which have been discussed here many times. Don't change a thing about her diet for at least two weeks, including treats, so that her potty habits are regulated, her initial stress is lessened, and any giardia or other parasites will have shown up. If she has nice regular fimr poops after two weeks, you can begin to change her food.

The vet is saying what he was told by the Science Diet, Purina, and iams salespeople, which are the same people from whom he received what little nutritional education he got. There is no nutritional curriculum in veterinary school other than seminars sponsored and presented by these Big Corporate dog food companies. These companies also reward the vets for erecommending their foods. This has been well-documented by Marion Nestle, PhD, who is the foremost authority on Human nutirion in the U.S. today.

[Ruby Goldendoodle]

Thanks. My new puppy does have giardiasis. He said her test was a little positive or something like that. The one poop she had was firm. Thanks for the reply. I will keep her food the same for 2 weeks.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'm not sure what "a little positive" would be, lol. Giardia poop is rarely firm, it usually cause raging diarrhea. Did your vet give you medication for giardia?