Why You Should Say "NO" When Your Vet Recommends Rx Dog Food

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I've been doing a lot of research on feeding dogs for some time now, and people often ask me to help them find a good quality commercial food. Lately, I've had a few people whose vets recommended Hill's "prescription" diets (or similar foods like Purina EN) which can only be purchased by vet prescription. These foods are usually sold directly by the vet and are very expensive.
People can sense by looking at the labels or reading on-line that these foods don't seem all that healthy, and they would like to feed something better, not to mention cheaper. But they have been told that their dogs need these foods because of allergies, chronic diarrhea or other gastrointestinal problems, and they don't know what a good alternative might be.
You may already know that most vets don't know very much about nutrition or dog food. That may seem strange to you, but it isn't much different than medical doctors. In each case, they take a rudimentary course in college, the same course that nurses & exercise instructors (or vet techs) take.
In fact, the veterinary colleges have no required nutrition curriculum.  What information is provided comes in the form of seminars conducts by Hills, Purina and Mars, makers of the Rx foods your vet sells. The textbooks are written and published by people who work for these companies, and their advertising is all over the walls. They also give a commission to the vets for selling their foods. Can you say "conflict of interest"? The vets are taught to "prescribe" these foods as if they're medicine. "Dog has diarrhea? Recommend this!", the salesman tells them, and then launches into the sales pitch about how great the food is.
If you brought your child to the doctor because he had chronic diarrhea or was vomiting, and the doctor said, "Here, feed him this", would you accept that? Or would you want to know what was wrong, why the child is ill, what is causing it? Wouldn't you expect some tests? Wouldn't you want a diagnosis, a prognosis, and an explanation of how the food (medicine) will help?
We need to learn to do the same thing with our dogs. Let's take a look at some of these foods the vets are recommending.

[Jill, Woody & Maxi]

Its sad that this is message that is being broadcasted by these vets, vet techs, etc..Unknowing pet owners think their word is gold..

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I just wish more people would think about the fact that their own doctors do not recommend or sell food products. We don't usually think of our human doctors as authorities on diet and nutrition, why do we think a vet would be? 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I should also mention that there is one brand of Rx food that is not made by a multinational corporation, and contains only wholesome and high quality ingredients: Rayne Clinical Nutrition 

It is available in both the U.S. and Canada. 

If your vet adamantly insists that your dog needs an Rx diet for digestive, allergic, urinary or any other health condition, ask him/her to prescribe this for you. 

[Tammie Ciesielka]

I picked up my girl this morning after spending 24 hours at the Vet.  I was given an RX food (Purina RN) and was told to give it to her for the next 2 - 3 weeks because she needed to be on a bland diet.  After I fed her dinner, I turned the bag over and started reading the ingredients.  I was so disappointed in myself for not checking before I fed her.  It was junk!  Obviously, I don't want to give her this in the morning.  Do I call the Vet and ask what I should feed her - tell him this food does not sit well with me?  She has been eating Blue Buffalo Wilderness all her life.  I had given her a marrow bone and left her chew on it a little too long I think.  The next day she started with diarrhea and vomiting.  I need some advice.  I don't want to feed her something that is going to upset her belly again and I certainly don't want to give her this junk food again.  What do I do?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Tammy, there is nothing in the diet that the vet sold you (I think you meant to say Purina EN)  that is in any way therapeutic. It's a bag full of corn and floor sweepings and is even worse than most other Rx foods because it is one of the very few foods left that still contains a very dangerous artificial form of vitamin K, menadione sodium bisulfite.

But there is no point in your calling the vet and asking what you should feed her, because obviously he doesn't know or he wouldn;t have recommended this crap. 

Did the vet do Xrays or any other testing? What was the exact diagnosis? It's doubtful that chewing on a marrow bone "too long" would cause diarrhea or vomiting severe enough to require 24 hours at the vet. Did the vet give you any meds? 

You can feed a homemade bland diet of plain boiled white meat chicken and plain boiled white rice or plain baked mashed sweet potatoes, which I prefer because it's higher in fiber and it's not grain. You will need to feed more than you usually give her, because it's lower in calories than kibble. 

But food of any kind, Rx, homemade, whatever, is not going to cure an illness, an infection, or a GI issue caused by a foreign body.  

[Jill, Woody & Maxi]

For a bland diet, I would feed boiled chicken breast and sweet potatoes.  Did the vet run any tests? Fecal or bloodwork?  Did they give her any medications, IV fluids, or just the rx food?  You are very wise to not feed that..the ingredients are very poor quality.

[Tammie Ciesielka]

Thank you so much for replying Karen.  I was hoping you would!!  The vet took X-rays and saw something in her colon but wasn't sure what it was.  He said it could be a sock or something or it could just be poop.  He also took bloodwork.  He said the bloodwork came back that it was pancreatitis.  He then did additional bloodwork to be sure it wasn't affecting other organs.  He put her on IV and kept her overnight since she hadn't pooped and he wanted to know what was in her colon.  Well, she never did go, but she ate and kept everything down so he discharged her this morning.  He prescribed Omeprazole 20 mg once a day and another Purina product called FortiFlora which you sprinkle over the crappy food once a day.  

I feel better knowing the marrow bone didn't cause this because I was feeling terrible about that.  After reading other peoples posts on DK, I thought it was due to giving her a high fat treat???

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

High fat foods or treats can bring on an attack of pancreatitis, and pancreatitis often does require hospitalization, as it can be fatal. But I sure would want to know what that was that he saw in her colon. If it's poop, sooner or later, it has to come out. If it's anything else, it absolutely must come out, and that may require surgery. The longer a foreign body sits in the GI tract, the greater the chance of a serious permanent injury or illness. 

Omeprazole is a strong antacid/anti-reflex medicine. That in itself isn't going to cure anything. Forti-flora is a probiotic that contains some really poor quality ingredients, like all other Purina products. The first ingredient in it is animal digest, which is a flavoring agent and is not medicinal. In fact it's disgusting:

"AAFCO: A material which results from chemical and/or enzymatic hydrolysis of clean and undecomposed animal tissue. The animal tissues used shall be exclusive of hair, horns, teeth, hooves and feathers, except in such trace amounts as might occur unavoidably in good factory practice and shall be suitable for animal feed. If it bears a name descriptive of its kind or flavor(s), it must correspond thereto.

A cooked-down broth made from unspecified parts of unspecified animals. The animals used can be obtained from any source, so there is no control over quality or contamination. Any kind of animal can be included: "4-D animals" (dead, diseased, disabled, or dying prior to slaughter), goats, pigs, horses, rats, misc. roadkill, animals euthanized at shelters, restaurant and supermarket refuse and so on."

http://www.dogfoodproject.com/?page=badingredients

 Order Proviable DC tonight on-line instead. This is another example of how clueless the vets are about nutrition and food products. I guarantee you the vet has no idea what's in the stuff.  Probiotics provide the good digestive bacteria that is necessary for proper digestion, but that also isn't going to cure anything or move a sock out of her colon. 

She needs a low-fat diet for the pancreatitis. Use white meat chicken and remove all visible fat. Another alternative would be Wellness Simple Solutions salmon & potato or turkey & potato LID kibble. The fat content is the same as the Purina EN. 

If she doesn't have a normal poop within the next day or two, you are going to have to bring her back and have another X ray done to see if there is still something in her colon. They may need to do a barium swallow too. Good luck. 

[Tammie Ciesielka]

Wow!  That is just disgusting.  Wish I could erase that from my mind.  

She did poop this afternoon.  It wasn't diarrhea but wasn't a totally formed poop.  It was very dark like tar.  I honestly don't think she ate a sock.  She steals socks from the laundry but has never eaten one.  She does like paper products when she gets a hold of a paper towel or napkin.  

I am definitely NOT going to give her any of these Purina products.  Is the low fat diet enough to get her over the pancreatitis?  Also,  when giving her the chicken, should I feed her small amounts more often or a normal size meal 2 or 3 times a day?  Thanks again for your recommendations.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

No diet alone is going to cure anything. There is some very good information about pancreatitis in the Health group, I'll try to find the link for you. 

Feeding 3 times a day would be a good idea. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Here's one discussion about diets for dogs with pancreatitis: http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/thefoodgroup/forum/topics/need-to...

Here's an excellent discussion by a member whose doodle had a bout of severe acute pancreatitis: http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/healthandmedicalissues/forum/topi...

[Gina and Poncho Doodle Dog]

I just ran across this blog and am very disturbed by what I am reading. I have had my doodle on Hills z/d diet for several years as recommended by my vet. I always thought I was giving my doodle the very best care.  Tomorrow I will be looking for alternative food choices so please send me your recommendations!!!