food opinion from a veterinary nutritionist

[Ginny Nightingale]

My daughter, who is a vet and hears me sing the praises of grain-free dog food, posted this article online today from a veterinary nutritionist...grain-free is not necessarily better according to her...but the other foods seem to be all corn or wheat--what is best?

http://now.tufts.edu/articles/grain-free-diet-healthier-my-dogs-and...

[Ginny Nightingale]

I agree with you Karen, but this is an ongoing argument with my daughter, so I try not to discuss it with her! Here is what she has to say on the subject. I am just posting it so that people can see a veterinarian's comments--she loves her animals and just had a cat live to the age of 22! So, she would never do anything to harm them.

 "I think the take home point of this article is that grain-free is a marketing ploy and that most dogs do not have an actual issue digesting grains or a grain allergy. And "mostly" corn or wheat is misleading; but just because a food contains one of these ingredients does not mean the dog is going to have issues with them.

As they mentioned, dogs with food allergies are most commonly allergic to an animal protein in the food, like chicken or beef. If your dog has food allergies, a good place to start is a food trial with a sole, novel source of protein (ex. Venison based food with none of the common animal proteins in ingredient list, such as chicken or beef). 

In general, I trust the foods the most that are made by companies who have veterinarians on staff and perform actual research on their foods. For some reason, brands such as Hills, Iams and Purina have gotten a bad rap from consumers, mostly due to marketing by clever companies who have chosen to market their own products by bad-mouthing the other foods, even though those foods are backed by the best research and nutritionists in the industry. 

I think the important thing is to use what food works best for your dog. Between my five small animals, Jack gets Purina Pro Plan, Daisy gets Blue Buffalo Basics, two of the cats eat Hills Science Diet Healthy Advantage Oral Plus and Goose is about to try a two month food trial on Hills Science Diet Duck and Pea novel protein diet for his skin issues. I get no "kick backs" for feeding or promoting these diets, especially as a primarily large animal vet. But I do trust them. 

At the end of the day, it is a great discussion to have with your primary vet. As with many things, pet food companies have found an opportunity, by preying on people's fears and taken advantage with clever marketing. Dr. Google is not a trustworthy source of information on this topic! Ask a vet what food they recommend for your particular pet and why.

And keep in mind the Dog Food Advisor website is created and run by a human dentist with a deep distrust of commercially available dog foods. He claim they killed his dog. This makes me immediately skeptical of any claims he is going to put forth! And he has input on his site from ONE veterinarian; not a veterinary nutritionist. 
Be skeptical of internet sources. There's a lot of garbage out there."

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The reason that Hills, Iams, and Purina have gotten a "bad rap" is not because of "clever companies who have chosen to market their products by bad-mouthing the other foods". In fact, when was the last time you saw any marketing or advertising of any kind for Fromm's? Or for Orijen? The companies we recommend put their budgets toward quality, not advertising. It's the Big 3 that your daughter mentions that do the advertising. They also sell their foods thru vets, which represents a conflict of interest, as the vet makes the same profit as a store would. It's no coincidence that these three companies that vets recommend are the ones that make the Rx foods. Which BTW, are now the subject of a class action law suit citing false advertising and labeling, among other things. http://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/pets/dr-fox/class-action-lawsuit...

The reason those companies get a bad rap from consumers is because of what happened in 2007 with the melamine imported from China that killed and permanently sickened thousands of pets. Iams was the primary culprit, but all of them were involved, and the cover-up was horrifying. That's not from am internet source, either. It's from Marion Nestle, PHD. I highly recommend all pet owners and all vets read Pet Food Politics to get a better understanding of the supply chain, which also affects our human food supply as well.  

I would never say a bad word against your daughter, Ginny, but the fact remains that there is no nutritional curriculum in veterinary school other than the marketing that is provided by the very same companies your DD (and many vets) recommend. These companies provide all-expenses paid trips to their facilities, and many other perks. I personally would never take advice from any GP vet about what to feed my pets. I have gotten some good advice from veterinary specialists, though. In fact, it was Jackdoodle's dermatologist who recommended switching him to a grain-free food, specifically Orijen, and the reason for that was the Omega 3 fatty acid content. 

[Ginny Nightingale]

I respect your opinion--let me just point out that my daughter deals with horses and cows so this is not her expertise, merely her opinion. I do want to point out that the disrespect vets are receiving as a result of the Dr Google opinions that she refers to is increasing the suicide rate among vets.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'm aware of the high rate of suicide among veterinarians as a profession. However, I would question that disrespect due to opinions on the internet is a contributing factor. It's not mentioned in any of the trustworthy articles that discuss the subject. Here's one example: https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/2016/09/18/why-many-veterinar...

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I blame facebook over Google!  The crap that is posted there is disrespectful to everyone, including vets.  And the way posts are, it's hard to follow a thread with meaningful dialogue.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I agree with that 100%.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I want to add that I have the utmost respect for my vet, and for the veterinary profession as whole, when it comes to what they are qualified to provide, which is medical care and advice. I'm one of those people who runs to the vet for any little thing that seems to be wrong. Jack has seen 9 veterinary specialists and still sees 4 or 5 of them on a regular basis.The last thing in the world I would ever do when it comes to JD's health issues is to ask for advice from people online. 

But GP vets should stick to what they know, medicine. They are not nutritionists or dieticians. Neither are our medical doctors, and our doctors don't sell food or recommend food brands. Pediatricians may recommend a particular type of food, like the BRAT diet for a sick child, or rice cereal for a baby starting on solids, but they certainly don't recommend a brand or sell us the food. I think respect for the veterinary profession in general would improve if they took food sales out of the equation. 

[Ginny Nightingale]

Interesting point--I am sure YOU have utmost respect for your vet, but others are often abusive as anyone can be in an emotional situation--as a teacher, I saw it firsthand too--everyone can now be an "expert"--and most of these vets are facing extreme financial pressure--although vet school and med school cost about the same (over 200K) the salaries are WAY different in most cases and paying back the loans is much more difficult for your average vet (got a son in med school, so I know this first hand!) 

So, sometimes, I think they wonder if it was all worth it when they are not even treated like they know what they are doing. As far as the food goes, I am sure you are right about that....

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I think all professions and professionals take their share of abuse and disrespect, and probably wonder at times if their hard work was worth it. I had clients who took advice from their hairdresser or the sales clerk at the GNC over mine, lol. 

One thing about the MD salaries/financial pressure versus vet salaries/financial pressure- the malpractice insurance costs for MDs is many, many times more than that of vets. :) 

[Ginny Nightingale]

The young docs I know tell me that they have no trouble paying off their loans and are not worried about it--the young vets I know are struggling to make ends meet.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Well, the young docs you know may not be struggling to pay off their loans, but plenty of them are. 

http://www.mdedge.com/familypracticenews/article/56016/health-polic...

[Ginny Nightingale]

Not to be nit picky but I am basing this on actual discussions with about 12-15  DOCTORS in their 20s or early 30s (they all seem to buy labradoodles!), not medical students--which is what this article is about. They are more worried now than they were--but they are not doctors yet. So, I don't think this article supports your statement. 

I always ask about it because my son will have a lot of debt and I am hoping he has an easier time with it than my daughter's husband who is also a dairy vet. My daughter qualified for a federal loan repayment program since she is in a very low income area with an extreme lack of veterinarians, so she will have her vet school loans all paid off. Thank goodness!