soothie Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Hi, I want to do the right thing by my dogs as much as I can with their diets. They seem to be thriving on their food which they have been on for 3 years. One is fed Artemis (teeny elderly fella), another is feed Holistic Select Salmon (active boy with digestive issues but thrives on this) and another Nutro plus Canidea (has been on a weightloss program for the past 2 years and doing great). So my vet is trying to convince me that all these foods are crap and super expensive and the only good foods are the ones the vet supplies, ie Science Diet and Advance. Who do I believe? A vet who is supposed to be an expert or all the research that I have accumlated on the net from forums such as these and web sites that rate the foods and contents? My reaseach indicates the dry food such as Science Diet is no better if not worse and even more pricey. Am I deluding myself that I am doing the right thing with my choices? I would really appreciate your feedback and your experience in this matter. Thanks in advance :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yonjuro Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 It sounds like you are doing the right thing for your dogs... I would be looking for another vet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldenluv Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 you believe your dogs, if they are doing well on the food stick with it :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marion 01 Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 If it is working well for the dogs and while they are going well on it, I wouldn't change anything. Sometimes changing can bring on all sorts of problems, especially if you have dogs that have digestive problems etc. ( Don't fix what ain't broke as the saying goes) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chequeredblackdog Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Sounds like you're doing the right thing. Not saying this is always the case, but in my personal experience, a lot of vets' nutrition education has been sponsored by the big food companies, Hills in particular. This seems to result in a limited perspective of what is 'right' in the ways of nutrition. So vets quite often seems to push what food they know. That or some vet surgeries get special deals/ paid by a company to push a certain food/ brand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkySoaringMagpie Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 If they are selling Advance or Science Diet in their waiting room then I'm afraid their advice is suspect because they are trying to sell you an ongoing commitment to buy the product from them. Not cool. FWIW, my view on feeding is that if what you are doing is working, then don't muck around with it. I would not feed Science Diet except as emergency kibble and Advance doesn't work for my guys because it gives them the runs. It might well work for others, and that's fine, but switching for the sake of a vet's bottom line is not something I would be doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WreckitWhippet Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Stick with what you are doing. Science diet is crap. Advance is ok but not worth switching from any of the brands you are currently feeding. Time to find a new vet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosetta Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Ask him on what information he is basing his advice? Is it that Science and Advance have better ingredients and if so what are they? Really interested as to whether he really has any understanding - many vets don't seem to have done as much research as some of their clients into what is actually in the foods they are promoting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabbath Posted October 20, 2013 Share Posted October 20, 2013 Stick with what you are doing. Science diet is crap. Advance is ok but not worth switching from any of the brands you are currently feeding. Time to find a new vet +1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelpiecuddles Posted October 20, 2013 Share Posted October 20, 2013 Science diet has a 'pet nutrition training program' that they push on vets and pet stores that sell their product, they tried to push it on me but I just took the book and never returned it to them :p Go with what works well for your dogs and find a vet who can appreciate that messing with the foods that your dogs are doing well on isn't a smart move! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chequeredblackdog Posted October 20, 2013 Share Posted October 20, 2013 Science diet has a 'pet nutrition training program' that they push on vets and pet stores that sell their product, they tried to push it on me but I just took the book and never returned it to them :p I must say I have done the hills nutrition thing. It was required by work ( and I got free pizza and movies tickets! Lol) I filled in the quiz at the end in accordance to my beliefs on nutrition. Hence I think I got most of them wrong! :laugh: one thing in particular that annoyed me was how they were going on about corn being a great and important ingredient and also low allergen. And in the next breath talking about how all the other brands use fillers and inferior ingredients/ formulas and that Hills is THE BEST FOOD EVER! *insert rolly eye man. I just bite my tongue at these things now....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelpiecuddles Posted October 20, 2013 Share Posted October 20, 2013 Pizza and movie tickets! Maybe I should fill it out just for the hell of it LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaCC Posted October 20, 2013 Share Posted October 20, 2013 (edited) Hills sponsors the vet students here, they get lectures by them, and also super cheap food if they want to order it. I went to one of the lectures as we (Animal science students) actually got invited once. Exactly what Chequeredblackdog said, "Corn low allergen " I got a free leash and bowl out of it though. Edited October 20, 2013 by LisaCC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelpiecuddles Posted October 20, 2013 Share Posted October 20, 2013 Apart from anything else I wouldn't buy it as our rep is really rude and pushy LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSoSwift Posted October 20, 2013 Share Posted October 20, 2013 NO don't change what youa re doing, it is working, the foods youa re feeding are good quality foods. As said Advance is okay, Science diet is crap. I would ask your vet intellegent questions about why, if they don't ahve good answers go elsewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salukifan Posted October 20, 2013 Share Posted October 20, 2013 Hi, I want to do the right thing by my dogs as much as I can with their diets. They seem to be thriving on their food which they have been on for 3 years. One is fed Artemis (teeny elderly fella), another is feed Holistic Select Salmon (active boy with digestive issues but thrives on this) and another Nutro plus Canidea (has been on a weightloss program for the past 2 years and doing great). So my vet is trying to convince me that all these foods are crap and super expensive and the only good foods are the ones the vet supplies, ie Science Diet and Advance. Who do I believe? A vet who is supposed to be an expert or all the research that I have accumlated on the net from forums such as these and web sites that rate the foods and contents? My reaseach indicates the dry food such as Science Diet is no better if not worse and even more pricey. Am I deluding myself that I am doing the right thing with my choices? I would really appreciate your feedback and your experience in this matter. Thanks in advance :) Believe your dogs. If they are doing well on the diet they are on, why change it to something being pushed by a vet with a vested interest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soothie Posted October 23, 2013 Author Share Posted October 23, 2013 Thank you all for the replies! I feel better now that I am doing the right thing :) I spent alot of time researching each dogs needs 3 years ago and feel good about their diet. Next visit to the vet, I will note more about what foods they have. I don't always see the same vet (this one is my least favourite) at the practice but he is the only one that seems to push their food. All he said was that these foods are very expensive and not everthing from the US is good. I told him one of the brands I use is Australian (Natural Choise) :) He didn't respond to that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now