Am I nuts? pet store employee p*ssed me off

I'm so glad I wasn't with you at the time, coz I would have gone off on one, and given her a right old rant. A, I am a bit of a know it all especially about cats and dogs health care food suppliments food brands etc B, I am a brilliant actor and Blagger so if I didn't know something I sure would have sounded convincing that I knew what I was talking about, and C, she would have looked so small and pathetic she'd probably have quit her job their and then!!

and then we'd have laughed all the way home!!!

I wouldn't mind betting that they get showered with leaflets and presentations from dry food manufacturers about how their food is the only healthy way to feed a cat, and that product is what they should be selling Some people become a bit 'blinded by science' if you like, and fall for it hook line and sinker.

Good for you for taking the effort to change their attitude on this!

way to go gal !!

Everyone is entitled to thier own oppinion. But I think that it wasn't right of her to keep persisting and to tell you that you were damaging your cat. Go ahead and give her the article, but if she's that thick headed I'm not sure that it'll change her mind, or even that she'll read it. But I would talk to a manager, she shouldn't be scaring people like that with bad advice.

I'll wager a guess that the girl was probably in school studying to be a vet and thinks she knows it all.

I'm an RN and back when I was doing my final rotation before graduating, I was assigned a nurses aide student. I was in a patient's room talking about pain management with the man's son (who didn't want his dad to have anything for pain) and this nurses aide student was making the bed on the other side of the room. Suddenly he piped up and interjected his opinion on pain medications and dosages. I could have jumped over the bed and choked him, LOL But I asked him to go and check on a patient in another room, finished up my conversation with the son and then went out to speak to that student and told him that what he did was inappropriate and not part of his job description.

So it's quite possible that this girl you encountered was similar to this nurses aide student I had to evaluate.

Either way, what she did was wrong. She made her suggestion to you and should have left it at that instead of arguing with you and accusing you of being a bad meowmy.

ok that really woudl have angered me!! so many breeders/employees of pet food stores think they are vets, or at least know more than vets... obviously do your own research, and obviously the person that took veterinary medicine would know whats best!!!!!!!!!!!!!
P.S. heard bad things about Orijen Kibble! too much protein = polycystic kidney disorder......... watch out! (info from my vet)

Originally Posted by kittykittysick

ok that really woudl have angered me!! so many breeders/employees of pet food stores think they are vets, or at least know more than vets... obviously do your own research, and obviously the person that took veterinary medicine would know whats best!!!!!!!!!!!!!
P.S. heard bad things about Orijen Kibble! too much protein = polycystic kidney disorder......... watch out! (info from my vet)

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Oh it contains too much phosphorous. It's not the protein itself, it's the phosphorous which tends to come with the protein.

I just discontinued feeding my cats all dry food, didn't think I could do it but I finally did. Spotty eats his canned food free choice like he did his kibble twice a day for the amount of time I leave it out. And I'm convinced that even these grain free dry foods are no good IMHO (but no offense to anyone who feeds it, I don't have the right to give unsolicited advice). I can tell anyone stupid enough to give me a lecture on how "damaging" feeding my cats canned food is that because I'm not feeding dry food anymore my cats are not going to get urinary tract disease or feline diabetis and probably won't get IBD since their gastrointestinal systems are not being overloaded with grains and fillers from dry food and Spotty is definitely going to shed some of his 17 pounds.

Here's something you can say to the ignorant pet store employee. "What scientific basis do you have to back up your claim? (She'll be in a frozen state thinking) Well? I'm waiting. No, cats on dry food get plenty of tarter build up and plaque on their teeth from the starches. No, that dry stuff is technology, not real science. Want Science? Just watch nature programs and see what cats in the wild eat. Well? Oh, I see, you're not knowledgeable enough to come up with a smart answer? Well, I rest my case. But I think I'll purchase the canned food at a different store. You just lost a sale." Just say that. Because I would be angry enough to talk like that.

I agree - take her a copy of the article and also ask to speak to the manager - if the manager is not there, get his/her name and number and contact them.

No way should that employee be acting that way - especially raising her voice too.

First of all, go see the manager! It is NOT her place to give out her opinion on what a customer should or should not be feeding their pet. That is really not any of their business and it was uncalled for, nor did you ask for it. If she really knew anything about animals, she wouldn't be working as a cashier in a pet store. Maybe she should go back to school and be properly educated.
No, I don't think you are crazy. What she did was very distasteful and it wouldn't surprise me if they started to lose money due to unwarranted advice.


Good for you! I'm glad you stood up for what you believe in and that the manager took your side. Either she will shape up and shut up or ship out.

The original post was from over a year ago. To the OP: Have you shopped at that store since then? Did that clerk apologize? I hope so! Good for you for bringing the articles in, and for talking to the manager about the poor customer service.

Originally Posted by Abigail

yesterday I was buying two weeks of wet food for abi. the pet store employee went on a rant about how bad wet food is for cats and they should only eat it as a treat. I explained what my vet said about food and she persisted in a loud voice to scold me and how shocking it was for a vet to give such bad advice to a pet owner. I gently explained that their natural wild diet would be flesh and blood and bones but she only got more strident about how I was damaging my cat. I am going to go back there today with a six page article on why high quality wet food is the best food for a cat. she shouldn't be practicing medicine or nutrition without a license and I am going to talk to the manager. If she doesn't cease her bad advice I am not going to shop there anymore. Am I insane?

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I bet the store manager doesn't have a clue the employee is doing that. The store is in the business to sell food. They'd be shooting themselves in the foot if they were telling customers wet food is bad. Maybe it's a new employee.

HIGH protein drys are NOT all bad ... For wt mgmt they help greatly, BUT BUT the long term affects of HIGH protein in a DRY format is UNKNOWN since they havent been on the market long enough for even one generation to have used it from kitten to senior... WET food has about the same Protein and fat as the NO grain dry s and IS very safe ..

PKD is a GENETIC disorder not a FOOD caused disorder

Originally Posted by NinaCaliente

The original post was from over a year ago. To the OP: Have you shopped at that store since then? Did that clerk apologize? I hope so! Good for you for bringing the articles in, and for talking to the manager about the poor customer service.

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I also wondered why this old post was revived. The OP already confronted the clerk and went to the Manager according to her earlier posts.

I'm glad you did all that. I can't see why a store clerk would ever say that kind of crap. At least you got something free out of the deal

Originally Posted by sharky

HIGH protein drys are NOT all bad ... For wt mgmt they help greatly, BUT BUT the long term affects of HIGH protein in a DRY format is UNKNOWN since they havent been on the market long enough for even one generation to have used it from kitten to senior... WET food has about the same Protein and fat as the NO grain dry s and IS very safe ..

PKD is a GENETIC disorder not a FOOD caused disorder

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Thanks for clarifying that, Jennifer.
I was wondering how in the world Orijen could cause PKD. I suppose it could be bad for a cat with PKD, and the poster misunderstood.