The Stupid Vets Office Doesn't Even Have a Clue! They told me to jsut feed Purina!

starryeyedtiger

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I am soo frusterated right now! A minute ago i called the vets office to find out what measures i need to take (ingredient wise, supplements, etc) to start home cooking food for my cats and foster kittens. I told them that I was uncomfortable with many of the dry/wet food products out there now because many have been involved in the recent recalls and i do not trust those companies. They called me back (i had to leave a message) and said, well, we really don't recommend home cooking food because you can do more harm than good if you don't cook it just right/etc. No ....! I said that this morning when i called- the entire reason for calling them was to find out what i need to include so that i DO give them a balanced diet and do not do harm to them by not researching and consulting a lisenced vet!
They said, don't worry about home cooking- just feed Purina, it's not involved in the recall.
I told them that they were wrong! Purina IS involved in the recall- they have several dog foods that have already been recalled, they use Menu foods, and there is no way i'm buying a product from a company that uses Menu or has food involved in the recall- that i did not appreciate that " unsafe recommendation." I do not trust Purina- there is no way my cats will be going back on that. I thanked them for their time and let them know that i would be consulting another vet that will take the time to listen and help me,because the ingredients in Purina are not good and i do not appreciate them recommending a fishy company to me who i can not trust. I told them they seriously need to take a look before they recommend it at a vets office of all places- the first listed ingredients in many of the products are grains and other stuff cats do NOT need- they are carnivores! The first litsted ingredients should mostly be meats.
(that's what i switched my cats off of Purina in the first place - that and the recall for the record). I'm sooo annoyed! So scratch that vets office- i WILL home cook my animals food- i will not support comapnies i do not trust, and i will research and make sure they have everything they need for a balanced, SAFE diet. I can't believe they told me to just feed my cat's Purina......they didn't even take the time to listen. I'm beyond annoyed!
 

beandip

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Is there a holistic vet you can consult with? I think you will get more favorable answers there.
I'm sorry they said Purina...I understand your frustration.
 

white cat lover

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Yeah, I hit the same wall here. I use pre-made raw because the vet's don't know squat about home cooking or raw feeding.

Is there another vet in the area you can call?
 

jenny82

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I totally understand your frustration! My parents' cat, Simba, is very overweight (20 lbs) and the vet told my mom to just keep feeding him Iams and only feed him dry food!


I FINALLY got her to listen to me saying that he should be eating a high quality wet food since it has been 6 months and he has not lost any weight!
 

sharky

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MOST of Purina is NOT made by Menu ... MY biggest beef was finding out they are building a pet food plant IN CHINA...

Most vets think SD Purina and like brands are good do to the reps of those companies coming in all the time.... Yes they should do there homework but many dont have time/./.
 

jpawz

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Originally Posted by sharky

MOST of Purina is NOT made by Menu ... MY biggest beef was finding out they are building a pet food plant IN CHINA...

Most vets think SD Purina and like brands are good do to the reps of those companies coming in all the time.... Yes they should do there homework but many dont have time/./.
What Sharky said....


I think for a lot of frustrated folks out there, those who aren't about to home cook and have very fussy cats, Purina might be a relatively 'safe' bet. It's not the debbil


As for vets---I think this will change. It has to now. Often it takes situations such as this recall to force even the minds in the 'business' to take a better look at the facts. My guess is vets are scrambling; not only are they as frustrated as we are (they are the ones fielding all the appts and panels, etc...) but dealing with a total reassessment of the nutrition and manufacturing.

It's the same with any practitioner of medicine in human/animal fields -- you hear the same sort of complaints from moms coming back from the pediatrician....(as an example).

But THIS will force a change. There will still be a lot of 'old school' vets, 'bad' vets, good vets, more progressive vets...etc...the best thing we can do is be knowledgable with our info and find a vet to work with us.
 
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starryeyedtiger

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Thanks everyone.....It's soo frusterating, i'm glad ya'll understand
I just want to do what is safe for my furbabies and it seems like home cooking (with proper research to make sure their diets are balanced) seems to be the best option and also the most cost -efficient as well. I'm soo annoyed with how little vets seem to care about this in my area (for a majority). I'm not sure if we have a holistic vet around here, but living in Memphis with SOOOO many different vet i wouldn't be suprised if we do- i will try to find one today and see what they say
Till then though i'm trying to figure out exactly what supplements i need to include and if i need to altar/change any per each different recipe- i imagine i would need to
 

jpawz

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Starry--

I give you credit for going home cooked


It's crossing my mind more and more, believe me. I am sure you will find a vet that suits you. The goal isnt' finding a vet who necessarily AGREES with your every idea/approach, but one that LISTENS and works WITH you
 

followedbydolls

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I'm sorry they were not able to help you. Despite owning cats for 19yrs we never spoke about what to feed with our vets, they only wanted to push their science diet script [aka; PRICEY] foods at us.

FWIW tho, Purina in my country, Canada has NO recalls, because the only 2 wet food products that were recalled are not available here, not pitching the purina fan club or 'nothing, i wish they would make better foods, because they do own alot of their own plants and do have good product availablity. etc.

GL, i hope you can find a vet who can assist you in your food choices.
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by Jpawz

Starry--

I give you credit for going home cooked


It's crossing my mind more and more, believe me. I am sure you will find a vet that suits you. The goal isnt' finding a vet who necessarily AGREES with your every idea/approach, but one that LISTENS and works WITH you
I cant agree more ... I only found my vet thru word of mouth and decided to try her since she was near by ... I still refer folks to my old conventional one in another town

Originally Posted by followedbydolls

I'm sorry they were not able to help you. Despite owning cats for 19yrs we never spoke about what to feed with our vets, they only wanted to push their science diet script [aka; PRICEY] foods at us.

FWIW tho, Purina in my country, Canada has NO recalls, because the only 2 wet food products that were recalled are not available here, not pitching the purina fan club or 'nothing, i wish they would make better foods, because they do own alot of their own plants and do have good product availablity. etc.

GL, i hope you can find a vet who can assist you in your food choices.
Thank you for the country reminder
 

trixie23

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Originally Posted by StarryEyedTiGeR

I am soo frusterated right now! A minute ago i called the vets office to find out what measures i need to take (ingredient wise, supplements, etc) to start home cooking food for my cats and foster kittens. I told them that I was uncomfortable with many of the dry/wet food products out there now because many have been involved in the recent recalls and i do not trust those companies. They called me back (i had to leave a message) and said, well, we really don't recommend home cooking food because you can do more harm than good if you don't cook it just right/etc. No ....! I said that this morning when i called- the entire reason for calling them was to find out what i need to include so that i DO give them a balanced diet and do not do harm to them by not researching and consulting a lisenced vet!
They said, don't worry about home cooking- just feed Purina, it's not involved in the recall.
I told them that they were wrong! Purina IS involved in the recall- they have several dog foods that have already been recalled, they use Menu foods, and there is no way i'm buying a product from a company that uses Menu or has food involved in the recall- that i did not appreciate that " unsafe recommendation." I do not trust Purina- there is no way my cats will be going back on that. I thanked them for their time and let them know that i would be consulting another vet that will take the time to listen and help me,because the ingredients in Purina are not good and i do not appreciate them recommending a fishy company to me who i can not trust. I told them they seriously need to take a look before they recommend it at a vets office of all places- the first listed ingredients in many of the products are grains and other stuff cats do NOT need- they are carnivores! The first litsted ingredients should mostly be meats.
(that's what i switched my cats off of Purina in the first place - that and the recall for the record). I'm sooo annoyed! So scratch that vets office- i WILL home cook my animals food- i will not support comapnies i do not trust, and i will research and make sure they have everything they need for a balanced, SAFE diet. I can't believe they told me to just feed my cat's Purina......they didn't even take the time to listen. I'm beyond annoyed!
Purina? That is a pathetic suggestion from a veterinarian! Mine always recommend Science Diet... I swear its their high held sales pitch (I prefer not to use Science Diet) mine are on EVO dry at the moment! I know your dilema... I hate dealing with my vet... The receptionist is a royal bi*** that has no compassion for anyone! Not to mention I always feel rushed and brushed off at the vet... Im paying them damn good money which means they should take the extra time and concern to answer my questions! Whoooo now you got me flustered from my vet encounter earlier this week!!
 
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starryeyedtiger

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Originally Posted by Jpawz

Starry--

I give you credit for going home cooked


It's crossing my mind more and more, believe me. I am sure you will find a vet that suits you. The goal isnt' finding a vet who necessarily AGREES with your every idea/approach, but one that LISTENS and works WITH you
Thankyou- i definitely appreciate that and agree with what you said. What REALLY frusterated me was them not taking the time to tell me WHY "purina" is "better" than me taking the time to research and make sure all home cooked meals are balanced and safe, etc. If i'm wrong, i want to know why and what is better....but the thing was that if i didn't want advice/to consult a professional vet...i wouldn't have called. They didn't want to waste their time on me- that's what's annoying. It was the receptionist who called back and told me what the vet had said (which is not our normal vet -there are about 6 in that practice- there are only two i like there neithor were in today)


Originally Posted by followedbydolls

I'm sorry they were not able to help you. Despite owning cats for 19yrs we never spoke about what to feed with our vets, they only wanted to push their science diet script [aka; PRICEY] foods at us.

FWIW tho, Purina in my country, Canada has NO recalls, because the only 2 wet food products that were recalled are not available here, not pitching the purina fan club or 'nothing, i wish they would make better foods, because they do own alot of their own plants and do have good product availablity. etc.

GL, i hope you can find a vet who can assist you in your food choices.
I didn't know Purina wasn't "good" until all of the recent recalls. I had fed my girls Purina Indoor Cat Formula and my kittens, Purina kitten Chow for years without any problems as well as fancy feast wet foods as treats. It wasn't until the recalls that my eyes were completly opened and i started researching just what was in those foods and realizing the ingredients are not the best for them. That and the fact that they used Menu (etc) made me want to change to a better food (so i switched to chicken soup products- now i obviously don't trust them eithor
) so all of that is why i'm motivated to try and home cook meals. I think it's in the safest interest of thme. it also seems to be a pretty cost efficient idea


Originally Posted by trixie23

Purina? That is a pathetic suggestion from a veterinarian! Mine always recommend Science Diet... I swear its their high held sales pitch (I prefer not to use Science Diet) mine are on EVO dry at the moment! I know your dilema... I hate dealing with my vet... The receptionist is a royal bi*** that has no compassion for anyone! Not to mention I always feel rushed and brushed off at the vet... Im paying them damn good money which means they shoudl take the extra time and concern to answer my questions! Whoooo now you got me flustered from my vet encounter earlier this week!!
Oh yea- most of the vets around here push Sicence Diet as well....they're getting a profit by doing that
I fed Science Diet before i started my girls on Purina (they didn't do good on S.D.) i wasn't happy with the ingredients or how all of the vets are making a profit off of it. What really irritates me is that my vets office hasn't done this before (i actually go to several different ones- this one i use because it's across the street from our house and also because our shetler uses them- there are about 6-7 vets there- (big clinic!) but only two that i really like- they're wonderful- but they weren't there today, some of the ones i dislike were...so i'm thinking that's why i got that response
Eithor way- there's NO way we're going back to Purina, i wouldn't care if the Pope recommended it
 

renny

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Not entirely unexpected I guess....my vet has admitted to not being as knowledgable about nutrition as I am (thanks to this site).

I went through this site when I was thinking about making my own. Very knowledgable.
 

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I understand your frustration. My mom called her vet because she'd been feeding one of the cats a Eukanuba low cal prescription diet. She didn't want to feed any IAMS/Eukanuba products after the recall, plus there was some information that came out recently that they have been adding a questionable chemical to the weight management food (I can't remember the name of it right now, but there was some link to cancer). They told her that since that food was not on the recall list she shouldn't worry. She told them she didn't care and she wanted a to start feeding something new because she no longer trusted Eukanuba products. Finally they gave in and offered the Royal Canin version of the same diet. She's still wary because some RC products have been recalled as well, but of the two, I'd trust them more. Before calling the vet she did try feeding Felidae Platinum, but the cat unfortunately would have none of it. I just think a lot of vets fall back on the old standards because they get it drilled into their heads by marketers that those are top of the line brands.
 

trixie23

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Yeah on another forum a person tried telling me that vets recommend Science Diet because it is a good brand not because they make a profit! I know for a fact that our vet makes profit off of SD... Most of them here do!
 

kittiesx2

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When I began researching more natural foods I asked my Vet his opinion on the subjuct. He told me that Purina One (what my kitties used to eat) was a good food and that either Iams or Science Diet would be the best choice if I wanted to switch

Before I started the switch to RAW food I also checked in with my Vet to get his opinion. The Vet Assistant told me that they don't promote a RAW diet because they DO NOT SELL IT!!

She then gave me the phone number of a Vet that does promote a RAW diet because they sell it....What's up with that?
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by kittiesx2

When I began researching more natural foods I asked my Vet his opinion on the subjuct. He told me that Purina One (what my kitties used to eat) was a good food and that either Iams or Science Diet would be the best choice if I wanted to switch

Before I started the switch to RAW food I also checked in with my Vet to get his opinion. The Vet Assistant told me that they don't promote a RAW diet because they DO NOT SELL IT!!

She then gave me the phone number of a Vet that does promote a RAW diet because they sell it....What's up with that?
hey your vet was honest... see many vets have SD pay for vet school and sign a contract to sell and recommend it ... but most would be vets dont realize what they are doing
... I think that is a good vet to say hey I dont promote this but so and so does talk with them..IMHO
 
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starryeyedtiger

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It's soo nice to see other people understand my frustration. My mom and boyfriend think i'm just being overly cautious/worrying becuase i don't trust any of the companies right now. I tried to explaine to them the benifits of home cooking (so long as it's a blanced/safe diet) and also the cost benifits too. They still don't get it
 
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