Should this raise a red flag? Vet pet food recommendation...

My vet sends a monthly newsletter. One article I found in the 2010 archives about nutrition concerns me because it goes against what I've heard here and elsewhere. Would this concern you? Enough to get a new vet? Am I over reacting in finding this article strange? I feed Katz n floc ken and indigo moon by solid gold plus 50% wet to my 3 year old and chicken soup for the kitten lovers soul plus wet to my kitten. This is the best compromise between good and what I can afford.

WHAT FOOD SHOULD I FEED, is a frequently asked question.  There is no simple and absolute answer, but we can offer a few guidelines.  As there are thousands of pet foods in various sizes and forms on the market, how do you choose. Reading the label sounds good, but there is not enough information to make a sound decision.  Searching the internet and collecting information is an idea, but not much more helpful than reading a label. Listening to sales persons in the pet store may be the worst idea! They do not have nutritional training and are just there to sell their companies product or the product the pet store is pushing this month.  Even for us as trained professionals, that have taken nutrition courses and attended continuing education, deciding the best diet is not easy. To that end we use two guidelines to help you decide. Buy food from companies that do nutritional research. That is about 4.5 companies. The super premium foods are made by Hills, Iams, Royal Canin, and Nestle’-Purina. The Purina Chows are made by Purina which still does some research, but they only market grocery store brands. You get what you pay for is also a reasonable statement. Is the burger from Rally’s as good as the burger from a sit down restaurant? Not at all likely. The same analogy applies to pet food.  If a pet has been eating the same diet, regardless of manufacturer, and is doing well and looks good, it is tough to recommend a change. One last note, raw food diets are not recommended by any trained nutritionist anywhere in the world!

Drs. A and b attended a day-long seminar on pet nutrition. They are now equipped to use their newest, most up to date knowledge to help you decide which is a great food for your pet.  We consider any food that comes from a company that is not doing nutrition research to be generic. Don’t be fooled when an actor, or other famous person puts their name on the product.  Many breeders and internet comments promote raw food diets. Again, we question their expertise and advise you not to consider them a knowledgeable source. There is no one trained veterinary nutritionist that recommends feeding a raw food diet. Raw meats have the potential of carrying at least 50 different disease causing organisms. Finally, the radio is full of ads for a product called DInoVite. It is very expensive, and if you are feeding a high quality die,t is not necessary and may cause the diet to become unbalanced.  One ingredient is flax seed oil. This form of Omega 3 fatty acids is not well absorbed in dogs.

Unfortunately this would not concern me enough to get a new vet. The only training most vets get in nutrition is from, surprise surprise, Hills or Royal Canin.


When it comes to the part talking about 'sales persons', I don't think they mean say, a Petsmart employee, but instead say, an Innova rep in Petsmart. And in that respect I agree. You get what you pay for is also almost always true.
'Doing well now, don't change' I highly disagree with however. Just because your cat is 'fine' doesn't mean the food isn't slowly building up toxins or slowly causing mild chronic dehydration. Especially in cats who hide all signs of sickness. Always research your food.
We won't even get into the statement about raw foods...

"Don’t be fooled when an actor, or other famous person puts their name on the product." Truer than true!
"Many breeders and internet comments promote raw food diets. Again, we question their expertise and advise you not to consider them a knowledgeable source." Good breeders have to know Everything about the animal they are raising. All the ins and outs and ups and downs. If they feed an animal wrong and screw it up, Everyone is going to know. And then they will be out of business. So no, breeders aren't stupidly feeding their animals a 'bed' diet.

Ok. Thank you I just moved and had to get a new vet. This one is bigger than what I am used to and the newsletter just freaked me out. There is another article encouraging/promoting declawing that also slightly freaked me out. But as long as it's my decision that's fine. it just implied that unless you want your furniture ruined you should declaw. And there is no evidence at all that it negatively impacts the animal. That people saying it's like cutting off part of your finger are wrong. The claws are weapons and when not in use are retracted... The newsletter is just scaring me but im worried im over reacting... They do seem very nice. Actually here it is if you're curious:

DECLAWING CATS is a controversial and misunderstood surgical procedure. Opponents use irrational emotion to create guilt in the cat owner considering having their cat declawed. They have no science behind their claims but opinion and scare tactics. Let’s try to get some evidence based knowledge on the table so cat owners can make reasoned decisions. If you are opposed to declawing and willing to deal with the damage indoor cat claws can cause then we salute you. Leaving Mother Nature alone if there are no problems is a fine idea. However, if you are like many cat owners that would not have a cat in the house if it was going to damage and ruin carpet, furniture, and woodwork then here are the facts. First there is a vinyl nail cover, Soft Paws, that can be applied to a cats nails. They work just fine if the cat will leave them alone and you are prepared to change them regularly. Soft Paws need to be reapplied about every 4-6 weeks. You can do this yourself and there are many cat owners that elect this option. If a surgical declaw is elected most owners choose only to remove the front claws. Back claws do not cause much damage unless the cat jumps off of wood table tops or fabric surfaces. Hence, a two-paw declaw is only the front claws. Many opponents will tell you declawing is like cutting off your fingers at the last joint leaving you with no nails or finger tips. The cats nail and the associated bone is a weapon or territorial marking tool and is retracted above the toe pad and not used for normal day to day walking or jumping. The cat walks on the toe pad which is positioned under the joint between the bones known as P2-P3. The toe pad is left in place and the cat’s ability to walk is not hindered by declawing. Declawing is a surgical procedure as is spaying and fixing a broken leg. Proper pain management controls the short period of post surgical pain. In addition to injectible and oral pain medication given before, during and after surgery we locally block the nerves to the toes to further lessen post surgical pain. Retrospective studies have shown that there is no increase in biting behavior or other aggressive behavior in cats that have been declawed. Using the surgical laser to declaw cats is another way we are able to lessen the pain of declawing. The above are the facts. Please do not hesitate to ask if you have additional questions.

Hmm, well at first I was going to say that if they promote declawing in such a way I would find another vet. However since they do mention other methods to do first, they can't be so bad. They are however missing a very important part. When you declaw, you also sever the muscles which Can result in arthritis and a crippled gait. Here is a video to show you what can happen:

Well the newsletter serves two purposes: one to advertise the.very.companies that have provided your vet his training in nutrition as Mink said, and two, it promotes your vet's sales of food and declawing procedures. Why not include references to these researched foods? Is the research comparing their foods to foods in the pet stores? To paint all foods in pet stores with such a huge paint brush is a bit presumptuous and short-sighted.

If the rx companies such as Hills, Medi-cal/Royal Canin, IAMS/Eukanuba, and Purina didn't do research on their rx foods, I would be very wary. It's like if a pharmaceutical company didn't do research on a medicine. Yes, they do research and I know their foods do help many of the.patients who.come into the clinkc where I work. However, the general statement of doing research means nothing if that research isn't put out there for the public. For example, there is a study which I have referred to in another thread where it was comparing chicken meal to corn gluten meal. Basically, it was found that the chicken meal provided more quality protein than the CGM and that the CGM increased the mineral requirements of the food. This study was.funded by one of the rx companies. But CGM is commonly used in rx foods!

With respect to Purina, they do research for their market foods such as dog chow. Ever see that commercial where they say dogs fed dog chow live an average of two years longer? Longer than what? The actual 14 year study compared a group of labs being free-fed dog chow to another group of labs fed restricted meals with the same calorie count as the free fed dogs. After 14 years, it was found that the restricted meal-fed dogs were simmer and lived an average of two years longer than the free-fed dogs. Yet Purina advertises its research as concluding that their food makes dogs live 2 years longer. One has to be very careful when buying a food because the company says the word research!

As for the foods with actors'names on it, I would generally agree but IMHO, Natural Balance foods are.pretty good for the.price and their.purpose (limited ingredients). It has Dick Van Patten's name attached. He is not as popular as Rachel Ray
Anyway, you will encounter the rx propaganda at most vets. As long as your vet provides quality care to your pet, I don't think the newsletters are a reason to change vets. Rx foods have their place but ultimately it is up to you to do what you think is best for your cat.