Vet and I disagree...

So I went to the vet recently to update Loki's shots and get my new feral fur monster, Sigyn, her shots. We did a complete work up and everything was fine, Sigyn was even lucky enough to have avoided getting worms (you'd think an 8 month old feral would have something but she was perfectly healthy. Score!). However, my vet asked me how I fed my cats, and when I told her I got a lot of different brands and flavors of wet food (and the occasional raw food meal) and used them in a rotation she told me this was a terrible idea. She said I would be best off giving them one flavor from one brand and not doing a rotation and suggested Science Diet. I've done a lot of research and everything I read said that feeding a variety of high quality wet foods was wonderful for cats and that corn (found in science diet) was bad for cats. Did I somehow mess up? I really hope I'm not hurting my cats by feeding them the way I do. Thanks for any advice!

It's always a good idea to get a second opinion if you are not comfortable with your current vet's recommendations. There are times where one flavor from one brand is the way to go (for example, testing for food allergy), so don't automatically write your vet off, but definitely get a second opinion from another vet. If you can find one, a certified animal nutritionist is trained in, well, animal nutrition, who can more accurately address your issue.

If it's not something that can result in health problems (like feeding your cat only tuna), or a particular health issue that needs treatment, your vet's opinion on diet is no better than anyone else's opinion. Do what your cats do well on---YOU know your cats best. Since you're feeding all balanced commercial foods (except for occasional raw) there should be nothing to worry about.

I bet the vet doesn't eat the same thing every day :tongue2:.

I don't think you messed up, SirensCall! I think Willowy's right: you're feeding balanced commercial foods, you know your cat, and Sygyn's passing her health exams.

I also agree with FhiCat about maybe getting a second opinion... we got a new vet, a cat specialist, when we adopted new cats and it's wonderful to have a cat specialist! Cats differ and vets differ, so it's important to find a good fit for yourself and the cat. FWIW, on the opposite end of the spectrum from your vet, whenever we talk about food for our young cats, she's always saying protein, protein, protein, grain-free, low-carb, canned. And when she first saw our cats, she was glad that's how I was planning to feed the cats so she wouldn't have to have her standard diet talk -- about the benefits of protein, grain-free, and low-carb -- with me.

Good luck!

I think it's like if you go to your own doctor. Doctors aren't nutritionists, but they may have some good advice. Your doctor may say "don't eat bacon at every meal! It has too much sodium and saturated fat and it could damage your heart! And try to eat more veggies" and this is probably good advice. But if you tell your doctor you try to eat a different veggie every day and he/she says "oh, don't do that; it will cause digestive problems, just eat these protein/vitamin bars I sell here", you're going to be a bit suspicious. So you just have to evaluate their advice to see how much common sense is in there.

Vets don't get much (if any) training on nutrition.  And Science Diet is one of the worst commercial foods out there.  Yet, many vets recommend it, because they get paid for suggesting it.  Some even sell it in the office.

Your cats are doing well, why change anything?!

I would print out the ingrediants on a science diet can and show him it is all corn and say "How is corn good for n obligate carnivore?"

I would hardly say that Science Diet is "one of the worst commercial foods". Hill's is a respectable company with good research and quality control. The ingredients of most of their non-prescription foods aren't terrific, but not terrible either. As with most brands, the canned food is better than the kibble. Definitely better than at least half the commercial foods available. I do think it's overpriced for the quality, vets recommend it too often, and most people can find a better cat food that costs less, but it's not on my list of worst foods.

Not that I think anyone should run out and switch to Science Diet if their cat is doing well on their current food. But I also wouldn't advise someone whose cat is eating Science Diet and doing well to switch foods.