Nutrition giggle from vet

[furrykidmom]

We took Sable back into the vet today for her diarrhea. We were seen by the tech who relayed info to the vet on Sable's progress.

We were told that we need to switch her to a high quality dog food such as Science Diet or Iams. I went slack jawed uncertain of how to respond in a waiting room full of clients. Her response to my loose jaw was "I know it is much more expensive but it is better quality than grocery store bought." I could not hold back any longer. I told her that actually compared to the Eagle Pack that we are feeding her the foods that she mentioned were much lower quality. That they are high in grains and lower in quality protein. That Eagle Pack is human grade food and not pieces and parts that are left over like in the foods she mentioned. I offered to bring in nutritional information so she can see how much better Eagle Pack is than Science Diet and Iams.

If only they taught them nutrition and not just what they sell. Hmmm?

 

[Luvnmyboxer]

You should make some copies of the ingredients and percentages on some better quality foods vs. what they suggest to clients and fax it to them. Price isn't all that bad for better quality food. But some people dont care and prefer grocery store food b/c it's for "just a dog" as some see it. Good for you though to mention it and maybe somebody in the waiting room listened in and learned something today.

 

[Ken & Barb]

Science Diet must have done one heck of a job marketing their products to veterinarians. I've been to many different vets in our area, and they all have Science Diet on their shelves. They must seel directly to the vets at such a low margin, that the vets make big $$ when they turn around and sell it. Then the pet owner sees it in the supermarket at a better price and thinks they have found a deal. That's my "conspiracy theory" anyway. It's business.

 

[Goolia83]

I had a guy in Petco tell me that Science Diet and Chicken Soup were like apples to apples! Both being equal premium foods!! Unfortunaltly at that time I didn't know any better and switched my cat from Chicken Soup TO Science Diet... Now that I have done my homework with getting a boxer, I'm switching Kitty back to CS! Roxy, my new puppy, is now on CS and loves it!

Julie

 

[agilityboxer]

This kills me! My future sister-in-law is a vet tech. So before I started feeding raw I spoke with her about it. I wanted to find out if she had any horror stories about bones stuck in organs etc. She said several of the breeders that use her clinic feed raw and their dogs are great! No, no terrible bone stories. When I asked her why she didn’t feed raw she said "Its just easier to reach in the cupboard and feed the Science Diet" :eek:

ARRG I haven’t even wasted my time to try and give her more information to base her decision on. Eventually I will probably just print out some ingredient list and a couple of post from this site, but I try not to preach to everyone about all the nutritional information I have found on this site.

 

[RonaldMM]

The manager at out petco told me not to switch foods from Nutro to Nutro Ultra. Told me it was the same food only pricier. I switched anyway and Drake LOVES it. I also feel like I'm feeding him a better food. When I joined BW the Nutro was on the list of premium foods and now it has been taken off. So I made the switch to ULTRA and it's worked out fine for us. Just wish those who sell it were more informed

 

[courtney323]

When I joined BW the Nutro was on the list of premium foods and now it has been taken off. So I made the switch to ULTRA and it's worked out fine for us.

You joined in May of 2005. Nutro was never on the WDJ list of premium foods, only the ULTRA

 

[Valantar]

I told her that actually compared to the Eagle Pack that we are feeding her the foods that she mentioned were much lower quality. That they are high in grains and lower in quality protein. That Eagle Pack is human grade food and not pieces and parts that are left over like in the foods she mentioned. I offered to bring in nutritional information so she can see how much better Eagle Pack is than Science Diet and Iams.

If only they taught them nutrition and not just what they sell. Hmmm?

I would love to know how they responded!!!

 

[Lael]

I recently took Lael to the vet for her yearly boosters. In our conversation of how healthy Lael is (she's on Wellness Chicken), he mentioned that in addition to his D.V.M. degree, he also has a Ph.D. in Animal Nutrition. I thought to myself, "so why does he sell Science Diet?" I didn't ask (he's a bit long-winded and I'm lucky to get out of there in 30 minutes as it is).

He did say that, in general he's seen that the more expensive the dog food, typically the better quality ingredients. Although my observation would agree, I'm still not sure how much credibility to give this statement. But I thought I'd share.

 

[furrykidmom]

The vet tech actually expressed interest in learning more. I have printed all the info from the website and from here. I am going to give her a crash course at my next visit next week. Hopefully she will get something out of it. Especially since she leaves for vet med school in January