Comments on: Cower before me, foolish mortals!

By: Ashley

Ashley — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 21:23:24 +0000

I’m a little late to the party (and also a first time commenter, but long time reader), but I just wanted to add that when I first got my puppy Prudence, I was feeding her Purina puppy chow because that was what she was fed at the kennel. I was later told by her groomer (that’s a rant for another day) that she had wheat allergies and need to have a food switch because Purina is the equivalent of rat poison (I embellished.. but that’s pretty much what she said). I did a little research and switched Pru to Orijen (now she is on Acana), keeping my vet updated the entire time. Not once did Pru’s vet get iffy about my switch or try to bully me into picking a specific food. She even informed me that she didn’t really know much about the Orijen brand and did a little research herself. And it’s true, I have had discussion with her about what she considers “bad” human food for dogs (I give Pru skinless, boneless chicken breast and sweet potato) because I don’t think dogs should just be limited to kibble. So, long story short, I just wanted to plug in my two cents to show that not all pet people think vets are mindless, sponsor driven drones. And I mean, seriously, who can really keep up with all the new information on pet nutrition on top of all the surgeries and procedures.

By: Dr. V

Dr. V — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 17:09:42 +0000

I vaguely remember all the feed courses. I think I’ve blocked it from my memory.

ITA that vets in general are more accepting of holistic care than some of the other health professions!

By: Rae

Rae — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 06:03:31 +0000

WOW! I went to a fairly out-dated vet school back in the day. West Texas A&M. And this is no reflection on their current staff or program, but my professors were a bit close-minded when it came to new concepts. I’m just saying in my day…we did not practice any of that “new age nonsense’ to quote one of my professors: things like using massage or alternative healing, herbal and vitamin treatments or taking a more holistic look at animal behavior in treatment. But…our nutrition classes were top of the line. The pre-med students infuriated us because they went off half-trained in nutrition, but the vets got a working over that we would not soon forget. There is nothing to compare with a feeds and feeding class at 7:00 am for making your brain ooze from your ears. And there was absolutely no “pet food” or other endorsement in our classrooms. I can’t say for sure, with the push to add commercial funding to education, that nobody is getting special IAMS textbooks now, but if you ask me vets were the ones leading the charge for alternative care in the last 20 years.

By: macula_densa

macula_densa — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 17:24:39 +0000

I have to point out to people all the time that we don’t want our pets in the same condition as wolves found in nature.
-wolves ‘naturally’ have GI parasites. That is the norm for them.
-wolves are ‘naturally’ covered in fleas and lice. That is also the norm for them.

Also, let’s consider that raw meat sitting around in a grocery store that’s been handled by numerous people and touching numerous surfaces is not equivalent to a freshly killed carcass. That’s like feeding your pet a petri dish.

Finally, ‘natural’ is a meaningless catch-all phrase. Hemlock is natural. Poison ivy is natural. Enterohemorrhagic E. coli is natural. That doesn’t mean any of it is good for us or our pets.

By: macula_densa

macula_densa — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 17:20:36 +0000

You forgot kangaroos. Didn’t you know dogs had kangaroo in their lineages? Geez, what kind of vet are you?

By: macula_densa

macula_densa — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 17:12:17 +0000

Yes, that program has a lot of great strengths, but a holistic perspective is not one of them. Otherwise, I think nutrition would be a required course.

We got tidbits here and there about nutritional management of various conditions as we were studying the conditions themselves, but that was about it.

I remember as I was graduating, I got into a conversation with the dean (who was about to step down) about the pet food industry, and he invited me to his office to discuss it some more. It turns out he was contemplating writing an expose’ about the pet food industry. He’d had some eye-opening experiences as the dean of the vet school and began to realize for himself that the system needed improvement. He questioned me as to what would improve things at the student level, and I discussed with him the fact that there is not enough emphasis on nutrition, both at the school and in the field in general.

Anyways, yes, that was why I began the Natura program. I felt that if veterinary neophytes had access to that food and familiarized themselves with it, they might be willing to consider recommending it occasionally to the appropriate clients. I do feel that approach is working as you now see booths for them and Wellness at veterinary conferences (i.e. they were at AVMA this year), so more and more they are becoming known in the field.

By: wikith

wikith — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 11:40:23 +0000

Correct, of course.
Macula_densa pointed out that our only nutrition course was elective (and, uh, boring, since unlike her I was suckered into it and it was a lot of “how does the body process nutrients?” and not much “how should I decide what food is best for the pet?”), but I’d like to add that we did get a bit of nutrition worked into other courses and into our clinical rotation rounds. It would be interesting to have discussion of RMB/BARF diets in a nutrition class. Alas, I’ve yet to see anything scientific telling me it is better for animals than commercial food; I found this woman’s blog yesterday and was sorely tempted to engage her in conversation re: lifespan of a wild wolf and how “it’s more natural and therefore it’s better!” is a logical fallacy, and see if she could point me towards any sort of scientific backing for her viewpoints. Unfortunately, fraternizing with people who have pets’ true wellbeing at heart would be a violation of the terms of my unholy alliance.

By: Dr. V

Dr. V — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 04:25:20 +0000

I think dogs are descended from wolves, people, and rhinoceroses.

By: Dr. V

Dr. V — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 04:24:49 +0000

You raise a really good point about realism and the 90% thing. So true. In my particular area- you’ve heard me complain before- suggesting anything more involved than Nutro is met with amused “OK doc” looks.

Interesting that you didn’t have a required nutrition course, given where you are from. So jealous you had a Natura program at school! You’re awesome for doing that, and it also brings up a great point- how many more vets would be open to that if we had had access to it in school? Shoot, I went from poor undergrad to poor vet school student, I wasn’t in a position to go to a boutique for pet food back then either.

By: Dr. V

Dr. V — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 04:20:30 +0000

If it weren’t for those feeding programs there would be a lot of malnourished vet student pets, I think.