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I'm blown away by the fact that my vet had actually researched nutrition and knew a thing or two about it. But he's a country vet running a family business just outside town, he treats all kinds of animals including horses and even injured wildlife, so he knows some stuff. He also has reasonable prices. How lucky am I?
You are very lucky. It's not to a vet's financial advantage to advise people on the proper feeding of cats. They don't make income on healthy cats (and dogs). And i do believe many of them are brainwashed by the feed companies into believing obligate carnivores can "live" on kibble type foods. But there is a difference between simply living and being healthy and thriving.
I too had a vet like that who, with his wife, was also a personal friend. Unfortunately he died of cancer about 10 years ago.
It's always helpful if posters chuck the abbreviations ("C-D") so everyone knows what they're referring to.
That's what it's called, well, "Hills c/d" actually. It is one of Hills' veterinary formulas and they are all named that way, letter/d. So when people mention such things by just the letters usually most of the people with pets know what they're talking about. If you haven't had occasion for a vet to suggest such a food, consider yourself lucky.
You are very lucky. It's not to a vet's financial advantage to advise people on the proper feeding of cats. They don't make income on healthy cats (and dogs). .
That's right my husband went to vet school to make sure that everyone's pets become/stay unhealthy.
Vets make less off healthy pets that are not being maintained. If your pet has regular check ups and vaccines, spay/neutering at the proper age, dental cleanings once a year then actually a vet can make a good income.
However, many people do not maintain their pet's health status and thus the vet has to recommend treatment for a sick animal.
The reason they recommend c-d and other various prescription diets and diet changes is because for the vast majority of pets, they work. It's not some kind of conspiracy going on within the vet world.
And hey it's your pet. If you don't want to do something then you don't have to do it. But the majority of vets have only the best interests of the animal in mind when they recommend or prescribe something. Just as in humans, cats and dogs can react differently to diet, medication, etc.
A rescue friend gave me this advice once so I will give it to you: YOU are your cat's best advocate.
If it doesn't feel right, then don't do it, no matter what they tell you. YOU know your cat better than anyone.
Personally if a vet recommends that crap to me, I switch vets. My vet - who is also in rescue - recently had to talk me out of my "grain-free ONLY" bubble because she wants my underweight senior to eat anything she will, so we agreed a few cans of Fancy Feast a week are fine as long as she is eating since she spent most of her life on Friskies (I only got her at 13 years old, she's 16 now). But unlike many vets who have pushed prescription crap on me, our vet discussed WHY she thought getting anything into the cat would benefit her and we came up with a plan together to get the senior to eat as much as she wants to... even if that means lower quality food I'd rather not feed, her reasoning was solid and I felt she really had my cat's best interests in mind while also respecting my choice to feed non grain.
I fail to see how C-D (primary ingredient is CORN, no?) will benefit a dried up cat. And it sickens me how many vets still push this crap. So many know NOTHING about nutrition. So it is up to us as cat advocates to educate ourselves.
I thought I'd post an update... my boy stayed overnight at the vet because he'd been given 2 enemas and they wanted to see "production." That was fine with me because they could do clean-up .
X-ray showed a lot of feces in his colon -- it is not "megacolon" yet but he does have a large one.
Anyway, I had a newly minted out of vet school vet who totally agreed that "all cats should be on canned food"! She felt the initial C-D recommendation had been a preventive one because he is FIV+
and they are prone to UTIs, but she acknowledged that cats need more protein and "a mouse would be his perfect food." We laughed that the human owners don't want to put a mouse in the blender and feed that, so we must look to better cans . So it kind of came down to what the poster above says...we want him to eat more canned than dry (he does like the Blue Buff grain-free I've done most recently)
but she didn't break into hives that I also give him Fancy Feast or Friskies classic pate or others...he did like the 2 Merrick choices I tried... We want him to get more water in his food and keep things moving. Point being, I was not pressured about keeping up the C-D, despite what the drop-off vet tech chided me about. I live in a fairly affluent community (not my corner of it though ) where there's practically a vet on every other street, so it's a very competitive environment and I imagine food sales do help their bottom line. I don't necessarily fault them for that...I just don't want to feel pressure or that I'm a bad owner if I see things differently.
So I brought him home last night -- he had just had a large loose poop when I came to the office so they had to clean him up first but he still had a damp tail and fur. I brushed him and loved on him for a full half-hour to help dry him out and help him relax. They hadn't been able to encourage him to eat, but once he saw me I think he knew he was going home. I set him up in the bathroom for 3+ hours and put out some wet food and he ate instantly...just a few tablespoons but it was something, then later he had a little dry. (I just wanted him to EAT.) Then he made a significant deposit in the litterbox... I chase after him with wet wipes to clean his butt...though they did shave him around his anal area to help out in that regard. He's made a small but more normal deposit this a.m. so I think we are on a good path.... she did give me 4 Dulcolax pills if he seemed to be straining again. (to use one at a time, of course.) She said one of her school peers thought my cat should "go on Dulcolax forever" but she wants to see if this was a one-time scenario or if it is going to be chronic. I appreciate that kind of thoughtfulness, so I think I will ask for her in the future. There was a slight trace of blood on the wipe earlier - but the enema nozzle and everything going on with his poor butt the past few days could contribute to that...she said let her know if it's still there Monday.
That's right my husband went to vet school to make sure that everyone's pets become/stay unhealthy.
That's not what I said. Any veterinarian who KNOWS cats are "obligate carnivores" would not be recommending kibble - yet they are! If he or she knows, then they're recommending kibble for some reason other than it being good for the cat. And no, healthy pets don't bring the vet the income sickly ones do.
Quote:
Vets make less off healthy pets that are not being maintained. If your pet has regular check ups and vaccines, spay/neutering at the proper age, dental cleanings once a year then actually a vet can make a good income.
Healthy properly fed cats and dogs shouldn't need dental "cleanings" once a year. They don't need yearly boosters either.
Quote:
However, many people do not maintain their pet's health status and thus the vet has to recommend treatment for a sick animal.
Not to be rude, but you're insulting the intelligence of a lot of people on this Forum.
Quote:
The reason they recommend c-d and other various prescription diets and diet changes is because for the vast majority of pets, they work. It's not some kind of conspiracy going on within the vet world.
That's what YOU don't seem to grasp... if properly fed, cats and dogs shouldn't get to the point of needing these overpriced cheap-filler loaded diets.
Quote:
And hey it's your pet. If you don't want to do something then you don't have to do it. But the majority of vets have only the best interests of the animal in mind when they recommend or prescribe something. Just as in humans, cats and dogs can react differently to diet, medication, etc.
If that were true, all the vets who learned cats were obligate carnivores and digitigrade would have their clients stop feeding kibble and would refuse to declaw cats. Those clueless vets who have no idea cats are obligate carnivores need more schooling.
That's not what I said. Any veterinarian who KNOWS cats are "obligate carnivores" would not be recommending kibble - yet they are! If he or she knows, then they're recommending kibble for some reason other than it being good for the cat. And no, healthy pets don't bring the vet the income sickly ones do.
Healthy properly fed cats and dogs shouldn't need dental "cleanings" once a year. They don't need yearly boosters either.
Not to be rude, but you're insulting the intelligence of a lot of people on this Forum.
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The problem is, big chains -- one of which is literally owned by MARS, talk about a conflict of interest! -- continue to flourish and so many vets are being required to follow the Corporate business plans and philisophies. Seems as though, in many cases, Vets' (who are giving bad nutrition advice and pushing too many vaccines...) hands are tied.
However, more and more have been speaking up about it. One such Veterinarian has thoroughly explained everything here:
Thankfully, more and more Veterinarians are becoming aware of things other than what Corporate Giants had been drumming into them and are joining AHVMA Home Page
Depending on where you live, if you're not already fortunate to have an independently-free-thinking veterinarian (as my own family was blessed with for many, many years), hopefully one of these wonderful Professionals are nearby - or soon will be.
Wonderful Vets don't need to be selling species-inappropriate foods and other things for their reputation & word of mouth have people waiting to get in their doors when they never even advertise. The problem is, what are independent-thinking Vets who must follow "Bosses Orders" until they can branch out on their own to do in the meantime?
Glad OP got a Vet who steered them in the right direction!!
Last edited by Pamina333; 08-03-2013 at 12:28 PM..
The problem is, big chains -- one of which is literally owned by MARS, talk about a conflict of interest! -- continue to flourish and so many vets are being required to follow the Corporate business plans and philisophies. Seems as though, in many cases, Vets' (who are giving bad nutrition advice and pushing too many vaccines...) hands are tied.
However, more and more have been speaking up about it. One such Veterinarian has thoroughly explained everything here:
Thankfully, more and more Veterinarians are becoming aware of things other than what Corporate Giants had been drumming into them and are joining AHVMA Home Page
Excellent information. It should be required reading for anyone with cats or dogs. Where foods and nutrition are concerned there definitely is a conflict of interest. A serious one. But it really eats my lunch that vets are still recommending and selling food to cat owners that is totally inappropriate for obligate carnivores. And those owners take the vet's word as gospel.... infuriating!
That's not what I said. Any veterinarian who KNOWS cats are "obligate carnivores" would not be recommending kibble - yet they are! If he or she knows, then they're recommending kibble for some reason other than it being good for the cat. And no, healthy pets don't bring the vet the income sickly ones do.
Healthy properly fed cats and dogs shouldn't need dental "cleanings" once a year. They don't need yearly boosters either.
Not to be rude, but you're insulting the intelligence of a lot of people on this Forum.
That's what YOU don't seem to grasp... if properly fed, cats and dogs shouldn't get to the point of needing these overpriced cheap-filler loaded diets.
If that were true, all the vets who learned cats were obligate carnivores and digitigrade would have their clients stop feeding kibble and would refuse to declaw cats. Those clueless vets who have no idea cats are obligate carnivores need more schooling.
Again vets are not in a conspiracy to make/keep your pets sick to reap some huge financial payoff. But you can certainly believe that if you wish.
As far as the pros and cons of diet, some do very well on dry food, others do not. Just like in people, genetics plays a big part in how diet affects health as do other factors. Vets recommend food that they think will help a condition or maintain health but all owners are free to not take that advice or to change the diet if they want to and if their vet makes them feel bad about doing that then they need to find another vet.
Yearly visits are preventive, just like the dental cleanings, which include a thorough inspection of the oral cavity. If diet was all we needed in life then humans wouldn't need dental visits or vaccinations either. But even on a proper and healthy diet there are things that can occur that can cause problems whether due to genetics or other things.
I don't mean to insult the intelligence of anyone on this forum that was not my intention in my post. However, there are owners who do not take proper care of their pets and then want to blame the vet because they do not have a magic pill (that costs very little!) to make them better.
Vets are not infallible and just like in any profession there are some bad ones, but to make a sweeping generalization that a vet is not educated in nutrition during vet school or that they intentionally want to keep/make your pet sick for financial gain is not true. Long term illness is frustrating not only to the owner but also to the vet.
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. So it kind of came down to what the poster above says...we want him to eat more canned than dry (he does like the Blue Buff grain-free I've done most recently)
) where there's practically a vet on every other street, so it's a very competitive environment and I imagine food sales do help their bottom line. I don't necessarily fault them for that...I just don't want to feel pressure or that I'm a bad owner if I see things differently. 
