An article about veterinarians that pretty much sums up how I feel:

[kestrel91316]

http://www.pet-health-care-gazette.com/2013/04/10/are-veterinarians-really-pet-food-company-dupes

Not that it will change the minds of any vet haters around here........

[kdmorris]

1. Wow, I never knew there were people that hated vets

I wasn't fond of our last veterinarian because they kept charging us money and not actually helping our dog. Said she was allergic to the food and to give her this other special hypoallergenic food to stop the crystals/blood in her urine. We spent about $800 and she was still getting UTIs/crystals in her urine. But that's never been a hatred for all vets.

Switched to our current vet who gave her antibiotics and Benedryl and stayed on top of it. It took about 8 weeks of antibiotics and Benedryl to fix the issue, but she hasn't had any issues since - since 2002 - because we know that she's allergic to pollen and every year, we proactively treat her with Benedryl to help her through allergy season.

Now, our dogs and cats hate all vets, but that's a different story

[Fix The Stupid]

2. I love my vet :)

Took my orange tabby Bear in after he got rolled by another cat.

Had a baseball sized lump on his chest.

She lanced it, gave us some antibiotics and he's 100% healed.

While she was examining him she says "Oh what a handsome little boy" and kissed him on the nose.. I wish you could have seen the effect that little gesture had on Bear. Went from nervous & skittish to calm and happy in an instant. She gots the magic touch, I say...

Bear has a crush on her now

[mopinko]

3. i feel ya.

people are strange.

[canoeist52]

4. My view, as in the human food industry, the profit motive is stronger than the caring motive

- from the comments section the article;

"Someone stated that only the pet companies “care” enough to do the studies. Clinical studies are very expensive, and pet companies have the money to do it. They also have a profit motive to sell these products and sponsor the classes and seminars. Pet nutrition research should be from independent sources, not companies that have a profit motive. Would you want Kellogg’s or Frito-Lay funding research on pediatric nutrition?"


and; a Harvard Law Paper on the pet food industry:
http://www.leda.law.harvard.edu/leda/data/784/Patrick06.html

[kestrel91316]

5. NO ONE is going to fund pet nutrition research if the pet food companies don't.

Absolutely no one. We may not like that, but it's a cold, hard fact.

Highly offensive, BTW, for you to say that the profit motive is stronger than the caring motive. I sell very little food for my patients. The profit margin on what I do sell is miniscule. I probably don't see $1000 profit in a year from pet food sales. If I wanted to profit from pet food, I am in the WRONG business.

But thanks for the gratuitous insult of me and my profession.

[canoeist52]

6. I wasn't refering to any small profit you personally as a vet make.

I was referring to the huge profits of pet food corporations. Do you also trust Con Agra and Nestle to test their own products?

[hobbit709]

7. I love my vet. He's great.

When I was with a rescue group, he donated 100's of pounds of pet food that had gone past the sell by date but was still good. A lot of it was specialty diet stuff for various problems.

[mockmonkey]

8. Our Vet sold us some special pet food

for our cat. She wouldn't eat it, so he bought it back. DAMN HIM!!!!

We love out Vet.

[hlthe2b]

9. there is a subset of animal owners, just as there are parents who mistrust medical/veterinary

professionals. I have observed the same tone/tenor (and sometimes the same individuals) spouting anti-veterinary conspiracy crap frequently accompanies those spewing anti-vaccine rhetoric. There are lots of charlatans feeding the hysteria of these misguided folks, so unfortunately....

I doubt much will change their minds, even as they fume about how "mainstream" science/medicine/veterinary medicine is "close minded"....

[canoeist52]

10. There is also a subset of animal owners

who have lost or also almost lost their pets due to contaminated pet food. For this reason, we have a hard time trusting pet food makers to put pet health before profits.

[hlthe2b]

12. Of course. My point has nothing to do with pet food manufacturers, but rather the ugly attitudes

sometimes seen towards ALL veterinarians (and likewise all physicians).

Please don't make my post into something it is very very very clearly NOT.

YOU surely can not think veterinarians are not likewise concerned about pet food contamination. Do you really think they are NOT? REALLY?

[Curmudgeoness]

11. I have to agree that the reason pets are obese is quantity of food.

When I had a cat who was gaining too much weight, I closely read the label on the food. I was shocked by the small amount of food that I was supposed to be putting out for him. Since that time, I have always used a measuring cup. And every food has different requirements, so if I change foods, I check for daily amounts.

I have no doubt that some vets are dupes, but I think that is rare. My vet that I use now does sell premium food, but the only time it has been suggested has been when a cat had a medical problem that could be treated with special diets. Usually, I have been told that any commercial food is adequate. No dupe there.

[mopinko]

13. i have always fed my dogs purina.

my vet says- purina is an old and reliable company that has always done tons of research, and regularly meets the standards of zoos and farms.
my daughter, who works at a big box pet store- the inside name for purina- dog don't die.

my data points- my dogs have almost all gotten tortuously old.

good r&d is the root of corporate growth. corporations absolutely have an incentive to put a quality product on the market. dogs do not live that long. it is easy to see how well they do on any particular brand.

unfortunately i have a dog with a bunch of food allergies, so i have to get the spendy stuff.
i'd be back on purina one in a heartbeat if i could get this guy straight.