# Further Confusion---Purina. Am I being taken by the vet?



## Looney Tunes (Oct 24, 2009)

I don't mean to beat a dead horse, but I am utterly confused and trying to figure out if I am being told the truth from the vet or am being taken.

The vet has recommended Purina HA for my dog with pancreatitis. 
To get her well, I was cooking a bland diet for weeks.

However, once she started improving, I started feeding my dog Natural Balance Reduced Calorie. Very little, mixed with the cooked food. ON the bag it says 6% fat content. I contacted the company and the MAXIMUM is 7.5%.

Purina HA is 8-9& fat content. 

The vet seemed to be highly against me feeding Natural Balance and wanted only a prescription diet. I did not mention the fat content, I just listened because I felt like an idiot for selecting NB. But in actuality, the NB has lower fat.

Prior to this, my dog has been on premium dog foods - Orijen and Merrick. 
I just look at the ingredients in Purina, and wonder....

...but I am clearly also not a vet.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.


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## RichM (Jun 6, 2010)

Have you thought about going to another vet. Maybe even a holistic vet http://www.ahvma.org/

I was having same problem as you. My vet wanted to switch my dog to Science Diet just to loose a few pounds, I am currently feeding Acana Grasslands. The reason he gave me "Science Diet is far superior then what I was feeding, because he had no idea what Acana Grasslands was" without even looking at the label. He even told me to send my food back and get a refund. He told me he has no idea what the nutrition information is on any dog food other than Science Diet and Royal Canin, because that is all they teach them. And this vet has been in business for 20 years.
Do you think I listened to him after reading what junk is is in science diet. NO
Have you read this thread http://www.dogforums.com/dog-food-forum/81653-bah-why-does-vet.html
There is plenty of other information out there to if you search on goggle. You have to face it vets don't know very much about nutrition.
There are better alternatives than Natural Balance Reduced Calorie that have better ingredients. 
One possible is Wellness CORE Reduced Fat Recipe http://www.wellnesspetfood.com/product-details.aspx?pet=dog&pid=70#product

Moderate fiber, low fat diets may help to prevent pancreatitis.

http://www.vetinfo.com/dpancrea.html


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## Bordermom (Apr 28, 2010)

Ditto. 

Ask yourself this - what does that vet sell in the front lobby of his clinic? Why would he want you to buy elsewhere if he's not making a profit?

My cousin buys horrible canned food from the vet, for much more than she'd pay for a quality canned food elsewhere for her cats. Try to reason with her but 'it's what the vet said she had to feed them'..... she'd be better off feeding them gravy and beans for the amount of crud in the food...

Lana


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## Angel's_mom (May 26, 2010)

Obviously what you're feeding is better than Purina. I'd just stick with it and tell him thanks, but no thanks. I bet he's never heard of Natural Balance and probably thinks it's some generic brand. I'd show him the ingredients list, and the ingredients on the Purina, and ask him if he still thinks the Purina is better. Even if he still thinks so, I'd stick with the Natural Balance. He's just not a nutritionist. I agree with finding a holistic vet if you can. Those are kind of hard to find though. I would just agree to disagree when it comes to nutrition.


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## Looney Tunes (Oct 24, 2009)

Thanks everyone. 

There is a holistic vet in the town next to my city. 

My current vet said "NB is a good food" but you want the lowest fat possible. Well, clearly Purina HA has more fat than NB.

I looked at Wellness to and that has 9%fat content. The same as Purina HA -- but clearly a better quality food.

There is no meat in Purina HA. My dog is a working dog.

Purina HA gets 1 star from dogfoodanalyis...because there is nothing in it. How can my dog go from chicken and sweet potato to nothing?

*Do the vets really get a kick-back for selling that food?*


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## MagicRe (Jan 8, 2010)

i think it's time to maybe shift away from the issue of vets making or not making money from the food in the front of the office....since vets don't have the nutrition education needed for specialised conditions....they just don't...and, when asked, they will usually tell you they don't...

or what they tell you may not make sense....

but, here's an article about pancreatitis....see if this helps maybe?

http://www.b-naturals.com/newsletter/pancreatitis/


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## Looney Tunes (Oct 24, 2009)

Thanks for the article. The recipes were great. What is interesting is that my dog has NONE of the "conditions" that are suspected to cause pancreatitis, except she was on an antibiotic beforehand.

Anyway, the other thing that was interesting was that the article stated that the dog can can back to the normal diet after the episode. 

I hate to change vets again, but I really disagree with the diet advice.


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## MagicRe (Jan 8, 2010)

Looney Tunes said:


> Thanks for the article. The recipes were great. What is interesting is that my dog has NONE of the "conditions" that are suspected to cause pancreatitis, except she was on an antibiotic beforehand.
> 
> Anyway, the other thing that was interesting was that the article stated that the dog can can back to the normal diet after the episode.
> 
> I hate to change vets again, but I really disagree with the diet advice.


i didn't post the article so that you should change vets....i'm discovering that vets, like any other doctor (and i was a doctor in a former life) ...well, no one knows everything about everything....even though i am of the opinion that general practitioners should absolutely know about nutrition, but that's a debate for another day.

i do believe that we, for ourselves and for our pets, need to be advocates and therefore, we are charged with learning what we need to learn about what our dogs need...and not blindly do whatever we're told....

this is something new for an entire generation....i'm probably considerably older, but i remember the days we didn't question the doctor, the vet, the dentist....we just did what they told us to do....

what a responsibility we placed on them....and took for ourselves....when, in reality, it's our bodies..it's our pets...and we have the obligation to learn, also...we live with them....we know them....better than any doctor could...

and, at our fingertips is the great big internet...biggest library in the universe....

so, if you like your vet.....keep your vet....but be concerned and involved and talk to your vet...

my vet now knows, after yesterday....that maybe it's not so bad to suggest pulling all of my dogs' teeth...to give me a choice, to possibly extend life rather than have to put a dog down because nothing worked to keep her teeth clean....it's sad....but he admits he doesn't know why he didn't suggest it...never came up before....i certainly never thought of it....

situations come up that we need to question....

every vet is taught about pancreatitis...but in a general way....nutrition in a general way.....eyes in a general way...my vet knew enough to send me to a specialist....

most people don't want to pay for one...

when vets go to school...science diet is there teaching them their agenda...

i didn't agree with estrogen and progesterone replacement....yet, millions of women took the pills dutifully...until one study finally woke people up....to have cancer decrease by 93% is astounding when women don't take estrogen and progesterone and they've been studying this for3ever......and maybe that's what it takes...something astounding...

in the meantime, i have a keyboard, a brain and google....so do you.


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## tskoffina (Jul 23, 2010)

Check with another vet if you want, but maybe he had a reason for wanting no meat. My dog couldn't have but the minimum because of liver issues, even though that's what dogs eat. But my vet works with me. My cat's were on one prescription food, and she wanted to change to another and I asked why? and said I wanted to give them a better food. She said ok, find on with ph under 7 and is a weight management or light formula.


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