Is Your Vet Telling The Truth? 3 Top Veterinary Myths Exposed - by Dr. Terifaj

[Wylie's Mom]

Received this yesterday from Dr. Paula Terifaj's (she's a vet) blog subscription. Her blog is Dog Breath:

1) Feeding dry food (kibble diets) prevents tartar build-up
Kong toy

Truth: Effective chewing (raw meaty bones, rawhide chews, and other man made chew products — like the durable rubber Kong) simulates how wild canines gnaw on the bones of prey animals to ‘brush’ their teeth. Kibble is simply crunched and swallowed like a bowl of Cheerios and does nothing to prevent tartar build-up.

Fact: Raw food diets contain live enzymes and are free of grain — closer to a dog’s natural diet, which naturally promotes better dental health. Kibble lacks any live enzymes (killed by heat) and contains cheap grain products (unless listed as grain-free) which bacteria-producing plaque love to feed on!

Don’t fall for kibble marketing hype promoted by some clueless vets. Remember, invisible plaque build-up ultimately leads to visible tartar. You can help prevent plaque build-up by regular tooth brushing and choosing better diets.

2) Trust your vet to recommend only the vaccines your dog needs

Truth: Do not accept your vet’s recommendation without first reading my free special report (available on this blog) or visiting the AAHA website:

http://www.ufsheltermedicine.com/new...ine_Vax_GL.pdf

Fact: Really? Ask your vet if he or she is following the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) vaccine guidelines published in 2006. Since these guidelines were published more than 2 years ago, surveys show that many vets are not in compliance. Most pets continue to be over-vaccinated and given vaccines that are not necessary. Furthermore, vaccine titer testing is not offered as an alternative to re-vaccination by vaccine junkies out for easy money.

3) Vets are experts on pet nutrition — watch for these flags!

Truth: Not likely. Standard ‘nutrition’ courses in veterinary school preach formulated and prescription diets. Few docs are willing to think outside the bag!

Red Flag #1: You get the eyebrow look when you ask your vet for advice on how to prepare homemade meals.

Be sure to check your pet’s weight often to make sure you are not over or under feeding. Ask your vet what your dog’s ideal body weight should be — that may be all the nutritional help you get!

Fact: There is no need to buy dog food. You can prepare healthy meals for your dog by following some simple guidelines and adding proper supplements.

Find my homemade feeding guideline here:

Founders Veterinary Clinic - Home cooking and home made dog food for your dog

Better yet … become a pet food expert in only 30 minutes by reading: How to Feed Your Dog if You Flunked Rocket Science.

Red Flag #2: Your vet tells you that commercial pet foods are the best way to feed your dog and contain all the nutrients they need. Don’t believe it! For the most part, canned and kibble diets are highly processed with questionable ingredients that challenge the claim that they promote ‘health’. Most are no better than prison diets — cheap sources of calories with nutrient values set at minimum standards. They also violate the 3 hallmarks of optimal nutrition: Freshness, wholesome food ingredients, and a diet that offers a variety of food choices.

There are many undesirable ingredients in pet foods and even trusted name brands like Iams and Science Diet can contain them. You must learn to read pet food labels and also discover the source of ingredients that companies purchase to manufacture their diets.

When buying dog food, first become a pet food detective. Read blog post: Beneful by Purina — the next pet food disaster. Avoid feeding this ‘hog food’ (and others like it) to your dog!

Red Flag #3: You get a scolding from your vet when you tell him you are feeding a raw food diet. If your vet tries to scare you off with horror stories about bacteria and parasites in raw meat — perhaps he missed the latest pet food recall. For years, pet foods have been found to contain aflatoxins (deadly molds that grow on grain crops and peanuts), endotoxins from pathogenic strains of bacteria not killed by heat, and most recently melamine — a chemical added to produce a higher nitrogen content fooling pet food manufactures to believe they are buying food stuffs that contain more protein. Bottom line: The pet food industry lacks government regulation and safety inspection practices, which allows pet food to be tainted with various contaminates that can make your dog sick or even worse kill your dog!

For Google lovers, just type in: pet food contamination. You won’t find any reports of raw meat diets killing pets, but caution applies here, too. Raw diets must have proper storage and be fed correctly to ensure safety. Do some research before feeding your dog his ancestral wolf diet and don’t be surprised if he howls at the moon. ;-)

Next week … I will let you in on Rosie’s new raw food diet — winner of the best wholesome food list category. Plus, it’s the ONLY pet food that has been Certified Food Safe under Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP).

Here’s a look at its line-up of superb ingredients:

Chicken (ground with bone), chicken liver, chicken gizzard, organic cranberries, organic spinach, organic broccoli, organic beets and organic beet fiber, organic carrots, organic squash, organic apples, organic blueberries, probiotics — for gut health: Pediococcus acidilaticici, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bifidobacterium longum, Entercoccus faecium.

(FYI: Rosie’s poops are the best ever!)

And here’s another hint: This company uses only USDA inspected free-range meats with no hormones or antibiotics. And they are the only pet food company to employ HPP (high pressure process) to destroy harmful bacteria without heat! See how it works in this surprising video:

Video: Putting the Squeeze on Food Safety » Iowa Public Television

Care to guess which diet Rosie is thriving on? Leave your comments … and find out if you are a winner next week. All winners will be rewarded with a free copy of my e-book; How to Solve the Mystery of Your Itchy Dog.

[Dara311]

Great post. I can tell you right now that all the vets I worked with did not know jack about nutrition and foods, thats why they would send us to the conferences about food! ha ha

[BonBon]

Thanks for this post. I thought it was very interesting so I just went out and signed up for their e-mails.

[marcerella02]

Great post Ann- i got this email as well! it's nice to read something that reinforces what you already believe.

[Doodlebug]

Something you posted has me worried.

Daisy is 5 yrs old and has never had her teeth professionally cleaned. Her teeth are beautiful and white. I only brush them occasionally. I didn't know about INVISIBLE plaque. Each year when Daisy has her vet visit they tell me her teeth are fine and don't need cleaning. Should I be getting her teeth cleaned even though there is no visible tarter?? I hate to put her through the trauma and possible danger of being left at the vet and being put under anesthesia if it isn't necessary. But now I am a little worried.

[Wylie's Mom]

Originally Posted by Doodlebug

Something you posted has me worried.

Daisy is 5 yrs old and has never had her teeth professionally cleaned. Her teeth are beautiful and white. I only brush them occasionally. I didn't know about INVISIBLE plaque. Each year when Daisy has her vet visit they tell me her teeth are fine and don't need cleaning. Should I be getting her teeth cleaned even though there is no visible tarter?? I hate to put her through the trauma and possible danger of being left at the vet and being put under anesthesia if it isn't necessary. But now I am a little worried.

My boys are 4 & 2 and have never had their teeth cleaned, and their teeth look really good.

I think Dr. Terifaj's point is that people should do what they can preventatively - like using proper chewy things, giving a good diet, and brushing. I didn't take from it that she was saying dogs should get dental cleanings, even if there is no visible tartar. I think she was saying "prevent prevent prevent". Just my take on it, though.

[Ellie May]

Originally Posted by Doodlebug

Something you posted has me worried.

Daisy is 5 yrs old and has never had her teeth professionally cleaned. Her teeth are beautiful and white. I only brush them occasionally. I didn't know about INVISIBLE plaque. Each year when Daisy has her vet visit they tell me her teeth are fine and don't need cleaning. Should I be getting her teeth cleaned even though there is no visible tarter?? I hate to put her through the trauma and possible danger of being left at the vet and being put under anesthesia if it isn't necessary. But now I am a little worried.

If her teeth are perfectly white and the vet has never said she needs a cleaning, I would not do it.

One thing that you do have to be careful of is allowing people to clean them anesthesia-free. This type of cleaning just gets the visible tartar off while the tartar under the gums remains. So it isn't much more than a cosmetic procedure and then it makes people think that the teeth are fine when they aren't.

I am seeing tartar on Ellie's teeth and am now just considering a cleaning.

[Doodlebug]

Thanks for your responses. That's a relief! Teddy just turned 5 yesterday and he has already had his teeth cleaned twice. I guess it is just a difference in the dogs. Daisy is always chewing on stuffed toys and things. Maybe that helps.

[means143]

Thanks for the post !