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Originally Posted by diggy4  If a vet is not educated in pet nutrition and a person asks about it I think they should tell the client to contact a nutritionist. The reason I found a new vet was mine said "my friend from school is a nutritionist, he recommends Science Diet" enough said there  now my current vet is a vet/nutrionist/and massage therapy so I trust what she says when it comes to those 3 things. When discussing LP (Diggy is a grade 3-4) she said I need to speak to an orthopedic dr, thats is specialty Im not going to pretend to know it all  . I know General info not detail. I think same goes with nutrition. If nutrition isnt a specialty of your vet, doesnt make them bad, it makes them not an expert at it thats all and you should contact a nutritionist if its more than a general question about it. To me nutrition is HUGE you are what ya eat  . |
Ellie's vet told me to look online or talk to a nutritionist because they just aren't taught too much about it in vet school. Now she could continue to study it on her own (and she might be now, I don't know) but not everyone can be an expert on it. She has other interests that other vets don't know as much about...
Ellie's nutritionist likes Science Diet but I'm not using her to talk to her about her opinions on dog food. I went to her to get an AAFCO approved homemade recipe and that I did get.
If the vet or nutritionist doesn't lean toward holistic medcine, I think they are less likely to be too concerned about ingredients.
Big dogs and small dogs can and do do well on the same foods. I think it has a lot to do with activity level and the individual dog. Breed specific formulas aren't necessary in my opinion. Ellie isn't on a breed specific homemade diet but I add what I think she needs for her health. Things like glucosamine may be added for Yorkies but it has to be from the right source at the right amount and I don't really trust dog food companies enough to believe that they care about this and are using the right products... I would prefer to add my own.
If a dog is having a hard time on "premium" foods, then they obviously should be switched but I wouldn't want to go so far as to start feeding foods with ingredients that are banned in other countries (ethoxyquin mostly). Also, if the preservatives are so horrible that humans are warned about them and the food is full of something like high fructose corn syrup or questionable, unnamed animal products, there have got to be other options...