Yep. I went to a vet who told me I needed to go on to a "quality food" like Iams, Purina or Science Diet and get off of the grain-free food that I was feeding. This was our old vet because naturally I did not go back. There was no discussion whatsoever. He just shut down my questions. He wasn't trying to *sell* me the food for his own profit, just telling me bottom line, it's what I should be feeding. I'm not even saying SD, Purina, etc, are terrible to feed. Sometimes they can be great choices depending on the pet. I even feed Purina Beyond sometimes when I need food quickly, etc. But to blindly state these foods are superior is what irks me.
My theory is just that it's what "works" (but isn't necessarily what's best). They don't have time to research every food out there (understandably) so they go with the brands that they are taught about in school and have a fairly decent track record. If they go and recommend... say, Orijen, to a client and then the dog gets sick, the owner is going to go and blame the vet.
My current vet is absolutely amazing. They are a bit of both -- they do some holistic and conventional. They believe combing the two can be extremely helpful in our pets. They look at the body as a whole to determine the underlying issues that are causing the problems and eliminate symptoms before throwing them on an RX food or medications that MAY not be needed (of course, sometimes they are, and they gladly will do what is best for your pet).
My vet will have a personal conversation with me regarding Jackson and take the time to listen to any concerns I may have or questions that are reasonable (I wouldn't sit there and take up all of her time lol) but she never makes me feel like a burden like vets in the past have. I no longer feel forced into anything (i.e. prior vets would just be like "oh he needs x, y, z, for sure, so I'm going to go and grab the vaccines and get them ready" and then I would be kind of sitting there like ... uhh, okay (I'm not a confrontational person so I would just be like, okay). And if I tried to be like "oh, what's this one for?" they kind of blow me off and just say he needs it. I went through... 3 vets prior to finding the perfect one because they were all pushy with one thing or another.
I do think vets get a bad rep on the internet and it's not deserved. Majority of vets are not in it for the money or greedy people. And I don't think the majority of them mean any harm. I believe it to be a combination of not wanting to change, not keeping up with latest research, maybe ignorance or looking at things one-sided or with blinders on.
I've chilled out a lot on my views. I used to be very anti-SD, RC, Purina, IAMS, you name it. *I* was one of those with my blinders on, lol, and couldn't see past an ingredient list on the back of a bag when it's about sooo much more than that and I do realize that now. Do I tend to lean towards the more 'natural' 'holistic' (I don't even like those words lol) approach? Yeah, probably. But I also appreciate those who maybe don't agree with me. I've gotten to the point where I'm very...
feed your dog what you're comfortable feeding your dog. As long as it's in good shape, not dying from it, and has good stools and solid bloodwork... I'd say you're probably doing alright. 