By Michele Welton, Dog Trainer, Breed Selection Consultant, Author of 15 Dog Books
Why do some vets recommend and sell kibble and canned diets?
Vets are experts at saving dogs' lives thru diagnostic testing and surgery. But expertise in nutrition? No.
No doubt about it, veterinarians are highly skilled at emergency care, diagnostic testing, and surgery, and I'm very grateful for that. They save dogs' lives.
But giving feeding advice? No. This might come as a shocker, but students in veterinary school receive very little education in nutrition. And what they do receive is largely provided (or sponsored) by.... pet food companies.
Conflict of interest, much?
Take the Hill's Company, for example, which makes Science Diet. The Hill's Company was the first to spot the lucrative potential of getting their (crappy, in my opinion) product into vet's offices. They got their foot in the door and kept it there through clever marketing.
To get the medical folks on board, pet food companies have:
- developed sophisticated marketing programs of sponsorships, discounts, and freebies. Surprise!
- nurtured relationships and alliances with influential medical people in high places – "You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours." Surprise!
- arranged for "scientific studies" to be performed by people already aligned with the pet food companies. "This just in.... the latest study performed by the Completely Objective Unbiased Scientific Nutrition Council With No Axes To Grind shows that kibble and canned diets are the perfect food for dogs of all ages." Surprise!
- established "nutritionist" classes for veterinary assistants, complete with an impressive certificate to hang on the wall of the vet's waiting room. "Wow, my vet's assistant, Lisa, is a Certified Nutritionist who says this dog food the vet is selling would be great for my puppy." Surprise!
We all know how that works. We see it everywhere. Pharmaceutical companies do the same things with doctors. Cigarette companies do it. Soda companies and junk food companies. All massive conglomerations do it.
Pet food is a multi-billion dollar industry dominated by gigantic corporations whose only interest is the bottom line of themselves and their stockholders. Whipping the veterinary industry into line has been child's play to them.
The result is that most vets follow the party line of the pet food companies that trained them.
Related:
3 Best Ways To Feed Your Dog Healthy Food
In The Whole(istic) Truth About Pet Food, Christie Keith says:
"We [humans] are told that processed foods aren't good for us, and advised to eat whole fresh foods and vary our diets in order to stay healthy. Conversely, we are told to NEVER feed whole fresh foods to our pets, to never vary their diets, and not to upset the careful balance of the processed diet they are supposed to eat every day of their lives. Does this make sense?
Only to the pet food manufacturers. To them, it makes sense and it makes money. That is why pet food manufacturers finance veterinarian training programs and subsidize vet school clinics. Some vets only know what the kibble makers tell them, and pass that on to their clients: eat the processed diet."
So the first reason vets carry and recommend kibble and canned foods is..... the pet food companies have indoctrinated them well. And the second reason is.... profits. So many dogs who eat processed foods end up sicker.
Veterinarian Dr. Ian Billinghurst agrees:
"The sad truth is that prepared pet foods help provide patients for vets. There is an enormous profit to be made from selling a product which is endorsed wholeheartedly by the profession, and which at the same time will actively promote (in a non-obvious way) ill health in our patients. This is a win-win situation for us. We get applauded by our clients and peers for selling the stuff. We bank the profits. We enjoy the kick backs from the manufacturers for doing so, and best of all, we are quietly brewing up our next crop of patients. It's a perfect system."
Yes.....except for your dog.
Fortunately, an increasing number of veterinarians have been breaking free of the strong grip of the kibble and canned manufacturers.
These vets are now enthusiastic supporters of feeding dogs what they were born to eat: real food, either raw or cooked. Dogs have been fed this way for 15 thousand years. They've only been fed dry kibble and canned junk for a hundred or so years.
Think about that.
Feeding real, fresh, whole food will make a huge difference in your dog's future health. World-renowned veterinarian Dr. Martin Goldstein DVM says....
"You can boost your pet's health profoundly by making one simple decision. All you have to do is change his diet from commercial-brand fare to something you may never have imagined giving him – real food."
About the author: Michele Welton has over 40 years of experience as a Dog Trainer, Dog Breed Consultant, and founder of three Dog Training Centers. An expert researcher and author of 15 books about dogs, she loves helping people choose, train, and care for their dogs.
