I had posted a couple of weeks ago about Luna's pickiness with food and got a lot of suggestions that I should look into a Raw Prey Model diet. Lately I have had a couple of instances of my older dog Lucky vomiting and having diarrhea and he also has long term weight issues, and now is starting to have some trouble with elevated liver enzymes. These things have pushed me into reading more about the Prey Model Raw diet and I'm seriously considering it, though I still want to learn more before starting. I have also joined a yahoo group for Raw Feeders in my area and am thinking of joining a second one.
So I just got back from my vet and discussed with her the problems Lucky has been having recently. She once again tells me that Lucky needs to lose weight and I mention that I'm thinking about switching them to a Raw diet. All of a sudden her attitude changes and she starts giving me this "you are an idiot" look. She tells me she's completely against it because she feels its too much risk exposing them to the bacteria in raw foods and she doesn't think its necessary. She has also told me that she didn't think grain free foods were any better than corn based ones..   It's obvious her opinions about diet are a little different than mine..
I have been going to this vet for years and have gotten along with her well. She communicates very well with me and has been very helpful in the past. I do not know now what to think about her statements about the Raw diet. She said she would not criticize me if I decided to go ahead with it, but I can tell she is vehemently against it and I know I won't get any support from her. Should I be getting a second opinion from a vet that supports Raw? What have other people done when their vets don't give support for their choices in diet or otherwise? Is what she's telling me about the risks of bacteria based on facts or just fear? How worried should I be about it?

That seems to be every vets response to that. In addition that it's also a "fad" and doesn't really make a difference since it's not "balanced" *points you to Hill's Science Diet*

I feel the same about my vets. They are both in the same practice and don't agree with raw feeding, but we just avoid the subject.

Since you're looking at a dog with elevated liver enzymes, I would try and find a vet who is versed in nutrition and supports raw to help create a meal plan or menu for your dog. You don't have to switch vets (I have both a more holistic vet and a conventional vet) but there is nothing wrong with going to a vet for a specific reason (such as nutrition) which your current vet lack information on. Or at least unbiased information.

Every time I mention it to my friend who is a vet tech, he scoffs at the idea. And tells me that every time they have a digestive case come in, it's because of RAW feeding. I just don't even bring it up to him anymore.

arooroomom wrote:

That seems to be every vets response to that. In addition that it's also a "fad" and doesn't really make a difference since it's not "balanced" *points you to Hill's Science Diet*

I feel the same about my vets. They are both in the same practice and don't agree with raw feeding, but we just avoid the subject.

Since you're looking at a dog with elevated liver enzymes, I would try and find a vet who is versed in nutrition and supports raw to help create a meal plan or menu for your dog. You don't have to switch vets (I have both a more holistic vet and a conventional vet) but there is nothing wrong with going to a vet for a specific reason (such as nutrition) which your current vet lack information on. Or at least unbiased information.

Agree... I knew I might run into this problem before I got London so I went ahead and found a holistic vet that agrees with raw.
If you still want to see her I say go for it maybe she'll see how good your pups are doing and it will educate one more person

arooroomom wrote:

Since you're looking at a dog with elevated liver enzymes, I would try and find a vet who is versed in nutrition and supports raw to help create a meal plan or menu for your dog. You don't have to switch vets (I have both a more holistic vet and a conventional vet) but there is nothing wrong with going to a vet for a specific reason (such as nutrition) which your current vet lack information on. Or at least unbiased information.

I was thinking finding a secondary vet was going to be a good idea too. I had looked into holistic vets before and found a couple close to me.

I guess I didn't realize how bad a reaction I was going to get, I think I overestimated the open mindedness of my vet and also didn't realize just how controversial this is.
I live in a pretty rural area and most people here have different attitudes about how to best care for their animals. The vet tech at my veterinarian's office even told me that most of the people they see just feed their dogs the food from Tractor Supply! I doubt my vet has ever had any of her animal patients put on a Raw diet.

I've only had one vet that was pro-raw feeding and I have since moved to a different state from where that delightful vet is located so I'm back to anti-raw vets unfortunately. But I don't let it bother me, I just don't discuss food with the vet and when it does come up and they decide to state their opinion on it I just nod and let it go in one ear and out the other. I find that when you don't argue with them or try to back up your reasons for feeding raw, then they lose their thunder and let it drop after they've said their piece. Or if there's a vet that can't get past the raw feeding and you're trying to find a solution to a problem, then I'll politely sway them off the topic of nutrition by saying something like "So besides diet, what else can we do for...."

Thanks, Huskyluv, that's pretty much the position I took with my vet today when I realized there was going to be no point in trying to argue my point of view.. and its good to know other people have to face this same problem.
Your posts on Raw feeding have really been helpful to me, by the way. I especially enjoyed the pictures you posted of Dakota enjoying his chicken and turkey parts! I'm looking forward to starting my own post when I start my dogs on Raw food, when I figure out what the best diet plans are for them.

I actually had this problem today. We just moved to South Carolina from Georgia and I found a new vet immediately (within days) to declaw my cat. So we've been there several times and brought Mila with us every time, so they all know and of course love her. Well yesterday morning she started with some vomiting and some literally straight water diarrhea so I took her into the vet today. Of course, he tried to blame it on her raw diet. I've been raw feeding for months and she's never been this bad. Yes, we've had the expected issues with new meats and feeding too much, but she has had recurring diarrhea since we got her (when she wouldn't eat at all) and issues with vomiting bile (also since we got her, before the raw diet). He told me he could make a meal plan for me to start feeding her green beans and vegetables so her diet would be "balanced" since she's lacking vitamins now. He also told me to go home and boil her some chicken and rice for the diarrhea. He also wants to keep her for a few days and see if she'll eat regular dog food. Like I'm totally lying that she won't eat kibble. Yeah, I just made that up because I thought it would be fun. And I also didn't do my research at all before I started raw feeding, I just figured I would just feed her whatever she would eat and that should be good enough for her   I politely informed him that I did an immense amount of research on raw feeding for over a month before I switched her from not eating at all (she's a princess and thinks she's too special to eat dog food) and that her diet is in fact balanced.

Well I actually missed work while taking her to the vet and when I got there my coworker asked how she was doing and I told him the vet blamed it on her raw diet and he brought out his soap box and got on a speech of all the reasons why raw is not good for dogs. There's too much bacteria, you need to cook it for 2-3 minutes at 200 degrees before feeding it to kill all the pathogens, the only way meat is safe for your dog to eat is either cooked or within minutes of the animal being killed while the meat is still warm, freezing doesn't kill pathogens or bacteria, fish is the only thing that's safe to eat because the blood doesn't settle in their muscles, his aunt is a vet, his uncle breeds dogs, they feed "cooked raw" ( wtfever that is), my dogs eat science diet, dogs in the wild are sick all the time because they eat raw meat (again...   ????), my wife is going to school to be a marine biologist or wildlife something or another so I know exactly what I'm talking about, blah blah blah.  
At one point on here I saw someone say they just tell everyone they feed kibble to avoid these situations. I think I'm going to follow suit. Just be prepared for that but please don't be discouraged. I can't even begin to tell you the amount of research I did on this and even though we've had a few issues along the way I don't regret switching and I'll never go back to kibble. I don't really care what anyone says to me about it, there's enough info out there to support this and there's literally thousands and thousands of dogs that are proof that this diet is the best one for them. Especially compared to dogs on kibble.

I don't say kibble anymore - i say freeze dried raw. They don't argue with it.

What part of South Carolina? Let me see if I can find a decent Holistic vet by you, they tend to be raw friendly.

I was wondering if it was you that said that! My vet in Georgia actually was okay with raw but she suggested the pre-made frozen patties and vegetables and stuff. She had even personally had dogs on that raw diet before.
We're in Columbia, actually NE Columbia and our vet is in West Columbia so it's actually about an hour drive. They're good but if I can find a vet that won't blame everything she ever goes in for on her raw diet that would be great. He's pretty much lost his mind, actually asking me if they could keep her for a few days to see if they could get her to eat kibble. I kind of wanted to kick him in the shins at that point. After everything I tried to get her to eat kibble for 6 weeks and it didn't work, you think in 2 days you're going to convert her back from her current diet that she'll do back flips and triple salchows for?

Seems I was more angry about that than I realized... Haha!

Well there are risks in a raw diet, when you do it wrong, but in the end it is the best way you can feed your dog.
It is no wonder that vets are against it. Alot of them have contracts with companys like Hills etc, so they want to sell that food and considering the fact that alot of health problems come with industrial dog food like Hills, Eukanuba etc. the vet is happy when you feed it to your dog, because you will visit him or her more often and that means more money for the vet

I agree with Kristina on this one! There are some vets out there that understand raw feeding but most do not, sadly--mine included, but he just lets it go and says, "you know what you're doing!"

The thing about Vets is that nutrition is an elective course, not a required course. Many do not understand a great depth of nutrition for pets. Which in my opinion is just sad, since many people rely on their vets as a source of reputable information on raising a healthy dog-

Totally agree, Lani!!!

HuskyMom09 wrote:

The thing about Vets is that nutrition is an elective course, not a required course.  Many do not understand a great depth of nutrition for pets.  Which in my opinion is just sad, since many people rely on their vets as a source of reputable information on raising a healthy dog-

So so true! Same goes for our doctors too. Doctors are not nutritionists. I have a very mild version of POTS (the best way I can describe it. They call it VasoVegal Syncope but it's the same thing really) so I have to eat an ungodly amount of salt and a drink a stupid amount of water and no caffeine or chocolate and some other things. But when they finally found out that's what I have and they were telling me this, the doctor literally told me to eat all the potato chips and french fries etc. that I wanted. Luckily I have enough common sense to know that that's terrible advice and there are many other ways to increase salt intake. But the same goes for vets. They don't know, they're just guessing and usually guessing what is good for us is good for dogs. Which is how they come up with the bacteria issue and the bones being dangerous and such. It is sad, because how are you supposed to treat an animal you don't even know how to take care of?