I took Nicky to her first vet APT to get her 2nd round of puppy shot's. It's a new vet's office that I've never been to before and by the time I left that place I was so furious!

As soon as the vet walked in she asked me what type of food I fed Nicky and I expressed to her that she has been on raw since she was 4 weeks old (the breeder recommended it and hoped we would stay on it, which we have). As soon as the vet heard this she freaked out!! "Are you aware that you're going to give her salmonella poisoning?!? It's like us eating raw chicken, she's a baby and isn't getting the nutrients she needs to grow into a healthy adult. Her bones aren't going to grow properly and will have joint problems. When she poops, she is pooping out salmonella and are you aware that is all over you're yard?!?! Breeders do NOT have a medical degree and can't tell you that raw is healthy, when it's not. I don't know any reputable vet that would recommend raw! She is NOT a wolf, far from it and needs to be on a DOG diet, which is kibble. She is going to have many health problems if you continue down this road of raw". At this point I'm thinking she is crazy and asked her which brand of food she would recommend. She said "Huskies are a large breed of dog! She is going to get huge (btw her mom is 40 lbs and her dad I believe is 55 lbs) and she need's to be on a LARGE Breed dog food such as Royal Canin, Iams, or Purina".

After she said that I knew this lady hadn't a clue what she was talking about and left. It just infuriated me at the fact this woman was talking down to me and made me feel like a bad pet owner, because I'm feeding my puppy a raw diet.

I love my vet! Even though she stocks the Science Diet stuff in the lobby area, she starts each visit with a quick, "He looks great... Whatever you are feeding him is working for him so keep it up!" Then she changes the subject quickly as if to say, "I really don't need you to tell me what he's eating."

I don't feed raw, so I don't know what she would think of that. But my guess is as long as fur and teeth and weight is good, she tries not to talk about types of food, knowing that there are so many different opinions out there.

Sorry you had a bad visit!

Get used to it, unfortunately

Our vet got so pissed I was feeding Rodeo raw and was going to try a premade when he was sick (even though that's the thing that "cured" him and the only thing he can eat!) and wanted me to put him on a "balanced" diet such as Science Diet.

/gag

I would be frustrated too and I'd probably switch vets! I've actually tried 3 different vets for my girls and want to try out one more. One of the three actually recommends a raw diet!

Our old vet tried to tell me that feeding Acana was bad because it's toooo high in protein... We switched vets and thankfully the hubby let me switch to a holistic vet. Fwiw, my bill at the holistic vets have been incredibly cheap in comparison to what I was paying at the conventional vet.

I knew that a lot of vet's were against raw, but never have I been lectured like that before. She was a straight up biotch! I was paying for her to give my puppy shot's, not to hear her lip or on Nicky's diet. I wasn't bringing her in for stomach issues or any health problems for that matter. If she didn't agree with the way I was feeding her, she could have put it differently, but nope.

Oh well, I'll never take any of my pet's to her again, Guess from now on I'll just lie and tell them she's on kibble, so I don't have to hear an ear full.

I have had this done to me several times. I make it very clearly when I meet a vet that I feed raw, I don't need their opinion or lecture on it, and if they go off on me I will just walk out.

I just try to avoid the food topic at all costs.

arooroomom wrote:

I just try to avoid the food topic at all costs.

Same with me and I work at a vet's office lol I take a vet's nutrition recommendations with a grain of salt. They don't learn anything about nutrition in vet school other than what Hill's teaches.

But as a side note- just because they push science diet and know little about canine nutrition doesn't mean that they are a bad vet. I trust my vet with Kale's life and he pushes science diet... He is an EXCELLENT surgeon and is extremely knowledgeable when is comes to anything medical, except grooming and nutrition lol

hypers987 wrote:

arooroomom wrote:

I just try to avoid the food topic at all costs.

Same with me and I work at a vet's office lol I take a vet's nutrition recommendations with a grain of salt. They don't learn anything about nutrition in vet school other than what Hill's teaches.

But as a side note- just because they push science diet and know little about canine nutrition doesn't mean that they are a bad vet. I trust my vet with Kale's life and he pushes science diet... He is an EXCELLENT surgeon and is extremely knowledgeable when is comes to anything medical, except grooming and nutrition lol

My vet suggested Science Diet when Kody was having his tummy issues. Of course it didn't work. After finding the forum and taking everybody's advice we found THK and that worked great with Kody. At my next vet visit i told him "hey, btw, I took Kody off of Science Diet b/c it wasn't working, BUT I did find this dehydrated food, called THK, and it's worked miracles". I didn't know how he would take it, but he actually asked me questions about it and wrote the name down. Said he was going to look into it to suggest to his patients. I was like, WOW! Whether he did it or not is a different story, but that was cool of him.

I took trust him with my dogs lives, but know that when it comes to nutrition he doesn't know much.

That's awful that she chewed you out like that. Our vet doesn't discuss food. Just does the, "she looks really healthy, so whatever you are doing, keep it up," routine. Vets (much like human doctors) don't know much about nutrition. Ever been to a hospital cafeteria? But I do trust them with the scalpel!

I don't feed raw, but my vet wanted me to switch Balon from Nutro Ultra to Iams puppy, so like an idiot I began to switch, guess what, he got the runs, and is still mushy! So next vet visit when she asked me how the switch was going I told her and she looked mortified and apologized.

My holistic vet in FL actually pushes raw feeding. When I first started taking my dogs there I was feeding Evo, a good grain free kibble at the time, and she strongly suggested that I take them off of kibble and feed them raw. . Yes, I drive all the way down to FL from SC because our vet is that good.

Which vet is that val?

We take our dogs to Dr Jan at Cedar Bay Vet Clinic in Winter Garden, FL.

I haven't had to deal with this yet, but I'm pretty sure I would get hostile pretty quick. Unfortunately, that reaction comes from talking to doctors about my own diet and nutrition and seeing how hopelessly lost they are (on average).

I'm not saying a doctor can't have an understanding of nutrition, same as I'm not saying a vet can't have an understanding of animal nutrition, but, I am saying that being a doctor/vet doesn't provide any nutritional understanding by default.

I have had plenty of people tell me that feeding raw to dogs is gross, will make them mean, and is animal cruelty.

I've heard great thing's about holistic vet's. I wish I could find one by me.

Hayden_69 wrote:

I've heard great thing's about holistic vet's. I wish I could find one by me.

just Googled this, they do acupuncture. Not sure what other holistic approaches they have but might be worth a phone call.

http://www.delrayanimalhospital.com/doctors

I've never had a vet try and talk nutrition with me but if they did and they said something as idiotic as that or tried to push science diet or iams, they'd get an earful.

Oh thank you Brian! I definitely will be giving them a call! I really appreciate the info! I googled some earlier, but wasn't impressed with the ratings they had or the reviews people left them.

Kelly, that make me anticipate my next vet visit in two weeks time. I just started switching my dogs to raw and I seriously don't know how the vet is going to react to that. I just don't get why most vet pushes people to feed their dog Hill's Prescription or Science Diet.
Anyway I decided to switch to raw because of the Odin Project I read about. I saw Hayden's name there too. How are you going with feeding raw?

Honestly, I wouldn't even mention that you're dog's are on raw. If you do, I would just express that you decided that it was in the best interest of you're pet's for them to be on raw. You shouldn't have to explain yourself, just move on to the reason why you're at the vet.

That's awesome you're on the Odin project too. Did you like them on facebook also? Anytime, I have a question about raw I just ask Tom! He's an awesome guy and really know's his stuff.

My pup's are doing very good with raw. They really enjoy it and they are in excellent health and have beautiful shiny coats. I wish you the same success

Thanks Hayden. I'm not on it yet because I just started raw today. But I'm gonna follow that project because it seems really meaningful. I tried rabbit mince with a mixture of blend apple and carrot since I haven't got any supplements at home yet. My 14 week old puppy seems to like it. My 15 month old threw up. Guess he doesn't like rabbit after all. So I gave him a chicken breast and he ate it just fine.

That's great! You should contact him anyway and get on the project!

I don't give fruit's & veggies, purely meat, so I won't be much help on that part. Mine aren't on any supplements either. I was thinking about maybe giving them a fish oil tablet, but haven't decided just yet.

I contacted him about the supplement thing. Hope I'll get a better understanding on that. I also submitted the application to the project for both my dogs. I guess I need to do a lot more research on raw feeding. I ordered a trial pack of raw feeding that will be delivered tomorrow morning. http://www.petfoodsdelivered.com.au/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=185
Too bad this store doesn't carry organs or meaty bones.