Dog-Breath

Yes, I must admit I was seduced by the title of the article in a popular veterinary magazine and rushed to read it: Homemade Diets—Advice for your Clients.* WOW (I am thinking as I flip to the numbered page) my profession is finally getting it. Vets are getting the green light to instruct clients on how to properly cook for their pets—well it’s about time! Huh…What’s this? I smell some old party line poo poo! I only made it to the second paragraph before my enthusiasm took a nose dive—“Most nutritionists agree that it is in the animal’s best interest to eat a commercially available food.” Really? How about asking the animal that instinctively begs by the table for some real food! And then it got even more stupid—“The use of home-prepared diets is an alternative to feeding commercial food but is not risk free.” Not risk free—really? What about thousands of pets that were sickened and died after the most recent pet food recall in March 2007! I had the great displeasure of treating two cats that ate the poisoned food. So, what was the final recommendation if clients persisted in feeding their pet’s home-prepared food? Instruct your client to consult a veterinary nutritionist for a recipe. Yes, but that would require a fee. Well, that may be good advice if your pet suffers from a medical problem and needs a special diet—but most do not. And this stubborn attitude only reinforces the idea that either people are too stupid to follow some basic instructions or that vets are too lazy to council their clients on how to prepare a sound diet. Besides, how will they sell their prescription diets? In all fairness I need to add that the article was written by the Nutrition Support Service at the School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis. Yep, my good old Alma Mater—some things never change! But one thing is for sure—they’ve got lots of veterinary nutritionists ready for hire.
* California Veterinarian September/October 2007

Dig for the truth until you get it!