[Shawna]

OH MY GOSH!!! You guys are hysterical!! 🙂

Cyndi and Dori are correct. I did get blocked from posting to the Purina Veterinary Exchange Facebook page. 🙂 I posted much more than below but this will give you an idea.

They recently posted an article about reasons not to feed “people food” to dogs which drummed up a LOT of negative feedback for them. I was actually one of the nice (well, polite) ones on the page. 🙂

1. I asked them if they felt veterinary nutritionist Meg Smart (who taught veterinary nutrition) was incorrect when she stated “I see a benefit in feeding whole foods whether cooked or raw.” http://www.angryvet.com/angryvet-nutrition-interview-drs-joseph-wakshlag-and-meg-smart/#sthash.fVPLTfI9.dpuf They ignored my question but warned me about marketing for other sites.

2. Sugar is apparently added for “texture and fiber”. But do the nutritionists and vets who formulate Purina diets, specifically Beneful, really feel that sugar is an appropriate ingredient for dogs? They told me this page was for their prescription line and that my question was “off topic”. Keep in mind that the original post was about “human foods” like “milk”, “raw eggs” etc. 🙂 I actually don’t disagree with most of the points they were trying to make (adding foods could alter the balance of the already balanced diet). It was their delivery that was the problem.

3. They posted info about their new HA line for allergies. These foods have been chemically hydrolyzed to break the proteins down into amino acids which makes them less likely to cause an allergic reaction (as the body is allergic to proteins not amino acids). However proteins that have been hydrolyzed create the same issue as monosodium glutamate — which has been shown to cause illnesses like diabetes, heart disease, white matter brain lesions, multiple sclerosis etc. So I asked Purina if dogs were “immune” to the problems associated with MSG in humans. They told me to check with my vet on what my dog might be immune to. Uhm??? So I explained I meant all dogs, not just mine. They ignored the question. Then I linked this article by vet Dr. Shawn Messonnier suggesting dog are affected by “excitotoxins” like those in Purina HA. http://www.byregion.net/articles-healers/Dr_Shawn.html Still ignored the question.

4. They also posted an article stating “Many people have turned to gluten-free diets to help them lose weight & feel better, but the fact remains that very few dogs’ diets are improved by going gluten-free.” So I asked them if they had done testing to demonstrate that gluten couldn’t cause “gluten ataxia” in dogs (gluten ataxia is a neurological disease in humans caused by gluten). I linked articles discussing gluten’s role in other diseases in humans, like type 1 diabetes (the kind dogs get) and asked if any testing had been done.

I also linked a Journal of Nutrition page demonstrating dogs can lose weight on a HIGH protein diet (52% was the diet tested). This is about the time they blocked me and deleted all of my comments.

I don’t feel too bad cause they deleted most of the negative and questioning comments on their page from others too. 🙂

My guess is that you would be asked to leave, or appropriately quieted, if you started asking questions like this but if it’s boring and you want to stir the pot a bit….. 🙂

I LOVE Panera salads and more importantly, my 3 year grandson who is gluten intolerant loves their salads. Especially the apple one although he gives me all his pecans.. Woot woot 🙂

• This reply was modified 11 years, 1 month ago by Shawna.
• This reply was modified 11 years, 1 month ago by Shawna.