[aimee]

Hi Cheryl,

In regards to vet diets.. I think there are diets marketed for reasons that are questionable at best and on the other hand see that there are veterinary diets that really fulfill a need.

In regards to the ingredients in the vet diets, I don’t vilify ingredients. I look at each ingredient as to what it brings to the table. I don’t know if you have stumbled upon “Dog Talk” podcasts. I’ve listened to a lot of them by a boarded nutritionist Sean Delaney. You can find them here : http://www.radiopetlady.com/archives-pet-food-advisors.htm Listen to the one dated 5- 9-2013 as it pertains to the “ingredient” issue. The host questions Dr Delaney in regards to the ingredients used in a kidney diet. I found it very interesting.

Do the vet diets have ingredients in them that are dangerous. None that I’d be concerned about. I just don’t get all that hyped up about things that others do. After researching in peer reviewed papers in Pub Med I find that my fears are quelled after looking at data. If someone doesn’t want to feed a particular ingredient for whatever reason than they shouldn’t. You have to do what you are comfortable with.

To those that commented on “kickbacks” Perhaps this is an issue with how we define kickback. If a person receives a benefit contingent upon a contract/ sale that he/she arranged between two parties and is not one of the two parties in the contract/sale I see that as a kickback. When a vet buys a diet from a company, marks it up and sells it, that’s normal business. The vet gives money to Hills…the client gives money to the vet. Hills doesn’t give money to the vet.

In The Honest Kitchen program the vet recommends the diet and is given a coupon code to give to the client. The client goes to the site and enters into a contract with Honest Kitchen and enters the coupon number identifying who sent them to the THK site. Honest Kitchen then gives a benefit to the vet which was contingent upon the contract between THK and the client. That’s a kickback!

The other kickback program I’m aware of is Chewy dot com. The vet recommends a diet to the client and recommends that they get it through Chewy. The client goes to chewy website and orders the diet and puts his vets name down as the prescribing vet. Chewy sends a fax to the vet and the vet signs it. Chewy then pays the vet for the script. That’s a kickback.

Hill’s sponsors a seminar, it is free for vets to attend. Does that meet the criteria of kickback? No.. because attendance to the seminar is not contingent upon any arranged contracts between Hills and the client. Attendance isn’t even contingent between any contract between Hills and the vet. Hill’s want vets to come to a seminar so that they can hopefully sway the vets to choose to use their products over a competitors. It is marketing by Hills.

Trips?? Maybe as a contest… win a trip to a vet conference for example. But then again entering the contest isn’t contingent on a contract between client and a company. In fact I think there are even laws that say a contest has to be open to all such that a vet who has never even purchased a product from the company offering the contest can participate.

In regards to vets selling food they buy it mark it up and sell it just as a pet store would or Chewy does or whatever. A vet may carry a particular food because he/she truly thinks it is best and wants to make it available. They may carry it because they want the client to visit the practice every 3-4 weeks to build “good will” between the client and the practice and they may carry it as another income source to support the practice.

Of those three I think income source comes in dead last. I’m saying this as a person whose sister is an accountant who has had vet practices as clients.