Hi Lindsay-
The advice above does not really apply to you unless you have a dog that has a certain medical condition, which a presciption diet may or may not address. A normal healthy dog can and should be able to eat a normal diet which would be high in quality animal protein, moderate to low in fat and very low in carbs.
If you take the time to review the ingredients in Royal Canin, you will notice they use a large amount of corn and rice as their main source of carbs/protein. The food contains no other source of animal protein aside from animal by-products. By-products are a normal part of a dogs diet, however I would call the company and question the quality of the by-products before feeding. E.G make sure they can tell you what part of the chicken they come from and are they human grade.
Around here RC is considered a low quality food with a very high price tag. If you head over to the review side of the website you can find many 4-5 star rated foods that are lower in price and higher in quality than RC.
Some I can recommend that I have fed that found my dog did well on were Fromm, Orijen, EVO, Pure Balance and I am about to get him Wysong Epigen.
I would absolutely NOT suggest ever getting food from your vet that you can buy in a regular store as well. The mark up is insane and you are paying a premium price when you don’t have to. A prescription diet and the regular RC formulas are different as one is vet only and the other is not.
Also vet’s typically do not have training in canine nutrition. They will tell you this. If you have concerns, seek the advice of an actual canine nutritionist in your area or at a local college. Vet’s will always recommend RC, Science Diet and Purina because it’s what they are taught in school are quality foods. They know little beyond that knowledge.
