[sascha k]

Thanks for writing. I’ll explain my thinking below.

I tend to be skeptical of vast global conspiracies myself but there is something to be said there. While financial ties are natural in any business, why is it the top contributors are the ones being most heavily (and often exclusively) being pushed? They want me to believe out of the hundreds of products available on the market, only 2 pass muster?

I’ve compared the ingredients of Hill’s Science diet and Nutrience Sub zero and while I’m no doctor, nor biologist I can tell the difference between grain filler and meat.

Just compare the ingredients below:
http://www.nutrience.ca/dog-food/nutrience-sub-zero/dry-food/canadian-pacific/
http://www.hillspet.ca/en-ca/products/ib-canine-mature-adult-chicken-and-rice-dry.html

I am not shopping for a vet that will confirm my biases but I’m looking for one that will discuss the differences in ingredients, the mass recall deaths, the research and the financial ties with me without shutting me down.

I understand a vet is a medical doctor who doesn’t have time to cater to every dumb question by an internet “genius”, but my personal feeling is that when someone doesn’t want you to ask questions there’s a problem.

I trust absolutely no one. I want the vet to distill the research to me in layman’s terms on why he/she is making the dietary recommendations. And yes this includes vets recommending the diet I prefer. Right now all I’ve got to go on is authority. It could well be that Hill’s and Royal Canin is the only commercial dog food anyone should feed their dog, but given all the available information detailed above I want an explanation for my objections.

As for the new vet I’m talking to he wasn’t implying there is a vast conspiracy of vets twirling the mustaches in the darkness. Only that there is verifiable evidence of strong financial ties and that some vets perhaps push these 2 diets a little harder than the quality of ingredients warrants.

My source isn’t some naturalnews hippy woo, but the Wall Street Journal:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB878509979865406000