Interesting Conversation

[heatherselway]

I had a interesting conversation with my vet tech teacher about hard food. Apparently my nutrition class is very pro hard food. Sigh. Depressing.

 

[peaches08]

In nursing school, cats are still painted as nasty animals that don't belong indoors. And don't dare feed a cat raw food, it increases their nastiness! It's hard sometimes to keep my mouth shut.

 

[vball91]

That IS depressing. I see postings here all time about vets recommending dry food only or the vet sold dry foods like Hill's and Royal Canin. It's so hard to get the message out about species-appropriate foods for cats when so many vets are out there arguing the opposite.

 

[heatherselway]

Oh and the school feeds strictly Hills too. Go figure.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

to the above.   I think my Vet is finally coming around.  We had the boys in for their annual exams last week, and she could not keep her hands off them

.  She just kept going on and on about their fur.  So I kept saying "it's their raw diet"

.  Then she asked me if I was still giving them a commercially prepared 100$ nutritionally complete food, and I told her no, and had to tell her all about Hare Today and Alnutrin and Call of the Wild, etc.  She was very interested in it all.

 

[peaches08]

That's a great point about the diet being balanced. I can understand why vets would be concerned about an owner feeding a homemade diet that isn't balanced. Just the other day a woman was telling me about how she is going to use grass clippings in her raw recipe. I told her that it was not only unnecessary but dangerous since she doesn't know what could have washed over from a neighbors yard, etc. I went on to explain that cats are obligate carnivores and she cut me off, "Yeah I know! I've been doing my research!" Ugh...I really hope her cat refuses raw for it's own sake.

 

[ldg]

Oh and the school feeds strictly Hills too. Go figure.

Of course they do. Hill's and many other pet food manufacturers are major sponsors of vet education:

Royal Canin Canada Commits $3 Million for OVC (Ontario Veterinary College) http://www.uoguelph.ca/news/2008/04/royal_canin_can.html

Hills Pet Nutrition funding for the School of Veterinary Medicine and Science at The University of Nottingham http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/vet/new...rtheschoolofveterinarymedicineandscience.aspx

NESTLE PURINA'S VETERINARY RESIDENTS' RESEARCH GRANTS http://www.vet.k-state.edu/research/pdf/Nestle_Purina.pdf

Welcome to the Hill's-SCAVMA College Feeding Program! "Hill's Pet Nutrition supports the veterinary community in many ways. One way is through its College Feeding Program (CFP). Hill's donates Science Diet and Prescription Diet products to veterinary schools across the nation. Here at NCSU, the College allows the Student Chapter of the American Veterinary Medical Association (SCAVMA) to sell the food at a discounted rate and use the proceeds for student functions and education." http://clubs.ncsu.edu/scavma/Hills/index.html

Hill's Pet Nutrition Inc supports vet programs "HILL'S Pet Nutrition Inc. has pledged $510,000 over six years to sponsor nutrition education programs at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. Funding supports a lectureship, a two-year residency in clinical nutrition and fellowships for veterinarians pursuing doctoral degrees in nutrition." http://www.k9magazinefree.com/k9_perspective/iss18p17.shtml

:lol3: Despite the above grants, UC Davis has a strict ban on the "freebies" provided by pet food companies to vet students. "Freebies in Vet School" http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/freebies-in-vet-school/

"For those of us who happen to be owned by a pet (or two or three…), being a student does have its advantages... and its challenges!

Feeding your Pet: Major pet food manufacturers spend endless time and money educating our students in the benefits of their products. Whether you have a personal preference or are interested in test-driving their products for yourself, chances are you can obtain enough food to feed your zoo." http://vet.osu.edu/assets/pdf/education/dvmProgram/incomingClass/HAVING PETS.pdf


IMO, the basic question for vets or professors in vet schools that support dry food feeding is....

According to industry data, dry food is the predominant form of food fed to cats.

(I didn't buy the research, but the information is included in the press release: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/research-markets-state-industry-cat-172900909.html. What it says is "Dry Cat Food Accounts for Majority of Sales").

Yet

1) dental disease is the number one diagnosed disease in our cats, and 85% of cats over the age of 3 years have some form of the disease. So if the argument is dry food is good for cat's teeth... how is that supported by the data?

(From the Banfield State of Pet Health Report - 2013 http://www.stateofpethealth.com/Content/pdf/Banfield-State-of-Pet-Health-Report_2013.pdf )

2) over 50% of cats are now "overweight or obese" ( http://www.petobesityprevention.com/2012-national-pet-obesity-survey-results/ )

3) Incidence of diabetes have DOUBLED in the past five years: for cats that develop Type 2 diabetes, studies have shown that high protein, low carb diets reduce or eliminate the need for insulin.

- The average carb content of dry food is about 28% (from an analysis of 48 brands)
- The average carb content of canned food is about 13% (from an analysis of 40 brands)

4) Kidney disease is 7x more common in cats than dogs.

(3 and 4 from the Banfield State of Pet Health Report)

5) Finally, according to the Nutrition Research Council in "Nutrient Requirement of Dogs and Cats" (on which the AAFCO bases its nutrition guidelines), a cat can maintain a hydrated state as long as the moisture level of the food meets or exceeds 63%, as fed. Dry food is usually 10% moisture. Canned food is usually 70% or more moisture. A cat eating dry, to not be chronically dehydrated, must drink at least 1/2 cup of water a day (4.5 ounces, to be exact). To equal the amount of water in canned food, a cat eating dry will need to drink about 1 cup of water a day (8 ounces). Chronic (even mild) dehydration is linked to... kidney failure (among other things).


I'd really like to hear a vet or vet school professor address this.

 

[chandra09]

You're lucky your vet tech program included a nutrition class. Mine did not. Not even a class that discussed nutrition a little bit. That's honestly a big reason why I just decided to get a certificate in veterinary assisting and leave it at that.

But yes, it is depressing to find out that most veterinary professionals are pro dry food. Many even anti raw food. As LDG points out above, the big reason is Hills and Royal Canin essentially pay them, (in sponsorships/grants/freebies), to think and to say what they want them to.