As expected, vet knocked the raw diet!

[BecksDad]

We took Beckham to the vet on Saturday due to an eye infection that he seemed to have. It was our first visit to a vet and we both had our fingers crossed that our new vet would be educated on the raw diet. After the exam she asked if we had any questions and of course we brought it up. She was very much against it but didn't seem to have any real argument for her position. She said the "wolf in the wild" comparison wasn't legit since dogs are now domesticated. She said the risk of bacterial infection is high. She said bones often get lodged in their stomachs...not that she's seen this personally, but she's "heard horror stories". I asked her for her recommendation on a kibble and she said "are you looking for a grocery store brand? Iams and Eukaneuba are pretty good". WHAT?! Aren't they the worst kind? I even brought up a few points such as those brands being filled with too much grain, something dogs don't need in their diet. She replied that it was just a carbohydrate source, no big deal. She also said that with the raw we can't control how much protein Beckham receives and that kibble would have more!

As you can see, I'm very disappointed with this vet. How can she be so uneducated? Why would a doctor recommend Iams?! When are vets going to be educated on nutrition on school? Especially now that the raw food diet is really becoming quite popular. It's frustrating!

Should we try and find a more open minded vet? Or should we just drop it and hope that we never have to go back?

[marycas]

There is a holistic vet registry; I think I located it based off a post on this board. I didnt bookmark it, however. That might be the search term to use. I found only one anywhere close to my area

Here in the states, I would not call raw popular. I never heard of it until this board and have had dogs for more years than I care to admit. Eukanuba has been the gold standard for years IME because you have to go to a pet store to purchase it. Iams is the only upgraded brand you can find at the grocery or Walmart

For me personally, it would be about how STRONGLY the vet feels. Is she shrugging and saying, thats interesting-yawn- or is she going to actively blame raw for any future ills

The first wouldnt bother me but, if I made teh decision to feed raw, the second would

You might not be able to find a supporter of raw close to your home and you have to weigh that convenience, especially in an emergency

Geez, it's like being a parent to a human child, isnt it?

[gmacleod]

Whether or not you feel you need to find a new vet really comes down to you, and how much you feel it impacts your relationship. Thing is, vets are doctors. Not nutritionists or evolutionary scientists. They're not taught nutrition even to the extenet that human GPs are (though the latter usually defer to nutritional specialists). So, does your vet's views on food impact their ability/knowledge as a doctor? It might or might not - but that's something only you can judge.

It is worth noting that not all vets are anti-raw. Many are very supportive and some of the greatest proponents of raw feeding are vets (activists even! LOL).

[BecksDad]

It's probably not a big enough problem to warrant finding a new vet. It just would have been nice to have been able to discuss the diet with her without her thinking we're nuts. We actually got the impression that she viewed us as bad pet owners, like we are harming our dog!

We were given a recommendation for a holistic vet in Toronto, we may consider visiting him. Or we'll just hope that visits to the vet are few and far between for Beckham. We take good care of him. :)

[citygirl]

You're not alone -- I've had the same problem with my dogs' allopathic vet. When they asked what I was feeding the dogs and I said it was a raw diet, there was definitely a moment of unspoken disapproval. The vet tech turned to the vet and asked what I was talking about (duh, never heard of raw feeding -- hard to believe!). The vet explained it to the tech and it was clear that she didn't care for raw diets. The vet launched into a list of problems that she had with raw diets. After she finished, I asked if she'd ever seen a dog or cat in all her years of practice that had a case of salmonella from raw food. She admitted that she hadn't. When I asked if she'd seen dogs with severe allergies to kibble and canned food, she had to admit that she had. When I told her that my pup with chronically inflamed large intestines thrives only on raw, she couldn't quibble. I use an allopathic vet for as little as possible and my holistic vet for as much as possible. I am lucky that there is a strong, committed community of raw feeders in my area, so I have lots of support.

Hang in there and don't let a vet tell you to stop doing something that you know is in the best interest of your dog. If your dog is thriving on the raw, that's the proof in the pudding, as they say. Vets know VERY little about nutrition and you should take what they offer as advice with regard to nutrition with a grain of salt. After all, these are the people selling that horrible Hill's Science Diet dreg (among others) in their practices!!:mad: