Food Fur Life
  • Home
  • Store
  • DOGS
    • EZComplete fur Dogs Premix Information >
      • Nutritional Analysis - EZcomplete fur Dogs - Chicken Liver Formula
    • How To ... fur Dogs >
      • How to Prepare EZComplete fur Dogs
      • How to Transition Your Dog to EZComplete
      • How to Add EZC fur Dogs premix to cooked meat AT the time of feeding
    • Feeding Guidelines fur Dogs
    • Raw or Cooked? Which Should I Feed and Why?
    • Why Probiotics Are So Important For Our Pets >
      • Kefir for Pets
    • How to Shop for Meat >
      • Online Meat Suppliers - Resource Links
    • Can Our Pets Eat Raw Pork?
  • Cats
    • EZComplete fur Cats Premix Information >
      • Nutritional Analysis - EZcomplete fur Cats - Chicken Liver Formula
    • How To ... fur Cats >
      • How to Prepare and Feed EZComplete fur Cats
      • How to Add EZC premix to cooked meat AT the time of feeding
      • How to Slowly and Properly Introduce EZComplete fur Cats
      • How to Transition to EZComplete fur Cats
      • How to Transition Your Cat to Timed Meals
      • How to Best Manage Hairballs >
        • Make Homemade Dried Egg Yolk Powder
      • How to Shop for Meat >
        • Can Our Pets Eat Raw Pork?
        • Online Meat Suppliers - Resource Links
    • Raw or Cooked? Which Should I Feed and Why?
    • Feline Nutrition Articles >
      • The Natural Diet of the Cat
      • Why Feed Your Cat A Raw Diet
      • Cat Food vs Cat Health
      • What is Digestibility and Why Does it Matter?
      • Raw Feeding and IBD in Cats
      • Turmeric & The Golden Paste - Unsafe for Cats?
      • Water - The Essential Nutrient
      • Water - 15 Tips to Increase Your Cat's Water Intake
    • Feline Health Articles >
      • Hairballs Are Not Normal
      • Why Probiotics Are So Important for Our Pets >
        • Kefir for Pets
      • My Cat Has Diarrhea - What Do I Do?
      • My Cat is Vomiting - What Do I Do?
      • My Cat Stopped Eating Raw - What Do I Do?
      • What is IBD
      • Manage Nausea - the role of food
      • Manage Nausea - healthy supplements & meds
      • Medicating & Assist Feeding Your Cat
      • Feline Health Resource Links
    • What does it mean the cat is an obligate carnivore?
    • Why You SHOULD Feed Your Immune Compromised Cat Raw Food
    • My Cat Stopped Eating Raw - What Do I Do?
  • FAQ / Contact
    • Shipping Rates & Policies
    • Samples
    • Contact
    • Premix Information
    • How Much Meat vs How Much Food
    • About Us
    • Return Policy
  • Blog & News

Is it Ethical for Vets to Sell Pet Food?

3/13/2016

2 Comments

 
Picture
“Is the pet food you are serving up killing your four-legged friend?” Asks the headline of an article published in the UK’s Daily Mail in 2010.  As co-founders of the Raw Feeding for IBD Cats group on Facebook, we (Carolina Lima and Laurie Goldstein) ask that question a lot. Commercial processed food is failing our furry family members. The incidence of food related illness in our pets is rising, yet many of our vets continue to recommend food with grains and legumes to our carnivores, and "prescribe" science-based foods, believing that whole, fresh foods are harmful to our pets. How can this be?

The fact of the matter is we fed our cats commercial kibble and canned foods. My husband and I (this is Laurie writing) were rescued by our first cat in 2001. We free-fed kibble on the advice of one of our vets. It was explained to us that cats hunt small prey, so their natural style of eating is many small meals a day, and kibble enabled that. It never occurred to us to ask if the type of food they’re fed should also mimic the small prey they naturally eat. This was a veterinarian, surely this person understood what cats need to thrive and promote optimum health.

It wasn’t until we rescued a cat, Chumley, or until Carolina’s Bugsy developed inflammatory bowel disease, that the nutritional knowledge of our veterinarians was called into question. Both cats had intractable diarrhea that led to this medicine and that medicine, and numerous “prescription” diets. Yes, I use quotes around the word prescription, because it is simply – for Hills – part of a trademarked name. Royal Canin and Purina call their “prescription” foods “Veterinary Diets.” None of these foods are actually prescription items that carry a Federal Legend on the bag that requires a veterinary prescription to fill. Make no mistake: "Prescription" foods and "Veterinary Diets" are a form of marketing, and an insidious one that consumers need to question.


Picture

Imagine walking into your pediatrician’s office, and the walls are lined with baby formula, cereal, and cans of food marketed to your children. You shop for food for your children at the doctor's office, not the supermarket. You do this because your doctor suggested you feed your child that brand of cereal, that brand of stew. And when your child gets sick, the doctor has a “prescription” food for that ailment. Now imagine this doctor’s nutrition training included just two or three courses in his eight years of university; those courses were taught by the same company whose food he sells in his office; the textbook used to teach those courses was written by that same food company. Imagine that doctor tells you that there is every reason to trust the science, because the food companies spend millions on research - and the nutrition children need is different than that of adults, it's too complicated to get it right if you do it yourself at home, and fresh food is dangerous as it can carry bacteria and infectious agents. Should you believe him? Do you think it is best to feed your child only processed food (made by the company that taught him what the best food to feed is) – forever?


In this scenario, would you believe that this for-profit food company is spending their research dollars with the sole goal of improving the health and well-being of your child? They have no interest in you feeding your child on your own – where’s the money in that? Why would they research what is best for your child? Isn’t it possible that actually conflicts with their goal of corporate profits? Isn’t it likely much of that research goes into how to improve their profit margins?


Picture
That scenario is the pet food reality.

Pet food companies team up with university veterinarian programs (“Hill’s Gives $5 Million to Ontario Vet College For Educational Center” April 2009). Pet food companies
  • Teach veterinary program nutrition courses at universities
  • Provide free or subsidized food to veterinary students
  • Sponsor Veterinary Association conferences and congresses
  • Run “Pet Health Counselor” courses for veterinarian staff
  • Provide programs for veterinarians and the entire clinic staff to purchase pet food for themselves at discounted rates.
 
In fact, the textbook used in nearly every pet nutrition course in every veterinary school, Small Animal Clinical Nutrition, is written by the Mark Morris Institute. What is the Mark Morris Institute? Mark Morris founded Hill’s Pet Nutrition, and his son endowed the Institute in his father’s honor, in keeping with the company’s marketing strategy of using the vets to market their food. The Mark Morris Institute also pays a dozen veterinarians, whom they send, free of charge, to veterinary schools to teach pet nutrition.
 
As discussed by Vince Field, Esq. in The Pet Food Recall and Food Safety (2008), "the commercial pet food industry’s connection to the veterinary profession has resulted in the creation of a system in which veterinarians are not only ill suited to counsel their clients on pet nutrition, but have a financial stake in their clients’ market decisions as well.  One of the key questions to be examined here is the ethical implications of a system in which pet food companies are used to educate veterinarians about pet nutrition while at the same time providing veterinarians with exclusive rights to the sale of their pet food products (which may account for up to 40% of the profit of veterinary clinics)."

So as the article in the UK Daily Mail states, “While cat and dog food sales have soared by 85 per cent over the past decade, research by the Pet Food Manufacturers Association shows that one in three household pets is now overweight - and chronic conditions in our pets, such as diabetes, kidney and liver disease, heart disease and dental problems (all related to diet) are on the increase.” VPI Pet Insurance indicates that food-related allergies, ear (yeast) infections, and diarrhea or vomiting consistently top the list of reasons for a vet visit.

The pet food manufacturers might tout their science and their research. They may proclaim the "proven" benefits of their products. But it  becomes increasingly difficult to deny the relationship between pet food company “nutritional training,” veterinary organization and conference funding, veterinarians profiting from the sale of that very same pet food, and deteriorating pet health with food-related chronic diseases.
 


2 Comments

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2020
    June 2019
    March 2018
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    December 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016

    Categories

    All
    Cats And Humans
    Commercial Pet Food
    EZcomplete
    EZ Egg Yolk
    Feline Nutrition Studies
    Feline Obesity
    Fresh Food
    Hairballs
    Health Issues
    How To
    How To Introduce EZcomplete
    How To Transition
    Pet Food Industry
    Pet Food Trends
    Pet Food Vs Pet Health
    Prescription Diets
    Promotions
    Raw-food
    Safety
    The Conscious Cat
    Veterinary Diets
    Water Needs

    Picture
      

Disclaimer
The information provided through our www.foodfurlife.com website is informational and educational. We are here to help make feeding a properly balanced homemade diet to your pet simple and to provide guidance for some of the problems that can crop up when transitioning your pets to a new food. But please be advised, we are not veterinarians. Food Fur Life LLC will not be held responsible for any adverse reactions your pet might experience based on the information on our website, nor can Food Fur Life LLC be held responsible for any problems due to using our product in any manner other than as directed. The health of your pet is 100% in your hands. We expect you to use your knowledge of your pet and your circumstances to determine, with the knowledge and input of your trusted veterinarian, whether any advice provided on this site is appropriate for your pet.


Food Fur Life, LLC
PO Box B
Blairstown, NJ 07825
PLEASE CONTACT US BY EMAIL and we'll be happy to schedule a call!                                                                                                      Copyright 2015 -2022 Food Fur Life, LLC
service@foodfurlife.com                                                                                                                         Food Fur Life and EZComplete are Registered Trademarks of Food Fur Life, LLC

Terms of Use


FAQ


Return Policy

Contact Us
  • Home
  • Store
  • DOGS
    • EZComplete fur Dogs Premix Information >
      • Nutritional Analysis - EZcomplete fur Dogs - Chicken Liver Formula
    • How To ... fur Dogs >
      • How to Prepare EZComplete fur Dogs
      • How to Transition Your Dog to EZComplete
      • How to Add EZC fur Dogs premix to cooked meat AT the time of feeding
    • Feeding Guidelines fur Dogs
    • Raw or Cooked? Which Should I Feed and Why?
    • Why Probiotics Are So Important For Our Pets >
      • Kefir for Pets
    • How to Shop for Meat >
      • Online Meat Suppliers - Resource Links
    • Can Our Pets Eat Raw Pork?
  • Cats
    • EZComplete fur Cats Premix Information >
      • Nutritional Analysis - EZcomplete fur Cats - Chicken Liver Formula
    • How To ... fur Cats >
      • How to Prepare and Feed EZComplete fur Cats
      • How to Add EZC premix to cooked meat AT the time of feeding
      • How to Slowly and Properly Introduce EZComplete fur Cats
      • How to Transition to EZComplete fur Cats
      • How to Transition Your Cat to Timed Meals
      • How to Best Manage Hairballs >
        • Make Homemade Dried Egg Yolk Powder
      • How to Shop for Meat >
        • Can Our Pets Eat Raw Pork?
        • Online Meat Suppliers - Resource Links
    • Raw or Cooked? Which Should I Feed and Why?
    • Feline Nutrition Articles >
      • The Natural Diet of the Cat
      • Why Feed Your Cat A Raw Diet
      • Cat Food vs Cat Health
      • What is Digestibility and Why Does it Matter?
      • Raw Feeding and IBD in Cats
      • Turmeric & The Golden Paste - Unsafe for Cats?
      • Water - The Essential Nutrient
      • Water - 15 Tips to Increase Your Cat's Water Intake
    • Feline Health Articles >
      • Hairballs Are Not Normal
      • Why Probiotics Are So Important for Our Pets >
        • Kefir for Pets
      • My Cat Has Diarrhea - What Do I Do?
      • My Cat is Vomiting - What Do I Do?
      • My Cat Stopped Eating Raw - What Do I Do?
      • What is IBD
      • Manage Nausea - the role of food
      • Manage Nausea - healthy supplements & meds
      • Medicating & Assist Feeding Your Cat
      • Feline Health Resource Links
    • What does it mean the cat is an obligate carnivore?
    • Why You SHOULD Feed Your Immune Compromised Cat Raw Food
    • My Cat Stopped Eating Raw - What Do I Do?
  • FAQ / Contact
    • Shipping Rates & Policies
    • Samples
    • Contact
    • Premix Information
    • How Much Meat vs How Much Food
    • About Us
    • Return Policy
  • Blog & News