Quote: Connie Sutherland

Remember the huge financial interest Hills has in the vet med schools curriculum (and no, this is not he-said-she-said; I have posted here more than once lists of "corporate sponsorships" and "partnerships" with vet schools and the AVMA and other vet orgs.) One side (the Hills side) is the one on top in that wildly skewed POV.

That is extremely true. In vet school and want to feed your dog for free? No problem. My former roommate got a free bag of food every month. They have full days which the vet students get free crap from every kind of drug and food manufacturer in the business. I had numerous pens each year from those events. The makers aren't stupid. They make a good impression on students who in the larger picture don't learn much about good nutrition (mostly it's about the bad and how to spot it). It's mostly the school's fault for not providing a more realistic expectation of correct nutrition. There were a few heated arguments on the merits of Science Diet *snort* which is thankfully not my experience with *most* vets.

My own vet (or at least the one I always seem to see in a larger practice) is very chill about most things. I asked him about Raw* once and he was pretty open to it but did say that making the choice involved a lot of research and there is a right and a wrong way to feed it. Not encouraging but not putting it down in any sense which I thought was an excellent response. They do have SD in the waiting room but at least to me they don't try to push it. Considering majority of their patients I see seem to be morbidly obese, I really doubt my vet is overly concerned with my slim and healthy dogs.

So to the initial poster, I don't think your vet is an idiot at all. I'd take what he said as a compliment and move along. He seems quite open-minded relatively speaking.

*I don't feed raw personally but I was curious how open my vet would be.

I take my pack in every year for heartworm testing. My vet LOVES the way my dogs look on the raw diet. She says she can tell they are raw fed just by looking at their teeth. Even Shyner, my 11 year old has perfect and clean teeth. They have healthy coats, they are a good healthy weight, and honestly, the only time she sees them is for the heartworm tests.

I have been with my current vet since 1996- she has helped me send a few of my girls to the Bridge. She moved to her current practice an hour away a few years ago and I followed. When she first got there, and I took the girls in for the first time, I got into an argument with a tech about the raw food. My vet walked in and basically told the tech to shut up. I have a feeling some things were said after the appointment as well because I have never heard another argumentative word from that tech

Everyone has an opinion, and we are all wecome to them. Your vet doesn't have to feed raw to treat your dog. He just has to accept it should that be that way you decide to go. Sounds like he'd be OK with it... though I do think he could use a little unbiased education about the raw diet...

I consider my vet to be my partner in keeping my dogs healthy. She knows my feelings on everything, and does her best to keep treatment goals in line with my beliefs. Ideally, this is the kind of relationship everyone should have with their vet. I have no idea what I will do if she ever retires....

I switched to a new vet last fall and haven't gotten to the diet discussion yet. Only one of my dogs has been in to see this vet for non-illness related reasons(rabies vaccine, neuter, and neuter follow up). Good sign was that there was absolutely no Science Diet in his waiting room, just some Royal Canin.

All four of my dogs eat a raw diet and I have been feeding raw for approximately 5 years. I, too, would never go back to feeding kibble.

 Quote: Michael_Wise

No, she is asking what, if any, food the vet sells?

Im sorry. I acually looked around and couldnt find a single advertisement for a food. I was impressed!

The vets I use do not go out of their way to promote raw to their clients, but they also have no issue with clients that feed a raw diet. My regular vet only sees my dogs for health clearances (hips/elbows/thyroid etc) or pregnancy ultrasounds or puppy health checks. This clinic is associated with a 24 hr emergency clinic that I go to for accidents etc - again they have no issues with what I feed. And in 17 yrs of feeding raw, I have never had any trip to the vet as a result of a raw-feeding issue