The-Truth-About-Pet-Foods

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THE “ASK YOUR VETERINARIAN OR
PET PROFESSIONAL” MYTH
If you want expert advice on what to feed your pet, ask your
veterinarian or pet professional...
And you live happily ever after. The end.
If life could be so simple.
In my 8-1/2 years of college learning to be a veterinary physician and
surgeon, I had one course in nutrition.* And that concentrated on food
animals, not pets. Then, all of a sudden in practice, I was supposed to be
a nutrition expert. Clients relied on my advice. What profundity did I
come up with Feed a name brand, not a generic, and don’t imbalance
the foods by feeding table scraps. Not what you would call heavy advice,
expert, or even responsible when I look back on it. But at the time I was
quite proud of myself for coming up with such wisdom. (Actually, I didn’t
even come up with that. It’s what my profs taught me to say. They were
remarkably wise in this area also.)
In school I was focused on the technology of medicine. That is the
emphasis in human and animal medical schools. Nutrition was kind of like
homemaking, not science. And besides, all those “name brand” pet food
companies had all the details figured out. All that pets needed to do was
eat out of their bag (actually hand, as you are learning) and you could put
nutrition out of consideration as a factor in health.
* Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine, Doctor of Veterinary
Medicine (DVM) Professional Program, 1997. Michell AR, The Advancement
of Veterinary Science: Veterinary Education, 1993.
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