Prescription Diets

[blackmagic]

Many of us do not use dog foods made by certain companies for ethical reasons.

 

But, if your dog developed a condition which your vet said required that you feed a prescription diet, which was made by one of these companies, what would you do?

[Muriel]

I'd find out what foods exactly the vet reckoned were good for the condition and feed real food. In my experience, what vets don't know about nutrition is amazing, they usually just listen to the hype from the manufacturer and of course there's the small matter of commission "wink"

 

Actually, I'd research myself what foods would help. But then of course I don't use commercial "dog food"

[merledogs]

The internet is your best friend at times like these

 

Personally I would do lots of research and see what your other options are by asking lots of questions on different boards - you are bound to get some great advice

[KathyM]

Many of us do not use dog foods made by certain companies for ethical reasons.

 

But, if your dog developed a condition which your vet said required that you feed a prescription diet, which was made by one of these companies, what would you do?

 

I've been told that vets are meant to have "recipes" for homemade equivalents to prescription diets. It depends on the condition for me, if it was a cat with crystals or a dog with allergies, I wouldn't use prescription foods. If it was liver/kidney issues, I'd be more inclined to, but only after finding out if the recipes rumour is correct, although most vets would say anything to get you to pay for Hills/Waltham.

[simikins]

I'm still researching

[elricc]

When Ladas liver was failing and she developed food intolerances, the vet tried to feed her some hepatic food, she point blank refused to eat it. I knew she needed a low copper food so did a lot of research into low copper food and had to find novel protein and carb sources (hence duck and pumpkin cooked dinners and tapioca and venison, even tried squid and quinoa, which she liked).

The hepatic diet from food company was mainly soya which according to the research I had done was high in copper. I mentioned this to our vet who was surprised. Unfortunetley other problems set in for Lada, so she ate what she wanted as quality of life was more important.

So I would always make my own food there is loads of information on the web.

[BillyMalc]

Fortunately neither Mal nor Kiera have any conditions that require a prescription diet.

I've seen Purrpuss' dog Foxy the other day though: a healthy, almost chunky BC, bouncing with energy - who is a dog with liver disease. I'm sure Purrpuss herself has already posted the story about how Foxy seemed at death's door on her prescription liver diet, and indeed when I first met her she was quite a sad sight. Fox is now on home cooked vegan food and thriving!

One of the dogs living with us is Sophie. Sophie was said to be allergic to just about everything, and was prescribed James Wellbeloved. She did not like it one bit and instead looked sadly at the bowls of food the other dogs were having (again vegan home cooked food). Moreover, her condition of scratching herself to bleeding point didn't seem to improve and her coat was dull and felt really dry. Since leaving the JW alone completely and having Sophie on the same diet as the rest of them, her condition has improved loads - it really seems a case of stress rather than allergy now - and her coat is now ever so shiny and healthy looking. But the best thing of it all is her excitement when dinner is being served: she runs back and forth, wags her til 100 to the dozen and spins and jumps for joy! I just love cooking for our Sophie!

Moral of the stories: I'd find out what nutrients specifically they should or shouldn't have and adjust our dinners accordingly

[GSDFan]

It would depend upon what the condition was to be honest.

 

For some conditions some of the normal dog foods can be substituted.

 

Blythe as a diabetic has basically 3 choices, Prescription food, Chappie or a carefully monitored home cooked diet. The Vet suggested I use Chappie rather than Prescription food because Chappie is less than half the price. The Vet is also happy to give me some home cooked recipes. I'll probably do that when she is more stable.

 

Talk to your Vets about alternatives to Prescription diets.

 

 

To answer the question, if the only way I could keep my dog healthy was to use a Prescription diet then whatever my ethics I would use it.

[blackmagic]

It would depend upon what the condition was to be honest.

 

 

To answer the question, if the only way I could keep my dog healthy was to use a Prescription diet then whatever my ethics I would use it.

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I think at the end of the day we all would.

 

When my dally suffered a blocked bladder my vet just said' We'll have to order special food for him, does he eat wet or dry?'

 

My response was that he was fed raw and I wanted to continue with a raw diet. She immediately admitted she knew nothing about a raw diet, but perhaps the vet nurses would, as they had had nutrition training. I bet I know who they got that from!

 

It was a case of 'on your own head be it'.

 

I contacted other dal owners and was able to get help from them. Hovis has continued on his adapted raw diet for over a year and , so far, has been fine.

 

I also know someone whose miniature poodle was so lethargic on a prescription diet, that she stopped feeding it. The little dog bounced back and lived happily for several years.

[staffymad]

As most know Snatch has failing kidneys and he is on the Rhenal diet which is more or less like ash and has very little protein. I did look into the home cooked side of things but to be honest, I am not sure I could monitor this correctly and I rather don't want to risk him. I use the Royal Canine/Waltham renal diet.