Found this on Craigs List,A long read ,but interesting...

Aqualung

New member
Feb 22, 2010
54
5
Long Island NY
Bulldog(s) Names
Stomper
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Date: 2010-07-13, 12:04AM EDT
Reply to: see below

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Ok I'll try to lay this whole issue to rest, I am a veterinarian with over 33 years in practice. No I will not post my name as I do not wish to be bothered with the influx of email I am sure to receive.

First I am sorry to tell you that it is true, all the nutrition texts are written by the pet food giants. All the aspiring veterinarian learns is what they want us to learn. This was the case 35 years ago and is still the case today. It is also true that most new grads will not spend a great deal of time and energy studying nutrition as they are still trying to hone their skills in medicine. It is only in recent years that I have given any thought to nutrition and these are my findings. Keep in mind I am not claiming to be an expert, this is just my opinion and yours may differ.
As for the raw diet: First we must bare in mind that this diet is based on how a dog would feed itself in the wild. Lets keep in mind that a wild dog will not live to be 10 or 12 in the wild. With this in mind I have great trepidations about giving all that raw protein to a senior dog, it will cause extreme stress on the kidneys. So I have to say NO to a raw diet for a senior dog. If you go with the raw diet for your young dog you should mix in a vitamin enriched organic/holistic food. I once had a lactating bitch who was on only a raw diet, the owner took the advice of his accountant and refused to supplement it with vitamins. The accountant told this client that I was only trying to make a sale and the raw diet was complete. The dog died 3 days after the pups were born from lack of calcium and essential vitamins, subsequently the pups all died too.
As for dry food only diets I don't think you can pick a worse diet for your dog, if you are going to go with a dry food please at least mix half can with the dry or add a raw food. The dry foods are severely lacking in proteins but have vitamins added, mixing it with the raw diet will actually help complete both. There is a widely held belief that dry food keeps the teeth clean, this is not true. While watching a slow motion camera you can see that when the points of the teeth hit the kibble it burts into a million little pieces and never scrapes along the sides of the teeth or gums. A piece of meat however is the best at cleaning teeth. when the teeth bite into a tough piece of meat they sink to the gum line over and over again. This not only cleans the teeth and gums but gives the jaw a good workout as well.
As for cat foods, I don't think there is a food on the market that is truly right for your cat. Dry food is the worst thing for them but the wet foods don't have it right either. I see so many metabolic diseases in cats that can only be attributed to diet. I wish I had a good answer to this question but I do not. It is extremely difficult to make your own nutritionally correct cat food, you must be very very careful with this. I do believe a raw diet is probably the best thing for them at this time but it is still not complete and will need supplements. Yes they are carnivores but the small creatures they eat (mice, birds etc.) are all primarly vegetarians. The cats will get the contents of the stomachs when they eat them. You've probably noticed I advocate mixing the different options together, this is the only way I can find to assure they get a complete balanced diet without getting too much of the bad parts.

Now onto the vaccine issue. Yes we are well aware we are over vaccinating your pets, however state law mandates the rabies vaccine, kennels mandate the bordatella vaccine ( a useless vaccine in my opinion) and the only way to be sure your dog has a resistance to distemper and parvo is to run a antibody titer yearly. This titer costs between $300 and $400 (labs fee, not mine). If I tell you not to vaccinate for these without the titer and your dog contracts one of these deadly diseases and dies guess who's getting blamed. I always give the option for the titers but once they hear the cost the clients will almost always take the vaccine instead. I have had a few clients who flatly turned down the vaccines without the titers, One died of Parvo two years after his last vaccine expired.
Do I believe these vaccines are causing metabolic disease in the animals? you bet I do. But I have yet to figure out what to do about it except omit the ones I feel are not life threatening. Remember the FIP vaccine? off the market as this disease was found to not be contagious but genetically passed on. Feline Leukemia vaccine can cause cancer at the injection site, this is proven and the company suggests vaccinating in the tail so it can be amputated if need be. If your cat doesn't go out do not use this vaccine. The new dental vaccine? oh come on now. Lepto I use only if the pet goes to area's where the lepto disease is present. Lymes only if they go into tick infested area's.

As for giving all the vaccines at once: Of course its a bad idea, The way a vaccine works is to stimulate the immune system to fight it. Putting them all in at once can over stimulate it and cause all types of reactions. Not all reactions are seen right away as in hives or shock. Some will appear as Lupus or cushions later in life. I have always suggested breaking up the shots in separate visits and I don't even charge a office fee for the subsequent visits. However it has been my finding that most clients get their first vaccine and either never return for the booster or return way too late and we have to start over. Most will only receive half the recommended vaccines and off to the dog park they go. As a result of this I only offer splitting the vaccines to clients I know are compliant or ones with dogs who have known reactions.

Are some vets trying to rip you off, yes I'm sure some are but they are the minority. If you get a bad feeling or feel they don't appear confident then please get another opinion. Any honest vet will encourage you to do so. I have had what appeared to be perfectly healthy animals come in for vaccines and discovered a life threatening problem during exam. The client is always skeptical when this happens, especially if it requires immediate surgery like a spleenic mass. I always send them off for a second opinion in these cases.
Also bare in mind that your vets personality has nothing to do with his medical skills. The nicest vet I ever knew was completely inept and the most miserable human being I have ever met anywhere was the best surgeon I've ever known. His clients hated him but kept coming back because they knew he was the best.
Least I forget to mention never trust a new drug, veterinary or human until its been on the market for 3 to 5 yrs. Many pass the studies and when used in real life are deadly. One that comes to mind is the 6 month heartworm injectable a few years back. I refused to use it and sure enough a few months later they pulled it off the market for numerous deaths. If there is a older tried and true drug on the market then go with that for now.

Note to the pre vet student who called tech's "low level, poorly educated vet tech's" Oh my dear you are in for such a rude awakening. A good senior tech is your right hand and knows almost as much as a seasoned veterinarian, certainly more than a first year vet. If you enter into a practice with that cocky attitude you will be hung out to dry and unemployed very quickly. Most new vets rely on the senior tech's to help guide them through diagnoses and surgery. Whenever I hire a new vet I assign a senior tech to watch over them, they tell me if they are competent and if they can be trusted in surgery. Many many times over the years it was my tech's who saved a life on a surgery table when the new vet screwed up and didn't know what to do. In 33 years of practice I have twice become incapacitated in the middle of a surgery, once from food poisoning and once from the hot lights coupled with the onset of a illness. In both cases my tech's finished the surgery, got the animal into recovery and saved the day. It is not uncommon for seasoned associates to ask my senior tech's opinions on cases. My own daughter two years out of vet school still request my senior tech in surgery in case she runs into problems and needs help. Newly graduated tech's as well as vets count on the senior vets and tech's to teach them the ropes, with your attitude you will surely be a very dangerous veterinarian and have a short lived career. I have unknowingly hired your type in the past and fired them within two weeks. They cannot be taught anything. As a pre vet student you are a recent high school graduate and not yet in vet school, in other words you know exactly nothing about veterinary medicine (this is evident in your post) I sincerely hope your attitude changes as you mature.

To sum up the nutrition debate I say do not ask your vet for advice, they likely know little to nothing. Do your own research, make sure the info is coming from a reliable source. Ask a family owned holistic pet supply store and I'm sure you will learn a lot more.
As for all the rest just use your common sense and do some research, if it sounds ridiculous then question it. If it doesn't really apply to you then say so.
Most of our clients rely on us to make the decisions for them because they know nothing about the vaccines or medications. In these cases we just vaccinate for the basics all at once (we will ask if you need Lepto and lymes) and hand you some heartworm pills. It's a rare client that ever even asks what we are giving. Educate yourself and ask questions.
 

bullmama

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The Home of the Desert Sky Pack
Now that, my bully friends, was a very very interesting read!!!

Great find aqualung!!!
 

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