Dog Community

what they're teaching...

Lexi

Posted : 3/5/2006 6:11:15 PM

So my friend and I were talking online today. She's studying to be a vet tech and currently works at a respected animal hospital here. The course she's currently taking is administered through the animal hospital she works at.

me: watcha doin?
her: I'm working on an online nutrition course
her: fun fun stuff I tell ya
me: for work?
her: part of my class crap
me: sounds interesting
her: aspects of it are
her: aspects are just pushing Hills food
me: ugh
me: that
me: SUCKS
me: dude
me: don't get me started
her: hahahaha
her: some of their diets are great. like the specialty stuff, it really does help the animal
me: I wonder what they think about feeding a homecooked or a raw diet at [vet clinic where she works.]
her: since it's difficult to guage nutrient content, and that dogs are omnivores, it's not recommended usually...
me: people who feed it do have to learn a lot first.
her: however, in certain situations we'll recommend boiling chicken (no bones) and rice, or stuff like that
me: for an elimination diet if they have allergies to something?
her: *nods*
her: or if they're older and becoming finicky
her: or, if they're ill and refusing food
her: etc
me: dogs can absorb nutrients from veggies if you puree them first
her: *nods* unfortunately, a lot of dogs wont eat the veggies though :\
her: it'd be too difficult to guage everything

I've sent her tons of links so she can compare ingredients of SD with other foods, but with all the school work she has I don't think she's really been able to check any of it out. It's just really sad that one of the most "progressive" clinics in the city is teaching that stuff. I mean, I feed kibble myself, but if I go to the vet I want to trust that I'm getting good advice. And with as much as she's paying for this course she deserves to be taught the truth.

spiritdogs

Posted : 3/5/2006 7:02:31 PM

If she's interested in learning more about nutrition, there's a former idogger who has her own site - [linkhttp://www.mordanna.com]www.mordanna.com[/link]. She does a lot of studying and has ingredient lists for nearly every food on the market.

Anonymous

Posted : 3/5/2006 7:26:42 PM

[Deleted by Admins]

Lexi

Posted : 3/5/2006 8:40:03 PM

I know! My boyfriend was like "Beneful's bad? But their commercials make it look so healthy, and that chocolate lab sure is cute. You just can't trust those marketing people." He's a marketing director. [

]

willowchow

Posted : 3/5/2006 8:51:25 PM

I just want to say that canned I/D has really, really helped Willow. I'm not saying it's the best but if you really look, the ingredients aren't THAT bad and no chemical preservatives. AND, it worked. Just wanted to throw that out to anyone who might be potentially having the same problems Willow did.

meilani

Posted : 3/5/2006 9:37:21 PM

I know the feeling. I was having a similar discussion [linkhttp://7stream.com/bostons/b-board/messages/7791.html]here[/link]. Be warned, some of what you will read will probably make you fall out of your chair laughing because it's so stupid. Feel free to post your own thoughts.

cakana

Posted : 3/5/2006 10:02:25 PM

Lori - I agree that there is a valuable market for the presciption foods that Hills (Science Diet) markets. I know a lot of people scoff at the ingredients, but I think they've worked on the formulas for allergens and other problems and have probably done a decent job. How many people are going to go into an vet office and walk out with a list of things they need to get from all different sources, prepare to a specific formula, etc? Not many and I think the service they provide can be very valuable.

Lauri S.

Posted : 3/5/2006 10:33:19 PM

her: since it's difficult to guage nutrient content, and that dogs are omnivores, it's not recommended usually..

Well, there's her first problem. Dogs are CARNIVORES, not omnivores.

Berner_girl

Posted : 3/5/2006 11:49:12 PM

Yeah, I used to think dogs were omnivores, too, but I learned something new with the Greenies issue. Cellulose, a polymer produced by fruits & veggies that is one of the components of a plant cell wall, cannot be digested by dogs. The reason you have to puree veggies first is because you have to break down the cell wall so that it can pass through the digestive system. You'll notice when feeding a raw carrot that you end up with little chunks of orange in the stools because the carrot goes in one end and out the other, so to speak. Dogs, being carnivores, do not produce the digestive enzyme cellulase required to process cellulose naturally, as humans, and other omnivores, do.

ron2

Posted : 3/6/2006 1:15:11 AM

Humans don't absorb cellulose, either. It passes through. Meat, for example. The tissue itself is fiber, cellulose. It passes through. You get nutrients from the fluids and fat in the meat. The fluids contain protein chain molecules on the level of amino acids and that's what makes meat the easiest source from which to get protein. Cooking has a tendency to break down the cellulose so that the nutrients are more easily assimilated. In a kibble, any plant matter, fruit, vegetable, or grain, is ground and mashed, then cooked, all of which helps break down the cellulose, what there is of it.

Believe it or not, 100 percent absorption is not healthy. All animals need to eliminate some. For example, nitrogen from the consumption of animal protein is filtered out by the kidneys and passed out in urine. Similarly, some fiber is good for the digestive system. It stimulates bowel action and cleans as it goes. How many times has a person eaten whole fruits and vegetables to raise their level of roughage because just eating meat did not provide enough whole cellulose for their digestive tract?

As for the debate of omnivore vs. carnivore, the judgement of scientists who have tracked wild canids and observed dogs is that modern canid, both wild and domesticated, are omnivores. That being said, my dog doesn't care for vegetables, unless they are soaked in meat juice, or my excellent mashed sweet potatos with cajun seasoning. But he will eat a wheat cracker without any meat flavoring or other trickery.

jennie_c_d

Posted : 3/6/2006 11:43:54 AM

I was sitting in my friend's kitchen one day, and her 5 year old son was bouncing off of the walls. I said, "Hey, Luke, What's a carnivore?" He stopped bouncing. Mission accomplished. "Ummm.... It eats meat??" "Yup! Is anybody in here a carnivore??" "Ummmm...?" "Is Jade (the cat) a carnivore?" "Ummm.."

His mom pipes in, "No, silly, she's an OMNIVORE!"

This child is home schooled.

labcrab

Posted : 3/6/2006 12:00:28 PM

Very interesting Ron..

Berner_girl

Posted : 3/6/2006 6:27:53 PM

Huh, I didn't know that. Interesting.

Lexi

Posted : 3/6/2006 8:36:53 PM

ORIGINAL: lauric

her: since it's difficult to guage nutrient content, and that dogs are omnivores, it's not recommended usually..

Well, there's her first problem. Dogs are CARNIVORES, not omnivores.

Lauri, I didn't even catch that. lol

Lori, what problems did Willow have?

willowchow

Posted : 3/7/2006 7:25:16 AM

Lexi-She had bouts of diarrhea montly sometimes they lasted for a few hours, sometimes a few days. She might have some food intolerances or IBD, we treat her like she has both with the diet and also limited other foods.