Prescription Dog Food

By now any of you reading this blog know that I often write about pet foods. And that I am an ardent supporter of natural or home prepared diets.

As a veterinarian, my viewpoint is certainly among the minority. Let’s face it, most veterinarians have minimal training in pet nutrition, and a big part of what they do have comes from the folks manufacturing and selling commercial foods. Hardly a neutral source…. I am so grateful for the owners that really are the driving force behind the natural/home prepared diet movement. They are the only ones who can force many veterinarians to really look beyond the companies that name their foods with letters rather than names.

This morning, I took a chance and opened the newest issue of dvm Newsmagazine New Product Review. I lucked out — nothing that really raised my blood pressure, just inspiration for a new blog

Purina Veterinary Diets has announced that their food OM, designed for dog weight loss, now contains high protein and isoflavones. These isoflavones promote weight loss and decrease oxidative stress. Isoflavones come largely from soybeans, and are strong antioxidants (a good thing). There are reports of them lowering cholesterol, also a good thing. So, on the surface, looks like this food is improved — more protein, and a good supplement.

Yeah, right.

I looked up the ingredients of this wonder food. Here you go, from the top site on a Google search:

Ground yellow corn, soybean meal, soybean hulls, corn gluten meal, beef and bone meal, pea fiber, wheat gluten, animal digest, cellulose, dicalcium phosphate, beef tallow preserved with mixed-tocopherols (source of Vitamin E), defluorinated phosphate, salt, choline chloride, calcium carbonate, zinc oxide, ferrous sulfate, vitamin supplements (E, A, B-12, D-3), manganese sulfate, niacin, calcium pantothenate, brewers dried yeast, riboflavin supplement, biotin, pyridoxine hydrochloride, copper sulfate, thiamine mononitrate, folic acid, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), calcium iodate.

Obviously the food is mostly soybeans, as soybean is the second and third ingredient. And corn is number one and four. Sound like a diet for a carnivore? How much protein is in meat and bone meal, or the horrific animal digest? It’s no wonder dogs lose weight on this stuff….

The site I found will sell you this product for a mere $54.99 for a 35 pound bag. That’s $1.58 a pound, not including tax or shipping. At my grocery store, I can buy beef, pork, and poultry for less than $1.58 a pound. At the moment in my freezer I have a chicken that was $0.79 a pound (Purdue, on sale), and a roast that was $1.19 a pound. And when I add vegetables and/or grains to the menu, both of which often cost less than meat, my dog’s meal costs even less per pound. With a bit more effort on my part, and a small freezer, I can further lower my costs by taking advantage of sales and buying case quantities at my local meat market. It’s more work than scooping kibble into a bowl, but how could anyone put Purina Vet Diets OM (or similar products) in their dog’s bowl, if they knew what was in it, and that they had other options?

Spread the word.

Prank, dreaming of dinner.