Quote:
Originally Posted by Nikki-
I have just stumbled across this forum and felt the urge to reply. Vets and nurses are required to undertake a minimum amount of continued training every year so they are indeed kept up to date as you like to put it in all fields.
|
Who provides the CPD training? Are these course sponsored or promoted by petfood manufacturers?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nikki-
Dry food is much better for teeth, it has not been proven to clean teeth and is not recommended in this manner. Dry food works the teeth and helps prevent the build up of tartar whereas wet food tends to cling and encourages bacteria build up. This is based upon animals in the wild who would eat the whole of the prey bones etc included which would work at the teeth.
|
Actually you will find that this is the other way round dry food becomes impacted between teeth, whilst wet food, as part of normal feline cleaning is easily removed. Yes in the wild the bones of small animals help to keep teeth clean. It's funny how there has been a significant increase in canine and feline dental problems over the past 10 years (matches the growth of dry food)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nikki-
70% of wet food is water.
|
And the negative of this is what? 70% of humans are water and 70% of dogs and cats natural prey is water. Requiring an animal to consume 70% more water because they are fed a dry food puts undue strain on kidneys (yes kidney disease is also increasing sharply pattern emerging here?)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nikki-
The reason "supermarket" brands are not recommended is not because the vets get kick backs but because they simply use the cheapest of ingredients rather than sticking with a standard recipe. This means each tin/bag is different and can actually cause stomach upsets and other problems.
The majority of the price you pay in supermarkets is marked up profit from the supermarket. Everywhere has to make a profit or they would no longer be there.
If at the end of the day you do not want to switch foods ask your vet nurse to design a feeding plan around to foods you would like, most will be happy to do this as they want what's best for the animal.
|
The major brand that is supported by vets in the UK is actually worse than some supermarket brands (did you know that the pets at home own brand dog food is nearly identical to Burns and their Purely cat range is one of the market) Pets at Home, Sainsbury's, Tesco and Asda all have high meat content own brand foods.
This is what one independant analysis site says about Hills
Cons: Inadequate meat content, by-products, low quality grains, fat of unidentifiable origin, carcinogenic preservative.
This food receives a 1 star rating simply because there is nothing lower.
The first ingredient on the listed is a named meat product, but since this is chicken inclusive of its water content (about 80%) and this ingredient will weigh only about 20% of its wet weight once water is removed (as it must be to make kibble) it is unlikely that this is the true first ingredient in the food and would be more accurately placed much further down the ingredient list. This is the sole named meat product in the food.
The next three ingredients are all low quality grains. Corn is a problematic grain that is difficult for dogs to digest and thought to be the cause of a great many allergy and yeast infection problems. We prefer not to see this used in dog food, yet it is the primary grain in this food. We prefer not to see this used in dog food. Sorghum is a carbohydrate source low in digestibility. We consider it primarily filler.
The fourth ingredient is wheat. The use of wheat is a significant negative: wheat is believed to be the number one cause of allergy problems in dog food. This is another ingredient we prefer not to see used at all in dog food.
The fifth ingredient in the food is by-products. It is impossible to ascertain the quality of by-products and these are usually products that are of such low quality as to be rejected for use in the human food chain.
My qualifications? Our companies animal nutritionist has had over 35 years in the pet food industry!