Just a thought - I wonder if the vet training actually covers nutrition and what goes into animal feed. It would be interesting to know.
Lesley and Dylan
It does.
Animal nutrition is a very big and detailed subject in veterinary school. Going in depth on covering requirements of different species of animals in different stages of life, preventing and dealing with consequences and treatment of malnutrition, not to mention nutrition as part of treatment of different conditions.
One reason for recommending feeds like Royal Canin, Hills etc is the fact that these brands produce veterinary diets. That means that they have developed food types especially suited to different medical conditions. It also means that they have to properly test and prove their effect and quality. So, regular food for healthy dogs, diets for overweight dogs, special diets for joint pain or renal diseases, the vet can trust that it is good for your dog and can recommend it safely. Of course it is impssible to be familiar with every food on the market, so they will recommend what they knw and trust.
My girl has been eating Royal Canin most of her life, I've been very happy with it. I switched her over to orjien a few years back to try the grain free diet. A heavy protein diet was too rich for her and she could only eat a tiny amunt without gaining weght, she was constantly hungry. So I put her back on RC so she could eat normally. Now she is older and has arthrosis in a knee, she is on mobility food from hills or rc. They have added chondroitin and glucsamine in the kibble so her knee is better and I don't have to fuss with supplements.
Not pretending to be an expert, or prmoting one brand over another
But a veterinarian studies for a minimum of 5 years, nutrition is definitely covered by the university. And yes pet food producers will advertise to vets and vet students, so will pharmaceutical companies. But the education gives the vet the better knowledge to judge what claims are real and fake from a seller
