"Vet here.
Your dog does not need to eat grain free food with massive amounts of protein because they are “basically a wolf.” No. They’re not. They’re a dog. And not only does the actual science not support the need for these trend diets, now there’s concern they’re actually doing harm, causing dilated cardiomyopathy in certain animals.
In a similar vein, we do not get any money from diet companies. Do you think I would be wallowing in my 325K of debt (no this is not an exaggeration in the slightest), driving a 15 year old broken down car, and renting without a hope of buying a house, if I were getting kickbacks? I would not. If we make a diet recommendation it’s because current science says it may help your pet.
We agonize over cases, work longer hours than we should, spend time away from our families and friends to figure out difficult cases and help the really sick pets. Taking out your anger and grief on me and my staff does nothing but tear us apart and contribute to the high suicide rate that vets and vet techs have. We are helpers at heart and it hurts when we can’t help - please be kind and don’t make us feel worse."