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For pets suffering from a disease, a prescription pet food is often recommended by a veterinarian. The big problem for many pet owners, most of the known prescription pet foods contain by-product meal, animal fat, and vitamins sourced from China. Fear not…you’ve got options.

For pets suffering from a disease, a prescription pet food is often recommended by a veterinarian.  The big problem for many pet owners, most of the known prescription pet foods contain by-product meal, animal fat, and vitamins sourced from China.  Fear not…you’ve got options.

As if dealing with a life threatening disease in your pet isn’t enough, educated pet owners are often faced with the veterinarian recommendation of a Rx food with questionable quality of ingredients and ingredients sourced from China.  Most veterinarians sell the typical Rx lines – Hill’s, Purina, and Royal Canin, few veterinarians offer pet owners alternatives.

So, here are the alternatives.  Three pet food companies that formulate prescription pet foods using certified human grade ingredients and nothing from China.  In no particular order…

Rayne Clinical Nutrition
Rayne Clinical Nutrition makes numerous prescription foods sold only by veterinarians for cats and dogs.  Products made by Rayne Clinical Nutrition come backed by University studies (not studies done by the manufacturer itself).  Ingredients are whole foods, human grade (most sourced locally), with no ingredients sourced from China.  Rayne shared the company is “fanatical about cleanliness and avoiding cross contamination.”  This company was more than transparent with any question I had and I think they will be providing their Pledge to Quality and Origin soon!

Rayne Clinical Nutrition provides healthy animal diets, along with diets that address cancer, critical care, diabetes, gastrointestinal issues, heart disease, hepatic lipidosis, hyperlipidemia, kidney disease (early and late stage), liver disease, lymphangiectasia, lower urinary tract disease, obesity, pancreatitis, and skin disease.  Rayne Clinical Nutrition uses numerous novel protein options including kangaroo, calamari, rabbit and pork (meat processed in a human food facility).

Feeding costs for wet foods run from approximately $4.00 to $11.50 per day for a 30 pound dog; $2.86 to $5.12 per day for a 15 pound cat.  The company is “in the process of introducing a line of dry diets which will significantly lower the feeding cost per day.”

Rayne Clinical Nutrition can formulate or design a custom diet based on medical information provided by your veterinarian.  Rayne diets are available in the U.S., Canada, and Australia.

To learn more about Rayne Clinical Nutrition visit http://raynenutrition.com or call 877-698-3823

Just Food for Dogs
Just Food for Dogs makes daily food for healthy dogs, a line of prescription foods called “vet directed diets”, and custom formulations for vets/sick dogs in a commercial kitchen in Newport Beach, CA.  Just Food for Dogs was over the top transparent with any questions asked and even offered opportunity for me to speak with Dr. Oscar Chavez, DVM – one of the owners and formulators.  Sorry…no cat foods.

All Just Food for Dogs pet foods are sourced from human grade ingredients, are non GMO, and are all U.S. origin.  They offer the following Rx foods…

The prescription line consist of the following:
• Balanced Remedy. This food is formulated to improve gastrointestinal conditions such as diarrhea and vomiting. Nutritional factors – moderate protein, extremely restricted fat. Low residue. Low omega 6:3 ratio and added DHA/EPA. Balanced for long term feeding under veterinary supervision. Ingredients are USDA certified turkey breast, long grain white rice, sushi rice.

• Neoplasia Support. this food is designed to help maintain health for dogs undergoing chemotherapy. Nutritional factors – moderate protein to meet energy requirements, high level of fat to address nutrient density and palatability. Tightly controlled simple carbohydrates to avoid “feeding” tumor cells. Limited antioxidants to avoid interference with chemotherapy drugs. Primary ingredients are USDA certified ground beef, USDA certified chicken thigh, USDA certified chicken liver, long grain brown rice, etc.

• Renal Support Low Protein. This food can be an excellent diet choice for the nutritional management of dogs with azotemia and chronic or advanced kidney disease. Nutritional factors – low protein and phosphorus levels to reduce burden on kidneys. Lower sodium levels to manage disease progression. Moist diet to maintain hydration. Much more palatable than commercial prescription diets. Primary ingredients are USDA certified lean ground lamb, sushi rice, cauliflower, long grain brown rice, lamb liver, blueberries, etc.

• Renal Support Moderate Protein. This food can be perfect for subclinical cases, or those renal patients who have not yet developed azotemia. It is moderately restricted in highly digestible protein. Nutritional factors – Moderate protein and phosphorus levels to reduce burden on kidneys. Moderate sodium levels to help keep patient subclinical. Moist diet to maintain hydration. Much more palatable than commercial prescription diets. Primary ingredients. Lean ground lamb, long grain brown rice, spinach, carrot, safflower oil, etc.

• Derm Support Fish. This food is formulated to support the skin barrier, reduce inflammation and address food hypersensitivity or general dermatoses. Nutritional factors – limited ingredients, high quality wild caught salmon and halibut. Grain free, gluten free. Low omega 6:3 ratio. Balanced for long term feeding under veterinary supervision. Primary ingredients. Wild caught salmon filet, wild caught halibut filet, sweet potatoes, tapioca, olive oil.

The cost for a 30 pound dog would range from around $100 a month to $240 a month.

For a custom diet, Just Food for Dogs needs three things…
1. a questionnaire filled out by the pet owner;
2. lab work from the primary care or specialist vet;
3. a one time $95.00 fee.

Custom diets are completely custom, including supplements.  Meals are shipped to the pet owner frozen in meal size specific to the dog’s needs.

One of the owners of Just Food for Dogs is Dr. Oscar Chavez, DVM – professor in Clinical Canine Nutrition at Cal Poly Pomona.

For more information on Just Food for Dogs Rx line, visit http://www.justfoodfordogs.com or call (949) 722-DOGS.

Great Life Pet Foods
Great Life offers foods for healthy dogs and cats and provides a line of Rx foods for dogs.  The company has recently purchased their own manufacturing facility (3 plants) in Texas.  The information provided by Great Life is minimal (hopefully only a temporary issue) acquired in a brief conversation on 8/29/12.  The company stated they will email the responses to my questions, however they were not received before this article needed to be posted.  When this information is provided, it will be posted.

Great Life offers two kibble “RX” dog foods – buffalo or duck.  The Great Life website states “for dogs that need assistance against: Diabetes, Major Allergies, Immune, Organ, Digestive, or Weight Issues.  With low sugar content, lower fat foods, lower protein.”

For more information visit http://www.doctorsfinest.com or call (805)577-WOOF(9663)

Options!  For an easy way to share the alternative prescription pet foods with your veterinarian, Click Here for a brief PDF of the above information.

 

Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,

Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author, Buyer Beware
Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
TruthaboutPetFood.com
PetsumerReport.com

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6 Comments

6 Comments

  1. sean

    February 28, 2014 at 8:57 am

    I like Rayne Clinical Nutrition but want to note that the vitamin and mineral supplement in all of their wet foods contain Menadione Sodium Bisulfate Complex, the artificial form of vitamin K that has been linked to several severe health problems in dogs and cats (and humans). It’s been banned by the FDA for over-the-counter human use, so I’m dumbfounded that they’d include it in their otherwise really great foods.

    • Susan Thixton

      February 28, 2014 at 9:09 am

      I haven’t looked…but if the foods you mention contain fish – AAFCO established regulations require a fish based cat food to use menadione and only menadione as the source of vitamin K. Yes…crazy.

      • Sean

        February 28, 2014 at 9:22 am

        No, they’re not all fish proteins. Their rabbit, pork, and kangaroo formulas contain it as well… but only the wet-maintenance foods. Their dry foods don’t contain it, so that’s something I guess.

  2. Allison

    October 14, 2014 at 7:57 am

    I’ve been trying to figure out what to feed my 16 year old, newly sensitive (early, low level pancreatitis), formerly struvite crystal prone female cat, Easter. I had for years (likely the cause of this problem) been feeding her a mix of Orijen, Wysong Uretic, and Wysong Nurture with free range pheasant. Before that she had been fed a variety of prescription foods for her long battle with UTIs, and other holistic and natural foods as I have learned about nutrition for people and pets (from your site–I’ve been a subscriber for many years–YOU ROCK), mostly Wellness brand foods.

    Earlier this year I switched her to Nature’s Logic, first the chicken, then the duck and salmon, and finally the rabbit, all of which I have recently discovered contain chicken liver and fat D: My vet is of little help as she considers Royal Canin and Hill’s Science Diet to be appropriate and healthy options for my poor girl.

    I have been eyeing Rayne Clinical Nutrition for a few months now, the pre-made diets, but mostly the Custom RX Diets, assuming I can get my vet on board. But I just found this article regarding Rayne, http://blog.onespotallergy.com/2014/08/allergy-alert-undisclosed-ingredients-in-rayne-clinical-nutrition/ and I have noticed that their ingredients lists on their site are a bit vague (“Natural Flavor From Vegetables”, “Vitamin & Mineral Mixture”). Also, canola oil, I don’t like to eat it, why on earth would I feed it to Easter?!?

    I’m wondering if you’ve seen/weighed in on the article I linked about Rayne’s ingredient disclosure and also their vague ingredient lists. I guess I don’t know if I have a question here, I’m just sharing my frustration at the options available, specifically to cat parents 🙁

  3. ginger

    April 29, 2016 at 3:41 pm

    Susan, it would be wonderful if you could see your way to updating this article. There is little choice for us kitty owners based on the market, and also the comments posted here. I choose the best options I can (usually NV Instinct Limited, but have noticed they are having canning/packaging issues along with Wild Calling). We would appreciate a more recent roundup including brands like Open Farm and the status of Rayne’s integrity. Thank you.

    • Ellen

      June 17, 2016 at 11:04 am

      My 6 year old kitty was diagnosed yesterday with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) and the vet recommended Rayne’s diet since she knows I am against brands like Hills and Royal Canin (even for the prescription formulas). She said Rayne’s was a smaller company who wasn’t in business to compete with the bigger brands, but rather, to offer an alternative to pet parents concerned about the quality of the big brands. As I’m not familiar with Rayne’s, I’ve been researching it online today, so came across this post and the comments. After reading them, I’m not overly confident in the brand, but I agree with you. The previous comments are two years old, so it would be beneficial to update the company. My only goal is to provide the best nutrition possible to my poor kitty and determining what is the best possible is a very complex and difficult task.

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