Does Vet Damage the Reputation of University?

Amen Susan
I read her post yesterday and was horrified
Current cardiac research IS linking taurine deficiency dcm to legume heavy (peas, chickpeas etc) foods of which manny happen to be grain free
The research has NOT linked it to any other ingredient or formula

This nutritionist vet embodies everything I hate with commercial feed driven vets

It’s quite appalling and smacks of pet food industry influence. The entire article was posted in Golden Retriever Lifetime Study FB Group, where several members have dogs diagnosed with DCM due to low taurine levels. To advocate grain-based foods when grains contain very low levels of taurine is heresy. Although many dogs in the study are raw fed, I’m sure they are in the minority.

In partial defense of Dr. Freeman, this is one professional’s opinion, not a scientific peer-reviewed study. There are many other widely diverse opinions floating among clinical veterinary nutritionists. Here is a list of some of them.

American Academy of Veterinary Nutrition http://www.aavn.org/
Academy of Veterinary Nutrition Technicians http://nutritiontechs.org
American Society of Clinical Nutrition http://www.nutrition.org/
American Society for Parenteral & Enteral Nutrition https://www.nutritioncare.org/
Amino Acid Laboratory, University of California, Davis http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/vmb/labs/aal/
Association of American Feed Control Officials http://www.aafco.org/
Consumerlab.com (tests dietary supplements for purity, potency, bioavailability, etc) http://www.consumerlab.com/
FDA Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (regulatory and safety issues, adverse event reporting, meetings, industry information) http://www.fda.gov/AboutFDA/CentersOffices/OfficeofFoods/CFSAN/ or http://www.fda.gov/Food/default.htm
FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/
FDA Recall List http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/SafetyHealth/RecallsWithdrawals/default.htm
NIH National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine http://nccam.nih.gov
NIH Office of Dietary Supplements (fact sheets, safety notices, database) http://dietary-supplements.info.nih.gov
Nutrient Composition of Whole Vertebrate Prey
http://wildpro.twycrosszoo.org/000ADOBES/Bears/D317WholePreyFinal02May29.pdf
Nutrition Advisory Group to the American Zoo and Aquarium Association http://nagonline.net/
Pet Food Institute http://www.petfoodinstitute.org/
Pet Food Institute Consumer Information http://www.petfoodinstitute.org/?s=consumer+guide
USDA Food and Nutrition Information Center (general supplement and nutrition information, links to a variety of dietary supplement websites) https://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic
United State Pharmacopeia Dietary Supplement Verification Program http://www.usp.org/verification-services
WSAVA – Global Nutrition Committee – Nutrition Toolkit & Guidelines
http://www.wsava.org/guidelines/global-nutrition-guidelines

Dr. Freeman has been against raw food for dogs for longer than I can remember. I remember an article in a dog magazine long ago. I didn’t appreciate her stance then and certainly don’t now. Shame on her. It is beyond sad that these “professionals” are still ingrained with the one-sided training they received in vet school. They don’t think for themselves. She has an agenda but she sure needs to put her politics aside and get educated with the TRUTH! I will pray for her!

Well this is what happens when America let’s it’s education system slip to right above Uganda. People can’t even use basic reasoning skills anymore.

I understand this extremely frustrating. Yes grains aren’t necessarily bad- the problem is mass produced food contains grains that weren’t raised in natural environments and instead enhanced to increase the production for the demand. Thus, making the grain in the food not nearly as nutritious.
The more “boutique” brands as she calls them, have more controlled environments for the foods with grain in them, thus being good for the pet.

People also choose exotic meats because chicken and more common proteins are in such high demand that we feed these chickens crap feed which makes them as a protein less beneficial to the pet. Hence more uncommon proteins.

This woman is nuts! She should lose her license to practice veterinary nutrition/medicine. My dog is allergic to barley, so he is on a grain free diet. I’m always reading labels at the store whenever I buy him anything. She is most certainly making the university that she’s representing look bad along with herself. If this is what she’s teaching, they need to revoke her teaching license as well and fire her immediately.

considering that most Vet Courses in Nutrition are sponsored/provided by the company supplying feed to that institution ( frequently on a bid basis ) I have little to no faith in the qualifications of what Vet ‘Nutritionists’ recommend.

I think there is some level on which the Dr.’s comments are reasonable, in that most supposedly educated pet food consumers don’t understand how pet food labels can be manipulated, and in that way, don’t understand how to read them. Too many consumers have defaulted to the “1st ingredient should be…” mindset and that can be very wrongheaded, affected by “ingredient splitting,” etc.

Clearly Dr. Freeman is in the pocket of Big Kibble.

I found these Tufts articles today for the first time while researching a local vet recommended by neighbors. I moved from Chicago to Atlanta, GA about 3 yrs ago and it has been very difficult to find a good integrative vet. So when a vet recommendation is made I check it out, only to be disappointed. The vet whose site I researched had a blog stating: “There is absolutely no proof that grains are an issue in pet foods.” and provided a link to a Tufts’ article, which led me to the one titled “Why you shouldn’t judge a pet food by its ingredients list.” I was incredulous. I then came to this website and found the above from Susan, and all the great comments, and while it’s good to be among like-minded people, Vets like Freeman and her 2 colleagues are doing a lot of damage. They are highly educated and look great on paper. I can’t imagine that they really believe what they write on their website when there is so much info to the contrary out there. It makes me very sad, since I have so many friends who firmly believe their vets know what’s best. That used to be me, until I started to do my own research. I am doing my best to spread the word!
Just have to keep raising awareness and setting an example. Anyway – as always, many thanks to Susan Thixton for being so relentless about bringing attention to this and so many issues related to pet health!!

just simply copying this article I read that I found highly beneficial :

The truth about Vets and your Pets Nutritional needs and what you can do to help. By AKB
Lisa M. Freeman is a vet at Tufts University. She is funded by Purina, so everything she says is one hundred percent biased. She is literally trying to turn the pet food industry on its head with absolutely bogus ideas, for example she claims “dogs aren’t wolves” and “corn is a better protein than meat.” Worst of all she calls this science! She tries to tear apart Grain-free diets, exotic meats proteins and all “boutique” formulas that are very much so WORKING for many pets. Why? You might ask, well, because people are smarter nowadays and have moved away from buying the corn-based atrocities they push on you at vet offices. These “science-based” companies, such as our dear friend Purina, are trying to sell you a $130 bag of corn so their margins are astronomical. Corn is DIRT cheap to buy and is often covered in an allowable 30% mould. GROSS. There’s no other reason dogs or wolves should be eating corn as their main source of anything than that big pharma and these big companies can rob you blind. Vets have been trained to say “oh, but corn has such amazing amino acids”…seriously, what body builder do you know that uses corn to beef up? Get a grip. This is all about money, nothing else. The college of vets wants you to be a dumb little sheep and to fall for their “vets know best” mentality, when in fact many of these “boutique” diets, raw diets, exotic meat diets are insanely better in quality than this filthy garbage they are trying to shove down our pets throats. I’m sorry, I’m so heated, but people need to wake up and be aware of this. Your pet is counting on you not to fall for this terrible business model that big pharma, the college of vets, these disgusting companies and unfortunately many, many locals vets are hoping you’ll fall victims too so they can sit back in their mansions twiddling their fucking thumbs with their gargantuan bank accounts all at the expense of your precious Fido or Garfield. What bothers me most is none of them see a problem with their actions, often saying “it’s how I’ve been trained” or “that company has been around for years”, or worse yet, “it’s science based.” Gag me with a stick. Purina tried to buy Champion Pet Foods, which are the makers of Orijen and Acana pet foods. Champion is an extremely reputable company, with locally sourced ingredients and a biologically appropriate diet that I have seen work very well for many, many dogs and cats. They have been dominating the market because of their undeniable success in creating healthier pets. When Purina saw that the price tag for Champion was 4 billion, Purina backed right off and hired this woman, Lisa M. Freeman, who clearly has no morals and holds personal greed over the actual health and nutrition that our pets need, to tear down the company trying desperately to link grain-free diets to heart diseases in dogs. Her studies thus far have been extremely fraudulent. She only used 5 dogs, all of which were golden retrievers (a breed already known to have heart troubles) and all five dogs were from a family of dogs known to have heart issues. Don’t you think that if we were doing a real study that we would have used, I don’t know, say at least 12 separate breeds of unrelated dogs? This is a clear attack on Champion Pet Foods and nothing else because their foods are outperforming the garbage sold at vets and keeping people out of vet offices because their pets are actually healthy. No wonder it’s a 4 billion dollar company. People are finally getting it. There is no doubt in my mind, that this contemptible vet, Lisa M. Freeman and her money hungry friends at Purina aren’t finished trying to tear down Acana, Orijen and all other grain-free foods. There are going to be more accusations and heat put on these reputable companies when really the tables should be turned. I implore Lisa M. Freeman and Purina to do some real tests and try to take down corn, wheat and by-products, but they won’t because they’d loose an incredible amount of money. So, I think I have totally proven why these “science-based” tests are completely, bogus, false, ridiculous, but most importantly, BIASED. Don’t fall for this giant stunt that is being concocted by Purina to tear down good, reputable companies, because firstly you’ll only be fueling the fire that is everything wrong with the pet food industry and secondly because you are handing your money over to the gluttons responsible and trust me, those gluttons would rather purchase their new Mercedes than see your pet well. Let’s come together, for our animals and show these companies we aren’t having it anymore. Our pets deserve better owners, ones that truly care about their well-being. We can send a clear message here if we all work together, one that we are done being governed by big pharma, the college of vets, these backwards companies and their vet puppets. Also, don’t be mad at your vet, their actions are highly governed and there’s not much they can do…in fact they are forcefully told what to sell. Ever wonder why they can only sell about four brands of food? It’s preposterous and we need huge change. Wouldn’t it be incredible if we could cut out all the bad guys…let’s do it.