It is rare when Veterinarians speak out publically (or privately) about one of Big Pet Food. When it happens, it must be noticed and shared.
Project: Pet Slim Down is what got this particular veterinarian in an uproar. Dr. Karen Becker says “Project: Pet Slim Down looks a lot like a marketing campaign masquerading as a pet health care initiative.” The Project: Pet Slim Down website (yes, they have developed an entire website for this campaign) looks similar to human weight loss sites, complete with online tracking of your pets weight and inspirational videos. http://www.projectpetslimdown.com/Home
While overweight pets are a true and valid concern, the question remains is Project: Pet Slim Down a valuable tool for pet owners or is it a slick marketing campaign for Purina’s new line of Veterinarian (Rx) Diets?
At the bottom of the home page of the Project: Pet Slim Down website (and perhaps at the bottom of the entire project) is a small logo for Purina Veterinary Diets, including weight loss foods.
The Purina OM Canine formula (Overweight Management) lists the following ingredients: “Whole grain corn, corn gluten meal, soybean hulls*, soybean germ meal, soybean meal, pea fiber, wheat gluten, poultry by-product meal, animal digest, powdered cellulose, tricalcium phosphate, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), salt, choline chloride, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, Vitamin E supplement, manganese sulfate, niacin, Vitamin A supplement, calcium carbonate, copper sulfate, brewers dried yeast, calcium pantothenate, garlic oil, pyridoxine hydrochloride, Vitamin B-12 supplement, thiamine mononitrate, Vitamin D-3 supplement, riboflavin supplement, calcium iodate, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), folic acid, biotin, sodium selenite.” http://www.purinaveterinarydiets.com/CanineProductDetail.aspx?prod=227
By definition (of ingredient) there is no meat in this dog food; according to AAFCO (American Association of Feed Control Officials), Poultry by-product meal is not meat. Worse yet, the only animal protein sources in the food are listed 8th and 9th on the ingredient list (Poultry by-product meal and Animal Digest); Animal digest is one of ‘those’ ingredients determined by FDA testing to be likely to contain the lethal drug pentobarbital and thus likely to contain a euthanized animal. This soon to be Veterinarian recommended weight loss dog food contains no chelated or proteinated minerals (for better absorption) or probiotics (for a healthier immune system). But it does contain a wealth of grains.
Dr. Karen Becker looked at the ingredients of the Purina Veterinary Diets and said:
“1. The ingredients are of very poor quality and include impossible to pronounce additives and preservatives, not to mention known allergens, and the every-popular ‘meat byproducts.’ And don’t forget the locust bean gum.
2. These diets are about as far from canine or feline species-appropriate nutrition as it gets.” http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2010/08/17/is-the-fox-guarding-the-henhouse-purina-launches-project-pet-slim-down-for-pets.aspx
Thank you Dr. Becker!
We need more vets to publically stand up to any and all inferior ingredient pet foods. A few have the integrity and courage to do so; here’s hoping this will become trend instead of a rarity.
Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,
Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author, Buyer Beware
Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
TruthaboutPetFood.com
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Kelvin Yoxall
May 6, 2017 at 7:06 pm
Thank you for sharing this from Dr. Karen, I just now took a large bag of Purina diet back to the Vet, got my$ 80 back and will now read and get what’s best for my Husky.
xnedra1
February 12, 2019 at 10:33 am
$80 for a bag of this garbage? Wow! I feed a raw, species appropriate diet, and it costs me $67 for a 6 week supply. Thank you Dr. Becker for drawing attention to this, and other garbage mass produced per foods. I am trying to educate through fb groups, and people are starting to wake up and listen.
Gigi Romeo
June 19, 2019 at 8:52 pm
Just today Purina OM dog food was suggested to me by my vet for my 6 yr old mini dachshund, who is pushing 19 lbs. Doing some research on the Internet brought me to this article and now I’m really concerned feeding it to her. I value my Vets’ knowledge and have been going to her for almost 20yrs so this is disturbing news to discover. We also have 4 standard poodles and have fed all of them with confidence Solid Gold Lamb and rice for years and never had any weight issues with their breed. However, even with reducing the amount of intake, our little Doxie has packed it on and we realize it’s not healthy for her. I’m just curious if feeding this product on a short term basis will have any harmful results?
Marti
April 2, 2021 at 10:20 am
This was vet recommended, but reading this I will not give this to my mini doxi. I will stick to Acana. Thank you for posting this review.