Vet recommending special food

Hi all

Ben has recently had crystals and white blood cells and high protein in his urine.

The vet put him on antibiotics and now suggested he go onto a special diet.

Okay, now I'm quite cynical when it comes this kind of thing. I have looked at the ingredients to the recommended food and to be honest they arent that great and I don't actually see what is so special about it?

What should I do?

I tend to think that as vets stock a particular brand of food of course they are going to recommend it, but it will look bad if I say 'No thanks'!!

(Feed JWB at the moment, recom food is Hills Prescription Canine c/d)

A tough one- my vet really pushes Hills prescription diet foods too-Minnie was in the one for weight loss- shes a bit porky she was on it for a while but I wasnt 100% happy as it was full of additives and by-products so now shes only getting 50/50 of that with Naturediet Lite.
Problem is we do trust our vets that they know the best food for certain conditions- maybe you need a second opinion from another vet if thats possible ??

Hmm its a bit tricky isn't it really. My GSD was put on a special food that was £1.50 a tin and a small bag of this special veterinary prescription stuff just the week before he was put to sleep by one vet who claimed that if he went on this food that we would see a big improvement in his condition. The week after we saw another vet in the same practice who told us it wouldn't have mattered if we had fed him on Chappie, nothing would make a difference. So yes I am a bit sceptical about these vet foods especially the ones they seem to promote. I didn't think the Hills diet was meant to be that good

I agree about Hills-read the labels on any of their foods and it doesn't look good-

It's tricky when you don't want to insult your vet, but the fact is they often have a vested interest in selling you this stuff, so of course you're going to take this advice with a pinch of salt. I think I would start by questioning exactly what it is about this stuff that's going to solve Ben's problem (is it low protein or something?) Let the vet know you're not particularly happy with the brand, whether it be because of the ingredients they use or whatever, and ask if they can suggest an alternative.

The bottom line is, this is your money to spend as you like. Don't feel you have to be bullied into anything.

ETA - you could always lie, and say that you'll go with their recommendation,but can get it cheaper over the internet. Then look into suitable alternatives...

The vet phoned me at work today to let me know the results of urine test.

I did ask what causes the condition and he said some dogs can be more prone to it and also diet might bring it on eg dairy products etc

I had been giving Ben wee bits of cheese as treats last week so I'm thinking maybe this pushed him over the edge?

Apparently the food will reduce his calcium levels and reduce the p/h of his urine, how I'm not quite sure though.

I have to make an appointment for Ben to get a check-up on Thursday so I'll ask him what is in the food to make it work, as I know its not the best ingredients wise.

At the vets I work at although we stock the hills science plan range and they are our 'main supplier' of food, we dont overly push them...other brands are just as good and for some conditions better imo.
I do agree that the ingredients lists on all brands of prescription diet is quite daunting and looks like the products are full of additives of some description.

I hate to think if my dog ever has to go onto the stuff. She is allergic to egg.....which is found in all prescription diets in all the major brands

I'd speak to you vet...as long as you get the right balance of protein, carbohydrate, fibre, ash, sugar etc etc right for the conditon...a substitute may be possible