5 Myths Perpetuated In Veterinary Medicine

And i am getting tired of perpetually having to refute them, so here it is:

1. “Dry dog food is good for dental health.”

It is about as good as eating a bag of Cheetos every day and never brushing. Starchy, carbohydrate-laden food is what creates plaque and tartar in dog’s mouths so that they then require routine dental cleanings. It’s great for Pet Dental Month!

2. “Fresh meat and vegetables are bad for dogs and cats.”

Are fresh meat and vegetables, essentially unprocessed foods, killing us and our pets, or is the heavily processed chemical-filled ready-to-eat food creating inflammation, metabolic imbalances, and disease? Let me know what you vote for.

3. “Grain-free dog foods cause dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) in dogs.”

Grains have nothing to do with heart disease in dogs. But this false information got Purina One into the number one selling dog food slot, thanks to their board-certified nutritionist who wrote the viral BLOG POST. To this day, I still have to dispute this nonsense.

Oh, and by the way, DCM is a relatively rare form of cardiac heart disease with a genetic basis in certain breeds, i.e. Boxers, and Dobermans. Mitral valve disease is much more common and the one we see in small breed dogs.

Please, cardiologists, let’s get up to date with the information. Here is the statement from the AVMA with links to the FDA, which essentially says it was all one big hoax created to sell kibble.

4. “Bones are not safe for dogs.”

Dogs, as a species, were made to chew on bones. Used responsibly, bones provide mental stimulation, emotional self-soothing, aka reduce anxiety, and help keep teeth clean. They also provide needed calcium and collagen.

Some breeds have been bred to have difficulty chewing on bones, i.e. brachycephalic Frenchies, bulldogs. Please do not leave dogs with bones unattended and choose the right type of bone for your dog and their style of chewing.

Here is an article: Raw Bones For Dogs 101: All You Need to Know

Photo by Brandon Cormier on Unsplash

5. “Raw pet food increases the risk of bacterial contamination over dry kibble.”

“Human-grade ingredient raw pet food is no more of a risk to bring into your home than chicken, lettuce and/or melons purchased from your grocery. (The same cannot be said of feed grade ingredient raw pet food or any style of feed grade ingredient pet food.)” Susan Thixton, The Truth About Pet Food

There are more recalls annually for E.Coli, Salmonella and Listeria in dry kibble than in commercial raw foods.

Commercial raw pet food companies are held to stricter standards regarding bacterial contamination than the meat in your grocery store sold for human consumption. The FDA has a zero-tolerance policy on the small RAW pet food company’s products. You are more likely to find salmonella in your chicken or Listeria in your salad than in a good brand of raw pet food.

In addition, the small companies, that are transparent about their sourcing are getting their meat from small, sustainable farmers where the animals are pasture-raised. This significantly reduces pathogenic bacterial contamination compared to large agribusiness feed-lot sources.

In addition, dogs are scavengers. That means they scavenge for food and are more than willing to eat road kill or the dead squirrel that died last week in your yard. They are inherently resistant to salmonella and other bacteria. If their microbiome is healthy, they are even more resistant.

My recently inherited Doodle foraged on deer entrails and legs from long-dead carcasses in the woods. I have yet to see a single incidence of vomiting or diarrhea from him.

I had a board-certified internist in vet school laugh when I wrote down salmonella infection as a differential on a GI case. He leaned over and whispered in my year, “Dogs are super resistant to salmonella infections, cross it off the list”.

Here is another article: Let’s Get the Facts Straight FDA and Analyzing the Last 3 Years of Recalls. The statistics speak for themselves.

Keep your eyes open at your local supermarket. Trader Joe’s had warnings at the register about salad contamination with Listeria just the other day.