Those MDS users who know TessaUk will be aware of the problems, surgeries etc, she has had. Now I was PRESCRIBED a food for Tessa by the vet, one of her problems is now Inflammaatory Bowl Disease and after some very very sound advice from Tina Valent I read the 'ingredient' list of their Special food for dogs with Infalmmatory B. D., the food contain not less then SEVEN of the foods you are advised not to give to dogs with condition?????, this was stopped immediately and she is now on cooked chicken - no skin, brown rice, carrotts and water - no treats , no additives no nothing. I make treats by rolling chicken in rice and Tessa is happy!. Really just a heads up to other owners to check what is going into their stomaches - even when a vet has 'approved' it!.  Now this may be a conicidence (bit of dry humour there) but Tessa has not been sicksince I stopped feeding the food, not does she need Zantac anymore! And a very obvious statement - you will find on many an occasion that a wealth of experience and sound advice will come from responsible owners!! not the qualified kind i.e.vet....Pat

I love vets, I've been in the field for 10+ years but there's not a lot of nutrition education in vet school. Also most vet schools are sponsored by dog food companies (mostly Hills and Eukanuba, I believe) so there is a bias. Also a lot of vets are afraid of home cooking (which I personally think is a GREAT option) because the truth of the matter is many owners are not dedicated to providing a well balanced meal long term. We see owners give up on meds after just a few days. I think most vets just do the best that they can, they can't possibly be experts on everything. For every really great dedicated owner there's 10 bone heads, I swear.