My dog was recently diagnosed with diabetes by a vet. The vet recommended Hills Diet "WD" canned dog food or Science Diet "KD" canned dog food. I bought three started cans along with the insulin and needles. I have gone to pet food stores and feed stores to buy more cans but they report that the shole science diet and Hills Diet prescription thing is a scam and those dog food companies are owned by huge conglomerates.
No prescription is needed for a dietary election for dogs but the company will only sell to veterinarians so that the vet can charge an outrageous sum for the cans. One feed store manager told me that Science Diet and Hills Diet enter into contracts with Vets by which the vet will only recommend their products in return for the vet having the exclusive right to market the cans. This sounds like a monopoly in restraint of trade to me.
The pet food store manager warned us that other brands of supposedly organic and nutritious dog foods are mislabeling their products and that he has read reports by labs which claim that the proportions stated on the labels (and even some of the ingredients) and not the proortions (or the ingredients) in the canned food. The labels make the food sound more special and nutritious than the actually are, thus justifying higher prices than regular dog food.
We were told that some of these giant companies are even giving scholarships to vet students on the condition that they sign contracts stating that they will only recommend the the scholarship grantor's brands in their vet practices.
I think that these companies should be forced to market their products through regular retail stores and to stop their restraints on trade.
We have elected to make the dogfood according to the ingredients and proportions recommended by the vet and which the labels purport that the cans contain.
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