Prescription food does not fix the problem
Many pet parents believe when feeding a prescription food, it must be a good food because it came from the vet! Right? Wrong. Unfortunately, prescription food is some of the least nutritious food on the shelf. It is a food made to address a symptom, it does not fix the problem.
Please know, this is not a dig at vets, we love and respect everything vets do for our animals! This is information about nutrition and most vets will tell you, they are focused on the medical side of caring for animals, not the nutritional side. Just like your doctor who can diagnose a medical condition but is not an expert in nutrition. There's just too much information for one person to know.
So why aren't prescription foods the best choice for your pet's nutrition? Typically, prescription foods are developed to cause an animal's body to respond a certain way. Essentially the food is tricking the body into a desired response. For example, a prescription food made to address kidney issues will have a higher salt content, causing the animal to drink more water than usual and ultimately flush out their organs and achieve the desired result.
Another example, prescription weight loss foods will have high amounts of cellulose added to trick the animal's body into believing it's full while eating less.
The prescription food will achieve the desired result but it will not resolve the health issue which is why animals should not be on a prescription food for more than three months. Similar to us, if you were maintaining a 1200 calorie diet per day, it's not healthy to continue that diet for more than three months. If you compare a prescription pet food to a grocery store pet food, you will see the grocery store food actually provides better nutrition, but will not achieve the desired result of the prescription food.
It's important to identify and resolve the cause of any symptoms an animal has, not just temporarily mask them with food that does not nutritionally benefit them. Health issues usually start on the inside, or within the animal's gut health. Heal the gut, eliminate the health issue. We believe, nutrition is health, medicine is sickness. If we can keep the animal healthy through nutrition, they will have little need for medicine.
Please know, this is not a dig at vets, we love and respect everything vets do for our animals! This is information about nutrition and most vets will tell you, they are focused on the medical side of caring for animals, not the nutritional side. Just like your doctor who can diagnose a medical condition but is not an expert in nutrition. There's just too much information for one person to know.
So why aren't prescription foods the best choice for your pet's nutrition? Typically, prescription foods are developed to cause an animal's body to respond a certain way. Essentially the food is tricking the body into a desired response. For example, a prescription food made to address kidney issues will have a higher salt content, causing the animal to drink more water than usual and ultimately flush out their organs and achieve the desired result.
Another example, prescription weight loss foods will have high amounts of cellulose added to trick the animal's body into believing it's full while eating less.
The prescription food will achieve the desired result but it will not resolve the health issue which is why animals should not be on a prescription food for more than three months. Similar to us, if you were maintaining a 1200 calorie diet per day, it's not healthy to continue that diet for more than three months. If you compare a prescription pet food to a grocery store pet food, you will see the grocery store food actually provides better nutrition, but will not achieve the desired result of the prescription food.
It's important to identify and resolve the cause of any symptoms an animal has, not just temporarily mask them with food that does not nutritionally benefit them. Health issues usually start on the inside, or within the animal's gut health. Heal the gut, eliminate the health issue. We believe, nutrition is health, medicine is sickness. If we can keep the animal healthy through nutrition, they will have little need for medicine.