Why You Are Not Asking Your Vet About Food
86% of Pet Parents Are Not Asking Their Vet What to Feed. Here's Why That Makes Sense
I want to talk about something that came across my desk recently that I honestly couldn't stop thinking about. A brand new peer reviewed study. Published May 15, 2026. Over 8,800 pet owners surveyed.
The finding?
Only 14% of pet owners said they rely on their vet for nutrition advice for their furry family!
That means 86% of people are figuring out what to feed their floofs on their own. Through online research, through word of mouth, through people like us, through trial and error.
And here is the thing. I am not surprised. Not even a little.
Because I have been in this industry long enough to know why that number exists. And it is not because pet parents don't trust their vets. Most of them love their vets.
It is because most vets were never really taught nutrition in the first place.
Let me explain....
If you'd prefer to listen to this blog, you can click here and look for S1E30: Why You Are Not Asking Your Vet About Food and listen anywhere you love listening to podcasts.
What Actually Happens in Vet School
Vets spend years learning to diagnose and treat disease, perform surgery, and save lives. They are genuinely brilliant at what they do and I have all the respect in the world for our vets, especially since I could never do what they do.
But nutrition? That part of the curriculum has always been thin. I have personally spoken with numerous vets who have not only confirmed the amount of education they're provided in vet school is minimal, but they've also told me, they refer to these training sessions as "Pizza Days". This name was coined, when the big pet food manufacturers, Royal Canin, Hills or Purina, showed up to teach nutrition for a day and always brought pizza. Read that first part again, "teach nutrition for a day"!
Many vets I've spoken with about the amount of nutrition training they're provided in vet school describe the training more like biased sales training than anything resembling actual nutrition training. They are provided a "cheat sheet" by whichever big pet food company was presenting that day and the cheat sheet would indicate which prescription food should be recommended for whatever issue the animal is facing.
For example 👇
🐾 Tummy troubles → Royal Canin Gastrointestinal or Hill's i/d
🐾 Itchy skin or suspected allergies → Royal Canin Hydrolyzed Protein or Hill's z/d
🐾 Pancreatitis → Royal Canin Digestive Low Fat or Hill's i/d Low Fat
No deep dive into what was actually causing the problem. No conversation about the gut, the bowl, or the root cause. Just match the symptom to the bag and send the client home. On top of that, the notion that "ingredients don't matter" because it's the "nutrition the food provides" that matters is a message that is shared loud and clear. But that doesn't make sense to me, because where does the "nutrition" come from if not the ingredients used to make the food?
And all of our vets went on to practice exactly what they were shown. Because why would they question their very expensive schooling? Vets who finished vet school and started seeing results through a different means, often moved into the integrative or holistic veterinarian space and started really taking a look at how food is medicine and if we give the body what it needs from the get go, it thrives and doesn't experience the common issues we all end up at the vet for then leave with a bag of "prescription kibble".
A 2016 survey of European veterinary schools found nutrition was consistently underrepresented, with limited classroom hours and widespread concern that graduates weren't leaving with practical skills. A 2025 study confirmed the same gap still exists, with student vet professionals saying they recognized nutrition as important but felt low confidence actually applying it.
And here is the part that really matters for you as a pet parent so I want to repeat it.
For many of our vets, the nutrition education they received came directly from the big pet food company representatives with a side of pizza. The manufacturers sponsored events during school and offered hefty discounts to anyone in vet school. Later, the food reps visited veterinary practices. They encouraged vets to sell their "veterinary only" prescription food, which was deemed exclusive and could be sold at a higher markup. They offered those same steep discounts given during their schooling to the clinic owner and all of their staff just for feeding their food and when you're getting the food at 50% off, it looks like a steal!
So when your vet hands you a bag of Royal Canin Gastrointestinal or Hills Science Diet, they are not being dishonest. They are recommending what they were taught to recommend.
But that does not make it the best answer for your floof.
What Pet Parents Are Actually Looking For
Let's get back to the study we originally referenced. The study found the number one reason pet owners choose a food is their pet's health. Sustainability was a secondary factor. And more and more owners are actively exploring minimally processed, fresh food options.
Sound familiar?
That is exactly who walks through our door every single day. Pet parents who are done guessing. Who have tried the prescription food and watched their dog stay sick. Who want real answers instead of a bag with a chocolate bar company's logo on it. Because don't forget, Mars and Nestle (yes the same guys who make chocolate bars) are the two biggest pet food manufacturers in the world. Royal Canin is a Mars product and Purina is a Nestle product.
92% of incoming vet students themselves say nutrition education is an important part of veterinary training. Yet 64% of those same students believed it would not be given much emphasis in their program and they found out they were right!
Even the people training to be vets know the gap exists.
So Where Does That Leave You?
It leaves you here. Reading this. Asking better questions. And that is exactly where we want to be with you. Your furry family depends on you to make the best choices for them and it's our job as pet parents to make the most informed decisions we can when it comes to what goes in their bowl and what keeps them healthy!
We are not here to tell you to fire your vet. Your vet is an incredible resource for diagnosing illness, treating injury, and managing disease. We love a good vet and we work alongside them all the time. But it's our mission to take a load of their plate and prevent disease and illness with the food we feed!
Nutrition is our lane. Fresh food, root cause wellness, and species appropriate feeding is what we study, what we stock, and what we talk about every single day. We have never expected one person (our vet) to know absolutely every single thing about every animal anyone could have for a pet. That's an unrealistic expectation. We want our vets to be experts in their field! That's why we work so hard to be experts in our field!
When 86% of pet parents are looking for answers outside the exam room of what their dog or cat should eat, we know pet parents need someone they can trust, because Google will take you down a never-ending rabbit hole and you'll likely have more questions then when you started. I used to joke that House of Paws was a Pet Nutrition Education Centre who just happens to sell food...but everyday as we help more and more pet parents, I start to believe it's not really a joke anymore!
If your floof is dealing with something and you find yourself in the 86% of pet parents who are looking for honest, real nutrition advice because your furry guy may have itchy skin, recurring ear infections, poor coat, digestive issues, low energy, come see us. Let's look at the bowl together. That is always where we start.
Come find us at the shop. We will look at what is in the bowl right now and help you figure out the next right step for your specific floof.
P.S. If this made you think of someone who has been frustrated with their floof's health and not getting answers, forward this to them. You might be the reason everything changes for their fur baby. 🩵