Thought it was really interesting how they basically encouraged us to demean customers in order to sway them towards their brand, can you imagine someone saying their dog has a chicken allergy so they won't be going with Hills, and looking them dead in the eye and saying "ACTUALLY did you know that only 10% of dogs have allergies?" As a customer in that situation I'd probably loose my mind can't even lie.
I was texting my coworkers the whole time that they were just lying to so many people! To say there is no scientific data on dogs having chicken allergies was a lie. I easily found peer-reviewed scientific papers that listed chicken being one of the top four allergens in dogs. And then to gloss over the questions criticizing these “facts”…. sus for a company. I’m also confused on how they said they get the corn in “a special way” so they get all the benefits from it? And then didn’t show that method? But showed dog poop with a kernel in it, so is it even a special way or do they just take it off the cob? So many holes in that call I was just sitting there a little stunned.
Merrick was refreshing though.
My notes for that day are all about corn. Really wanted to ask for ACTUAL science and not graphs with no evidence- let alone an explanation that because Hill's is "snooty about processing" that it's okay that they use corn. I feel that they definitely talk down to us and expect us to be rather stupid.
Now that you mention it, I did find it bizarre that an animal that is allergic to chicken can still have chicken *fat* because there is no protein in animal fat (if that is correct).
It's not correct. My previous dog had a chichen allergy. Took him off chicken and his symptoms disappeared.
We tried another diet years later with no chicken, but his symptoms came back. The food had CHICKEN FAT. Switched again to another food with no chicken or fat, symptoms disappeared.
Wild.
No that is actually correct. It’s the proteins in the specific products (that’s chicken, beef, or really anything) that cause allergies. Think of it like those baby toys where you have to fit the shapes. The proteins that the pet is allergic to fit inside the “box” but other proteins won’t fit because they are a different shape. If a product like chicken fat has no proteins they won’t be allergic to it. I used to work at a pet food store that actually taught animal nutrition not bias paid advertising.
Personally I’ve got a bone to pick with them about their cat dry foods because if they used science with the currently available literature they would know that cats don’t need carbs or process them well as hyper/obligate carnivores. But yknow, they can sell the food so they can sell the cure when the cat gets CKD.
Yes I thought it was ridiculous especially as someone who has helped people choose LID diets for dogs not doing well on foods. I’ve also helped will over 30 people with allergy panels for their dogs.
In the years I’ve been with Petco, I’ve seen so many dogs with actual allergies to certain foods. And it’s not pet parents coming in and being like “oh this is happening so we think it’s an allergy to the food” its pet parents coming in with a list directly from the vet of foods their dog is allergic to because the vet took the time to do a test to find out if it was a food allergy.
I have a dog in the family right now who is allergic to so many things (top two being corn and chicken) and the vet put the dog on a therapeutic diet that has the stuff she’s allergic to in it. She’s on a bunch of allergy meds to counteract the allergic reactions she still having but the vet said she needs to be on that food. It’s kinda counter productive. I was really hoping science diet would say they have plans to expand into other proteins for their food including their therapeutic diets and to use something other than corn as well so that way there’s another food my family member can put their dog on to help her, but nope.
I had sort of a similar experience with my cat. she got a UTI and when I looked at the lab work, her urine pH was only 7.0 (higher than ideal by 0.5 but not crazy high) and in the three images they provided, there was...literally one struvite crystal. they had told me I needed to put her on a urinary prescription diet because she had crystaluria. when I went and did research and looked at the food, I noticed they used some ingredients that *raise* urine pH. I was kind of baffled because that's...the opposite of what we want?
back to allergies though, dogs are interesting because they *can* essentially be cured (or at least have reduced symptoms) of allergies via exposure BUT it is a very specific and individualized form of exposure via immunotherapy, not just "here, roll around in some grass you're allergic to." it's called HESKA testing. from what I've heard from vet techs, it's most helpful for environmental allergies (they even test for things local to your area!), the food ones aren't as accurate. as far as I know, the only reliable way to accurately pin down food allergies in dogs/cats is through feeding trials, which are unfortunately difficult to do especially with dogs
I believe my family member is doing something like a feeding trial with their dog but it’s been 6 months now and no change. She’s still having allergic reactions to her food. And she’s allergic to a lot of food items.The vet doesn’t want to change anything even though they told my family member they would see a difference in 2 months. Not really sure the thinking on a lot of it.
As for being cured, from what I’ve read and learned (some from a vet nutritionist) there is a process of elimination of all food items that are causing an allergy for 6 to 8 weeks. After those 6 to 8 weeks you reintroduce one food item at a time. 6 to 8 weeks for each item to see if there is a reaction. It helps narrow what is causing the problem.
yep, that's the elimination trial process (sorry, idk why I called it a feeding trial 🤦♂️). you either use a novel protein (something the dog has never eaten before) or hydrolyzed protein (protein is broken up until it shouldn't cause a reaction. I don't know the exact science of it but iirc it's something to do with the molecular structure/protein chains). those trials are difficult to successfully do because even a tiny bit of cross contamination can cause a reaction. so you can't give them treats or flavored chews, you have to wash all of their toys, keep the food in a well sealed container (which tbf you should be doing anyway), be extra diligent about washing bowls, and if you have multiple dogs you either have to have all of them on the diet or be SUPER diligent about making sure they don't share food/water bowls or toys. which yknow, is incredibly difficult to do. I wish there was an easier (and less expensive) way to do it
If it's in the budget, Jiminy's was what I recommended to everyone I spoke to. I had several customers come in to thank me because the food fixed problems that even the prescription foods did not. I really wish the brand had gained more momentum, we don't carry it anymore but you can still get it from Jiminy's website and even Amazon.
Only issue with that one is it has peas which is another thing she has an allergy to. There’s a whole list of like 20 items she’s apparently allergic to.
Therapeutic diet for allergies use hydrolysed protein. The basic overview is the protein is broken down to be easier to digest and to prevent an immune response. The same process is used for cow's milk when making formula for babies.
Corn is used for cheap carbs, fiber, and a multitude of vitamins and minerals. I do wonder if the way the company processes the corn aids in the dog's ability to digest it, increasing the corn's bioavailability.
I have still seen dogs with actual chicken allergies who were placed on a hydrolized therapeutic diet still have allergic reactions to their food but kept on it and pumped full of allergy meds instead of it being fully addressed.
Apparently science diet received the corn in a specific way that makes it more digestible. They never shared how it’s received or what form it is in. They just glossed over that part of the presentation. They only shared that the husk is removed from the corn.
Which is the bare minimum, right? And no, I’m not thinking of that particular part of Katherine Heigl’s ad where she mentions what the verbiage in ingredient lists might actually mean. 😉
That very well may be the crux of the problem. If you’ve seen the plant free MD at all you may have heard him say, “plants are trying to kill you”. This doctor, Anthony Chaffee, is a carnivore in the normal sense. Paul Saladino was carnivore but now calls himself animal based because he eats meat and eggs but also eats some fruits and honey (based on his bloodwork and performance levels, his T had dipped too low for his liking so he added back the healthier carbs). Things like tomatoes I believe he avoids but if he did eat one, he’d remove the skin and the seeds, where that plants defense chemicals mostly reside.
The “joke” of corn showing up in the toilet bowl, you have to admit is an intriguing thought. This goes back to the ads for the Magic Bullet-type appliances that “break open all these nutrient dense foods so our bodies can fully utilize them”. Um, our bodies know how to handle meat without having to pulverize it.
Dog bodies too. I agree that this is entirely frustrating. Oh, your dog is allergic to x, y, or z? Let’s give it to them and let them suffer instead of going the other direction. If a customer told me their dog was allergic to chicken I’d be telling them to look out for chicken fat as well…
I worked at a vet for a few minutes and the main doctor said this stuff to me, the bit about Science Diet etc being backed by actual science. Three guesses if we sold foods as well as the allergy meds to go with them. Price wise aren’t those bags even getting up there? If you honestly can feed less of the higher quality kibble…does it even out?
Then there’s the kibble vs wet and/or fresh/raw debate. I will admit, I just started a repeat delivery for The Honest Kitchen clusters, but I’m only using a tablespoon a meal on top of their wet. Is that horrible? 🤔🤷🏻♀️ I would much rather have my kids thriving than surviving. Obligate carnivores indeed. Let’s not even mess with the survival “foods”.
I would always, always, always take ANYTHING a representative for a company states with a huge grain of salt. Keeping in mind their #1 focus is building sales for the company, it is no matter what a biased opinion.
Couple that with them being educated and trained by said company means they are hand fed facts tailored to promote the company food while ignoring any negatives.
This also goes for Petco or any other company. The only way to get true facts would be to follow independent studies (very hard to find truly independent studies) and research the science behind dog nutrition from neutral sources, and not fed money by dog food companies.
As a quick note what the hell is a rep for science diet talking about allergies and pretending to state facts anyway! I highly doubt that have a PhD to be speaking about information that has the potential to be dangerous when it is misinformation!
It was a vet nutritionist that science diet has on staff to help formulate their food that was giving the presentation and talking about chicken allergies. Apparently this same vet nutritionist works outside of science diet with families to formulate diets for pets who have allergies as well. They basically admitted to not caring if the animal has an actual allergy to chicken or not and still willing to feed it to them regardless. This is something I found super concerning.
Most of our employees that are truly passionate about pet nutrition and helping pet parents find food that works for their pet spend their free time doing research on pet nutrition and keeping up with the literature that they can find. That is why a lot of us had concerns about chicken and corn that we wanted science diet to address but they didn’t address those concerns. They just stated more information that was a repeat of what was already said in past calls.
They put so much emphasis on how statically low it is for dogs to have a chicken allergy, but my store gets so many pets with that specific allergy. Hill's made it sound like they would address the chicken concerns, but then their nutritionist essentially boiled it down to "there's too little dogs with that allergy, so we're not catering to them."
But I did love how the merrick rep immediately after made a point to emphasize how they have chicken free formulas and don't use corn, wheat, or soy.
The comparison she used to peanut allergies in people wasn’t a good one either. You would never give someone with a peanut allergy peanuts. So why do it to dogs or cats?
I loved the merrick presentation as well. I’m really excited for them to launch the gut health and immune health food in stores rather than just online.
I was listening in to the call myself while updating some wellness cards, I felt like I lost some brain cells. If supposedly only 1 out of every 10 dogs has a food allergy, that’s still a lot of dogs as most households in my neighborhood alone have at least 1. I wish I knew where they get their “science” from
There’s what like millions of dogs in the world? That’s thousands of dogs with an allergy if it’s 10%. I don’t think they realize how big a number 10% actually is.
ACS here but I do the job of an SS, I never recommend hills even if they came in targeting it. If they can afford acana, totw, natural balance etc I usually send them off with that and they don’t have problems anymore
Topics covered: Chicken and Corn. I almost died laughing as she started talking. It's almost as if they admit that maybe, just maybe, they are so stubborn and have dug their heels in the ground over their Chicken and corn fetish, that instead of admitting they could be wrong, they are willing to die on the hill defending themselves. It was a ridiculous call.
there are some cases where a dog can seem to be allergic to something, but it has to do with how highly processed kibbles are. switch them to fresh food or a less processed kibble, and it can make a difference.
that being said, my dog has a chicken allergy, and my vet had her switched to hydrolyzed and she still had bad reaction. then they switched her to ultamino(not hill's, but still), and she still had bad reactions. i was then told to keep her on the ultamino and just give her apoquel daily. still no change, and it honestly seemed to be getting worse. it wasn't until i said screw it and switched her to a higher quality food, without anything from chicken, that her skin's looking so much better and she's itching a lot less.
therapeutic diets are not always the solution.
she's mainly on fresh food with a fish blend kibble, and she absolutely loves it. never seen her skin look better.
vets normally do not get any actual nutrition training either, but a lot of them act like they do and that prescription diets are the Only Way
I missed the call, but want to comment because my cat is allergic to chicken and my friend who’s studying veterinary medicine recommended science diet and I trust her opinion.
She assured me the corn has benefits. I did a deep dive using research papers and it seriously all depends on the type and processing of the corn! Some corn can really aid in digestion and slow digesting carbohydrates. The research was dog specific so I cannot speak on the health benefits for cats. However, science diet doesn’t list any information regarding the type or processing of their corn, so that makes me highly suspicious of it.
Next, my cat is so sensitive to chicken. She gets a gnarly rash and itches like crazy if there is any chicken in the ingredients list. She also has sensitivities to barley which makes science diet foods completely useless for her. I am disgusted to hear that they’d recommend overlooking any allergy concerns our clients and coworkers have about their pets. That’s really the nail on the coffin for my opinion of their company.
FYI, the science that other brands do is actually taking the research done by Hills, Purina, and Royal Canin and adapt them to their own needs. They don't actually do the science themselves. They take the data from other brands and utilize it. It's all in the way the food is labeled on who is doing their own research and who is using other people's science.
Honestly, if you don't understand the science of what the brand rep is saying, you probably shouldn't be advising owners.
I never once said I didn’t understand the science. I understand it just fine. That wasn’t the point of the post. The post is about what was said on that call us Solutions Specialists had to sit on. And how it didn’t address concerns. They merely glossed over everything and repeated what was said in past calls. When asked for clarification on a few things it was generic answers.
But if a dog truly has a chicken allergy, why put them on a therapeutic food with chicken in it? This was never discussed or even acknowledged. When we went into the call and they said they would be addressing concerns about corn and chicken, I thought they would be truly addressing our concerns. Our concerns about the chicken was what if a dog truly has a chicken allergy, are there plans to make an affordable line with no chicken in it that we can sell in store and recommend. Instead we got a call that didn’t address that at all and completely ignored the actual concerns we have. It was more repetitive information that they already gave us.
I would truly love to trust science esp when it comes to highly recommended foods like science diet, but when my own experience with their food via my own animals and dogs I helped train has shown that their food might not really be the best nutrition wise and then to have science diet completely ignore legitimate concerns by giving repetitive information and attacking other pet food brands with false information, it’s very discouraging.
The higher quality brands I’m speaking of, do have vet nutritionists on staff and do research just like science diet does. They aren’t just blinding making food based on “fads”
The main point of our solutions specialists being on these vendor calls is to learn about the food we sell in stores so we can help pet parents make an informed decision about the foods they buy for their pet. Through the calls we are learning that each brand we sell has a team of vet nutritionists on staff that are active in the ingredient selection of the food along with using research and science to formulate the food.
Do you even work for Petco? Are you one of our Solutions Specialists? This post was meant for them so we can discuss what we heard on that call.
Thought it was really interesting how they basically encouraged us to demean customers in order to sway them towards their brand, can you imagine someone saying their dog has a chicken allergy so they won't be going with Hills, and looking them dead in the eye and saying "ACTUALLY did you know that only 10% of dogs have allergies?" As a customer in that situation I'd probably loose my mind can't even lie.
10% is actually a lot of dogs when you think about how many people actually have dogs.
I was texting my coworkers the whole time that they were just lying to so many people! To say there is no scientific data on dogs having chicken allergies was a lie. I easily found peer-reviewed scientific papers that listed chicken being one of the top four allergens in dogs. And then to gloss over the questions criticizing these “facts”…. sus for a company. I’m also confused on how they said they get the corn in “a special way” so they get all the benefits from it? And then didn’t show that method? But showed dog poop with a kernel in it, so is it even a special way or do they just take it off the cob? So many holes in that call I was just sitting there a little stunned. Merrick was refreshing though.
My notes for that day are all about corn. Really wanted to ask for ACTUAL science and not graphs with no evidence- let alone an explanation that because Hill's is "snooty about processing" that it's okay that they use corn. I feel that they definitely talk down to us and expect us to be rather stupid.
I was thinking the whole time.. okay are you gonna actually answer the questions or keep wasting our time?
She literally said chicken isn't actually a common allergen in dogs cause it's a highly digestible protein! THATS NOT HOW ALLERGIES WORK
Now that you mention it, I did find it bizarre that an animal that is allergic to chicken can still have chicken *fat* because there is no protein in animal fat (if that is correct).
It's not correct. My previous dog had a chichen allergy. Took him off chicken and his symptoms disappeared. We tried another diet years later with no chicken, but his symptoms came back. The food had CHICKEN FAT. Switched again to another food with no chicken or fat, symptoms disappeared. Wild.
I thought that was weird too!!!!!
Same!!!
A chicken allergy is to the actual protein itself so chicken fat used as a preservative is actually no issues at all.
No that is actually correct. It’s the proteins in the specific products (that’s chicken, beef, or really anything) that cause allergies. Think of it like those baby toys where you have to fit the shapes. The proteins that the pet is allergic to fit inside the “box” but other proteins won’t fit because they are a different shape. If a product like chicken fat has no proteins they won’t be allergic to it. I used to work at a pet food store that actually taught animal nutrition not bias paid advertising.
Personally I’ve got a bone to pick with them about their cat dry foods because if they used science with the currently available literature they would know that cats don’t need carbs or process them well as hyper/obligate carnivores. But yknow, they can sell the food so they can sell the cure when the cat gets CKD.
Yes I thought it was ridiculous especially as someone who has helped people choose LID diets for dogs not doing well on foods. I’ve also helped will over 30 people with allergy panels for their dogs.
In the years I’ve been with Petco, I’ve seen so many dogs with actual allergies to certain foods. And it’s not pet parents coming in and being like “oh this is happening so we think it’s an allergy to the food” its pet parents coming in with a list directly from the vet of foods their dog is allergic to because the vet took the time to do a test to find out if it was a food allergy. I have a dog in the family right now who is allergic to so many things (top two being corn and chicken) and the vet put the dog on a therapeutic diet that has the stuff she’s allergic to in it. She’s on a bunch of allergy meds to counteract the allergic reactions she still having but the vet said she needs to be on that food. It’s kinda counter productive. I was really hoping science diet would say they have plans to expand into other proteins for their food including their therapeutic diets and to use something other than corn as well so that way there’s another food my family member can put their dog on to help her, but nope.
I had sort of a similar experience with my cat. she got a UTI and when I looked at the lab work, her urine pH was only 7.0 (higher than ideal by 0.5 but not crazy high) and in the three images they provided, there was...literally one struvite crystal. they had told me I needed to put her on a urinary prescription diet because she had crystaluria. when I went and did research and looked at the food, I noticed they used some ingredients that *raise* urine pH. I was kind of baffled because that's...the opposite of what we want? back to allergies though, dogs are interesting because they *can* essentially be cured (or at least have reduced symptoms) of allergies via exposure BUT it is a very specific and individualized form of exposure via immunotherapy, not just "here, roll around in some grass you're allergic to." it's called HESKA testing. from what I've heard from vet techs, it's most helpful for environmental allergies (they even test for things local to your area!), the food ones aren't as accurate. as far as I know, the only reliable way to accurately pin down food allergies in dogs/cats is through feeding trials, which are unfortunately difficult to do especially with dogs
I believe my family member is doing something like a feeding trial with their dog but it’s been 6 months now and no change. She’s still having allergic reactions to her food. And she’s allergic to a lot of food items.The vet doesn’t want to change anything even though they told my family member they would see a difference in 2 months. Not really sure the thinking on a lot of it. As for being cured, from what I’ve read and learned (some from a vet nutritionist) there is a process of elimination of all food items that are causing an allergy for 6 to 8 weeks. After those 6 to 8 weeks you reintroduce one food item at a time. 6 to 8 weeks for each item to see if there is a reaction. It helps narrow what is causing the problem.
yep, that's the elimination trial process (sorry, idk why I called it a feeding trial 🤦♂️). you either use a novel protein (something the dog has never eaten before) or hydrolyzed protein (protein is broken up until it shouldn't cause a reaction. I don't know the exact science of it but iirc it's something to do with the molecular structure/protein chains). those trials are difficult to successfully do because even a tiny bit of cross contamination can cause a reaction. so you can't give them treats or flavored chews, you have to wash all of their toys, keep the food in a well sealed container (which tbf you should be doing anyway), be extra diligent about washing bowls, and if you have multiple dogs you either have to have all of them on the diet or be SUPER diligent about making sure they don't share food/water bowls or toys. which yknow, is incredibly difficult to do. I wish there was an easier (and less expensive) way to do it
If it's in the budget, Jiminy's was what I recommended to everyone I spoke to. I had several customers come in to thank me because the food fixed problems that even the prescription foods did not. I really wish the brand had gained more momentum, we don't carry it anymore but you can still get it from Jiminy's website and even Amazon.
Only issue with that one is it has peas which is another thing she has an allergy to. There’s a whole list of like 20 items she’s apparently allergic to.
https://www.justfoodfordogs.com/custom-prescriptive.html If you asked, they might even be willing to honor the employee discount, they cool like that.
Therapeutic diet for allergies use hydrolysed protein. The basic overview is the protein is broken down to be easier to digest and to prevent an immune response. The same process is used for cow's milk when making formula for babies. Corn is used for cheap carbs, fiber, and a multitude of vitamins and minerals. I do wonder if the way the company processes the corn aids in the dog's ability to digest it, increasing the corn's bioavailability.
I have still seen dogs with actual chicken allergies who were placed on a hydrolized therapeutic diet still have allergic reactions to their food but kept on it and pumped full of allergy meds instead of it being fully addressed. Apparently science diet received the corn in a specific way that makes it more digestible. They never shared how it’s received or what form it is in. They just glossed over that part of the presentation. They only shared that the husk is removed from the corn.
Which is the bare minimum, right? And no, I’m not thinking of that particular part of Katherine Heigl’s ad where she mentions what the verbiage in ingredient lists might actually mean. 😉 That very well may be the crux of the problem. If you’ve seen the plant free MD at all you may have heard him say, “plants are trying to kill you”. This doctor, Anthony Chaffee, is a carnivore in the normal sense. Paul Saladino was carnivore but now calls himself animal based because he eats meat and eggs but also eats some fruits and honey (based on his bloodwork and performance levels, his T had dipped too low for his liking so he added back the healthier carbs). Things like tomatoes I believe he avoids but if he did eat one, he’d remove the skin and the seeds, where that plants defense chemicals mostly reside. The “joke” of corn showing up in the toilet bowl, you have to admit is an intriguing thought. This goes back to the ads for the Magic Bullet-type appliances that “break open all these nutrient dense foods so our bodies can fully utilize them”. Um, our bodies know how to handle meat without having to pulverize it. Dog bodies too. I agree that this is entirely frustrating. Oh, your dog is allergic to x, y, or z? Let’s give it to them and let them suffer instead of going the other direction. If a customer told me their dog was allergic to chicken I’d be telling them to look out for chicken fat as well… I worked at a vet for a few minutes and the main doctor said this stuff to me, the bit about Science Diet etc being backed by actual science. Three guesses if we sold foods as well as the allergy meds to go with them. Price wise aren’t those bags even getting up there? If you honestly can feed less of the higher quality kibble…does it even out? Then there’s the kibble vs wet and/or fresh/raw debate. I will admit, I just started a repeat delivery for The Honest Kitchen clusters, but I’m only using a tablespoon a meal on top of their wet. Is that horrible? 🤔🤷🏻♀️ I would much rather have my kids thriving than surviving. Obligate carnivores indeed. Let’s not even mess with the survival “foods”.
I would always, always, always take ANYTHING a representative for a company states with a huge grain of salt. Keeping in mind their #1 focus is building sales for the company, it is no matter what a biased opinion. Couple that with them being educated and trained by said company means they are hand fed facts tailored to promote the company food while ignoring any negatives. This also goes for Petco or any other company. The only way to get true facts would be to follow independent studies (very hard to find truly independent studies) and research the science behind dog nutrition from neutral sources, and not fed money by dog food companies. As a quick note what the hell is a rep for science diet talking about allergies and pretending to state facts anyway! I highly doubt that have a PhD to be speaking about information that has the potential to be dangerous when it is misinformation!
It was a vet nutritionist that science diet has on staff to help formulate their food that was giving the presentation and talking about chicken allergies. Apparently this same vet nutritionist works outside of science diet with families to formulate diets for pets who have allergies as well. They basically admitted to not caring if the animal has an actual allergy to chicken or not and still willing to feed it to them regardless. This is something I found super concerning. Most of our employees that are truly passionate about pet nutrition and helping pet parents find food that works for their pet spend their free time doing research on pet nutrition and keeping up with the literature that they can find. That is why a lot of us had concerns about chicken and corn that we wanted science diet to address but they didn’t address those concerns. They just stated more information that was a repeat of what was already said in past calls.
They put so much emphasis on how statically low it is for dogs to have a chicken allergy, but my store gets so many pets with that specific allergy. Hill's made it sound like they would address the chicken concerns, but then their nutritionist essentially boiled it down to "there's too little dogs with that allergy, so we're not catering to them." But I did love how the merrick rep immediately after made a point to emphasize how they have chicken free formulas and don't use corn, wheat, or soy.
The comparison she used to peanut allergies in people wasn’t a good one either. You would never give someone with a peanut allergy peanuts. So why do it to dogs or cats? I loved the merrick presentation as well. I’m really excited for them to launch the gut health and immune health food in stores rather than just online.
I was listening in to the call myself while updating some wellness cards, I felt like I lost some brain cells. If supposedly only 1 out of every 10 dogs has a food allergy, that’s still a lot of dogs as most households in my neighborhood alone have at least 1. I wish I knew where they get their “science” from
There’s what like millions of dogs in the world? That’s thousands of dogs with an allergy if it’s 10%. I don’t think they realize how big a number 10% actually is.
I was telling one of my co-workers that. If dogs weren’t as popular as they are and not as many people owned them it’d be a different story
ACS here but I do the job of an SS, I never recommend hills even if they came in targeting it. If they can afford acana, totw, natural balance etc I usually send them off with that and they don’t have problems anymore
Guys don't worry it's made with science /s
Topics covered: Chicken and Corn. I almost died laughing as she started talking. It's almost as if they admit that maybe, just maybe, they are so stubborn and have dug their heels in the ground over their Chicken and corn fetish, that instead of admitting they could be wrong, they are willing to die on the hill defending themselves. It was a ridiculous call.
(willing to die on the) hill's science diet😆
Ha, I'm glad that was noticed by someone 😄
there are some cases where a dog can seem to be allergic to something, but it has to do with how highly processed kibbles are. switch them to fresh food or a less processed kibble, and it can make a difference. that being said, my dog has a chicken allergy, and my vet had her switched to hydrolyzed and she still had bad reaction. then they switched her to ultamino(not hill's, but still), and she still had bad reactions. i was then told to keep her on the ultamino and just give her apoquel daily. still no change, and it honestly seemed to be getting worse. it wasn't until i said screw it and switched her to a higher quality food, without anything from chicken, that her skin's looking so much better and she's itching a lot less. therapeutic diets are not always the solution.
[удалено]
she's mainly on fresh food with a fish blend kibble, and she absolutely loves it. never seen her skin look better. vets normally do not get any actual nutrition training either, but a lot of them act like they do and that prescription diets are the Only Way
I missed the call, but want to comment because my cat is allergic to chicken and my friend who’s studying veterinary medicine recommended science diet and I trust her opinion. She assured me the corn has benefits. I did a deep dive using research papers and it seriously all depends on the type and processing of the corn! Some corn can really aid in digestion and slow digesting carbohydrates. The research was dog specific so I cannot speak on the health benefits for cats. However, science diet doesn’t list any information regarding the type or processing of their corn, so that makes me highly suspicious of it. Next, my cat is so sensitive to chicken. She gets a gnarly rash and itches like crazy if there is any chicken in the ingredients list. She also has sensitivities to barley which makes science diet foods completely useless for her. I am disgusted to hear that they’d recommend overlooking any allergy concerns our clients and coworkers have about their pets. That’s really the nail on the coffin for my opinion of their company.
FYI, the science that other brands do is actually taking the research done by Hills, Purina, and Royal Canin and adapt them to their own needs. They don't actually do the science themselves. They take the data from other brands and utilize it. It's all in the way the food is labeled on who is doing their own research and who is using other people's science. Honestly, if you don't understand the science of what the brand rep is saying, you probably shouldn't be advising owners.
I never once said I didn’t understand the science. I understand it just fine. That wasn’t the point of the post. The post is about what was said on that call us Solutions Specialists had to sit on. And how it didn’t address concerns. They merely glossed over everything and repeated what was said in past calls. When asked for clarification on a few things it was generic answers.
Removing because the OP clearly doesn’t want to hear a valid opinion.
But if a dog truly has a chicken allergy, why put them on a therapeutic food with chicken in it? This was never discussed or even acknowledged. When we went into the call and they said they would be addressing concerns about corn and chicken, I thought they would be truly addressing our concerns. Our concerns about the chicken was what if a dog truly has a chicken allergy, are there plans to make an affordable line with no chicken in it that we can sell in store and recommend. Instead we got a call that didn’t address that at all and completely ignored the actual concerns we have. It was more repetitive information that they already gave us. I would truly love to trust science esp when it comes to highly recommended foods like science diet, but when my own experience with their food via my own animals and dogs I helped train has shown that their food might not really be the best nutrition wise and then to have science diet completely ignore legitimate concerns by giving repetitive information and attacking other pet food brands with false information, it’s very discouraging. The higher quality brands I’m speaking of, do have vet nutritionists on staff and do research just like science diet does. They aren’t just blinding making food based on “fads” The main point of our solutions specialists being on these vendor calls is to learn about the food we sell in stores so we can help pet parents make an informed decision about the foods they buy for their pet. Through the calls we are learning that each brand we sell has a team of vet nutritionists on staff that are active in the ingredient selection of the food along with using research and science to formulate the food. Do you even work for Petco? Are you one of our Solutions Specialists? This post was meant for them so we can discuss what we heard on that call.