Finding a Vet not owned by Purina etc. and switching foods

Ellinorianne

Sophie is doing great! She's sixteen pounds and in good health, no parasites. She's getting better about her biting and Today we went and got her a kong and a great puppy chew toy.

I want to find her a vet. We went to the free vet visit given by the breeder and I asked if commercial pet food was okay? You know, the usual suspects and he gave me the weirdest answer about fast food is okay, he likes fast food, you can get a hamburger at McDonalds or Wendy's. Why would I want to give my pet fast food? ALL THE TIME?

He also said we should switch her to adult food at four months, which seemed rather strange as well.

I didn't say much but left rather bewildered. I want to find a vet that cares about her wellbeing not just being paid by pet food companies.

We got her Wellness puppy food and I'm thinking of switching. How should that be done?

Thanks!

wildlifecr13 · Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2007 4:05 pm Post subject:

there was just a discussion on switching foods on here the other day.
you may want to find that one - i think in nutrition section???

the food switch - over 3-5 days i think you can make nearly any switch - just increase the % of the new food each day. a lot on that on here as well - esp with regards to raw diets.

we have used purina, nutro, and natural balance. the current we have been pretty happy with. have also used california natural - also seemed good, but hard to get ahold of around here.

Ellinorianne · Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2007 4:17 pm Post subject: My main

issue was finding a good vet and I wandered into the other question, I'm as bad as a puppy.

Thank you though, I appreciate it!

wildlifecr13 · Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2007 7:29 pm Post subject:

the good vet thing... we have two places that we like. one my parents have been with - actually were with the guy prior, then when the practice changed hands, they stayed on. you dont leave a good vet if you can help it - have been with these folks for about 30 years.
the other place we like is very well respected locally - they are big on science diet - most vets are - but i am friends with the former regional director for th human society - she highly recommended them, as did another friend that works as a vet tech in the area.
we have two because i moved about an hour from the first vet, the second is about 10 minutes away, and has more evening hours.

kamfam · Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2007 9:24 pm Post subject:

As with most things, you'll need to shop around. We finally (after 10 years) found a vet we are happy with at this point. It may not take you nearly as long, but for us it did. Keep switching until you find one you like! You want to be able to trust that your vet is looking out for your pet, and not for the perks.

LunaBrown · Posted: Mon Oct 29, 2007 10:24 am Post subject:

The first vet we chose came pretty highly recommended by a friend of ours, but I never felt comfortable with them, so we decided to switch. We found Luna's new vet by contacting our local weim club, they were able to put us into contact with a member who lived fairly close to us, and she recommended her vet to us. The new vet is really good with Luna, and actually knows a bit about weims (the other vet did not seem to know anything about hunting breeds) and I would recommend him to anybody in the Minneapolis area who asked Wink

Ellinorianne · Posted: Mon Oct 29, 2007 10:46 am Post subject: