179 responses

  1. Mason
    January 6, 2020

    Our pit mix (part SharPei, part unknown, maybe lab and/or boxer) was having occasional diarrhea issues, so we started from the idea of chicken and rice and decided to do our own. We boil boneless skinless chicken thighs with a good-sized sweet potato and some carrot and mash that up with brown rice and canned pumpkin. Then we give her that with a topping of some grain-free dry kibble (have used various, all higher-end). Easy and fast to make and the dog loves it, and diarrhea has not been an issue since (except occasionally when she eats some weird poop or something on a walk before we can stop her).

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  2. Cathy
    February 7, 2020

    Do you have an opinion about this article? I find it disgusting the FDA is allowing these kind of meats into pet food, or as a scientific vet, do you have studies to present that this is ok?

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  3. Mario Toiisano
    March 21, 2020

    What then would you recommend as a nutritional dog food?

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    • skeptvet
      March 22, 2020

      There is no single “right” food for every dog. Most dogs can thrive on a wide variety of different complete and balanced commercial diets, from dry to canned to fresh, as well as on a properly formulated home-cooked diet. My main message is that we need to stick with measured, evidence-based claims and be less susceptible to claims about tremendous benefits or harms associated with specific ingredients or with broad categories of foods. If you want a detailed, science-based analysis of canine nutrition and the issues involved, I recommend Dog Food Logic by Linda Case.

      Reply

  4. Lisa
    March 23, 2020

    It was Dr Marty who cured my cat from chronic diarrhea because a regular vet could not. The info from Dr Marty via his book the nature of Animal Healing cleared up 80% of my cats chronic diarrhea within 24 hours. He has proven how some vaccinations are toxic. His book is one book all should read.

    Reply

    • skeptvet
      March 23, 2020
    • Andrea
      April 17, 2020

      Just like w Coronavirus patients recovering after taking the chloroquine type treatment, your cat’s diarrhea may have been able to clear up anyway without whatever dr Marty treatment you followed. Unfortunately it requires properly devised scientific studies to determine facts, and even then, its interpretations of data and might never know for sure for an individual case.

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  5. Jeremy Johnson, L.P.N.
    April 24, 2020

    Evidence based medicine it what is now being taught more often in human medicine now, rather than purely “anecdotal” information. Picking the right vet is as important to your pet as picking the right doctor. As a nurse, I found that too many people were picking doctors based on how close they were to home or work. People often pick their vet the same way. Not all doctors are great and not all vets are great. I drive clear across to town to see my doctors and my dog’s vet. If your clinician seems to see you or your pet as something to check off of their to do list, you probably aren’t getting very good care. It is not uncommon for “the wrong clinician” to miss certain details that are important for a correct diagnosis. The other big issue is follow up. Many clinicians assume if you don’t come back, that everything cleared up. A good clinician utilizes staff for proper follow up, and may even contact you themselves. If you just give up with a problem, you may be part of the problem yourself, albeit inadvertent.

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  6. Larry Coffin
    April 27, 2020

    All this crap about a nutritionally balanced is just that: a load of crap. Do any of you really think that canines in the wild are concerned about balancing their diet with rabbit, fowl, maybe gazelle for dinner twice per week. And oh yeah, dont forget to put some salmon on your shopping list.
    They eat what they can find and catch. They do not eat vegetables, per se. The only vegetables they comsume come from the stomach content and whatever vegetables are found in the striated muscle tissue and fatty tissue of their prey. They do not seek out vegetables to supplement their diet.
    In fact, it has been recently found that legumes, potatoes and certain grains are harmful to a dog’s kidneys, pancreas and spleen.
    In the wild, nothing goes to waste. Thet eat lungs, liver, pancreas, kidneys, and many will crush the bones to get at the nutrient-rich marrow. Those are considered by-products because humans do not generally eat them. As long as those animal parts are rendered properly and according to established guidelines, they are perfectly acceptable.
    My 63 lb., perfectly healthy dog is my best friend, my little buddy, my certified support animal. She sleeps on my bed, goes everywhere with me. In short she is all i have. My rock during severe depressions, the only family, friend, sounding board, she conforts me when i’m really down.
    But bottom line: she is a tame animal who came from wild, uncouth, living in the wild, doing whatever need be done to survive. The pups we love so much, would give up everything for, who gives us doggy kissies and lives us in return came from wild animals and there is still a part of that “wild” in them.

    Reply

    • skeptvet
      April 28, 2020

      Yes, animals in the wild eat what they can find, not the optimal diet. That is one of the reasons they are often sicker and shorter-lived than well-cared for domestic animals.

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  7. Cyndi Davidson, DVM
    May 27, 2020

    I’m so happy to have found this website! Educating clients about nutrition is one of the hardest things I do, simply because of all the garbage information that has been put forth by pet food companies. This is a fantastic blog post that I will use next time I have a client digging in their heels about switching off of raw, boutique, grain free, “holistic”, and expensive diets. Your short, succinct answers to everybody’s questions are great.

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  8. Donald O’Connor
    June 8, 2020

    Dr Marty is appalled that workers clean the intestines of slaughtered animals of feces before putting them into cat food. His point is that this still leaves some fecal matter behind. But in the wild cats kill and eat small mammals, complete with their unevacuated intestines.

    This is just one example of this guy’s hypocrisy and nonsense.

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  9. marvin von renchler
    July 17, 2020

    I have had almost all my dogs die from tumors over the last 20 years. ABout 5 years ago we started a home made food on our two 8 year olds, offspring of the ones who had died from cancer, and they are now 13 with no tumors. I still woory a lot about how complete our food is. We use rolls of ground human grade turkey meat. Its a 7 pound roll, and we add 6 eggs, and 1.5 cups of barley. Sometimes peas and carrots. We boil it till the barley is cooked and then add about one third Hills dry food recommended by our vet. Now I hear barley is bad! I just don’t know what to do. Martin Goldstein is big on freeze dried meat, and says it hasn’t lost any value. Im not so sure. What do you think of my home made recipe? How about that stuff always on national radio that’s a powder supplement—Dino something?

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  10. Marie Harlow
    September 8, 2020

    I switched to raw dog food with my previous shepherd. Just to try it out. The results were more energy, his coat became shinier, he was very regular in bowel movements with much less than with dry dog food. And overall he was healthy until he passed away. It was on the advice of my vet at the time.

    My current shepherd is allergic or sensitive to a lot of foods. I have my own opinion as to why this is, not related to food. However, she is also on a raw food diet. We are lucky I think, in that we have a number of raw dog food companies who have a reputation of keeping up with current research in pet nutrition. I buy only meat and add my own veggies as I find most of our raw mixes have one or two veggies that I know she can’t tolerate. The meat is frozen so there is no problem with prep or storage ( if you have a decent freezer). And they follow human guidelines for health and safety.

    I am always looking for actual research on current pet nutrition but it’s not easy to separate real from, as you say, belief based opinion. It would be nice to find a reliable source. Like a lot of vets here, my vet is not a fan of raw food, but admits it’s not her specialty. She supports my choice nevertheless. Like doctors, I realize they get very little nutritional training unless they specialize. I am in Canada so if you have any suggestions for research sources, that would be greatly appreciated.

    Reply

    • skeptvet
      September 8, 2020

      If you search for “raw diets” you will find numerous posts discussing specific research article.s The bottom line is that the kind of anecdotal experience you have had hasn’t yet been found in research studies, though there are not many. Like most things, anecdotes and personal experiences about raw diets are subject to all kinds of sources of error, so they can suggest things to test, but they often don’t accurately predict how diets and other medical treatments will work. Unfortunately, there IS evidence that these diets raise the risk of infectious diseases significantly, so stacked against the lack of evidence for benefits, it is hard to make a strong case for them.

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  11. doglover
    October 1, 2020

    How does dr. marty get his information? Besides vet school and all that

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    • skeptvet
      October 2, 2020

      He makes up a lot of stuff, extrapolating from his clinical experiences, anecdotes, etc. There problem with opinion-based medicine (as opposed to evidence-based medicine) is that there is no emphasis on critically evaluating our sources of information, so we come to believe e “know” things without any awareness of where the information comes from nor how reliable it is or is not.

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  12. Sonja Hernandez
    October 6, 2020

    Here is my experience: I have a chow chow and he has dealt with some type of allergies for the past 5 years. I have changed his food at least 5 times thinking it was diet. He would also throw up at night until I diagnosed he was allergic to chicken. One traditional vet said he needed more liquid in his diet as I was only feeding dry. So I started feeding 1/2 can and dry. Helped somewhat. This past year was the worst, he chewed almost all fur off his tail and multiple hot spots then rolled on his back all night and moaned. He was miserable from itching. I’ve had him on Apoquel which helps, but did not want to keep him on it long term.
    His vet was at a loss, saying he had bad allergies and referred me to dermatologist. So I took him during Covid which I could not go into the appt. Diagnosis , he most likely has environmental allergies but to determine exactly what specifically he is allergic to, we need to do more testing at $1,000. (I just spent $300 for this information, wow!).
    Fast forward to now, thank God I found Dr. Marty. Julius is off Apoquel and Cytopoint! He has been taking Dr Marty’s Pro Power plus since early July 2020 and is a new dog! No throwing up, no licking, no itching and all fur growing back. He has more energy than my roommates dog and they are the same age. Not saying this works for all dogs but after years of changing food, going to emergency vet, his traditional vet and putting him on Apoquel. I am a believer that it was his gut health not environmental allergies, which can also equate to human health issues too.

    Reply

    • skeptvet
      October 6, 2020

      Glad your dog is doing well, but as hard as it is to believe, that doesn’t mean Dr. Marty is right or his products work. The same kinds of stories exist for prayer and homeopathy and witchcraft and pretty much every imaginable treatment for disease. Anecdotes are a test nothing ever fails. When we use them to guide us, we do a lot worse than when we use science.

      Why Anecdotes Can’t be Trusted

      Reply

  13. Milwee
    November 2, 2020

    I find it annoying that cat food gets lumped into “pet food” and then most of the comments, data, articles and food ingredients are for dogs, if you read a bit further. I’d love to have more research, results and discussions for what are called “obligate carnivores” separate from omnivores, i.e. dogs. After all you wouldn’t discuss a diet suitable for your pet rabbit in the same bucket as that for your dog. But since cats are late to the indoor pet game they still haven’t gained their own attention space, it seems. (P.S. this article came up as a top result for an advanced search for cat food.) Unfortunately, these days reading the ingredients for dog food and cat food it’s hard to find much difference. Throw a little bit of taurine in the mix and stick on a different label and you’re there seems to do the trick.

    Reply

  14. PS Doff
    May 5, 2021

    Presenting facts to people who believe in special diets, exercise plans or lifestyles is just as ineffective as presenting facts to someone with any other belief. You can’t disprove something that lacks a factual basis and you can’t prove a belief with a personal anecdote.

    Science and religion have one thing in common- the unknown, but religion seeks acceptance while while science seeks understanding.

    Reply

  15. Karen Arkin
    November 21, 2022

    I will never understand why “prescription” kibble is recommended for cats with diabetes, kidney, or urinary tract issues. After more than a year of prescription foods, BG testing, and insulin injections, a switch to grain free canned food got my cat off insulin within two weeks and she lived to be 20. I personally don’t think healthy cats should eat desiccated food, but certainly cats with diabetes, CKD, or urinary problems shouldn’t. Of course my experience is just that, my experience, but hard to argue with it. I hope more research is done because I like science.

    Reply

  16. Alex
    May 31, 2021

    Seems like Brian disappeared. I would be interested in what you feed as well since you commented on the topic.

    Reply

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