An old-coworker of mine, Mary, and I were talking about pet food a couple years ago and she mentioned that her vet told her that they called Science Diet “cancer in a bag”. She elaborated and said that the vet told her 9 times out of time if a dog came in and had cancer, they were feeding the pooch Science Diet.
I haven’t been able to find any facts to corroborate or deny the facts. Anyone?
Perhaps when dogs show signs of illness, their owners start looking for better quality dog food. The same for older dogs, who are also more likely to have cancer.
Correlation does not imply causation.
Why do many vets recommend and sell Science Diet then?
Well, take this with a grain of salt (in other words, I ain’t vouching for any accuracy and maybe someone with better knowledge can dismiss/agree with this too).
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but more telling would be this from the same website:
And another web forum “corroborates” the theory of kickbacks
So, maybe it’s the BHT/BHA that’s included in the food?
What is your evidence again that animals that eat Science Diet get cancer more frequently? So far you are looking to find explanations for an hypothesis with no evidence to support it. While people may have reason to be against SD and the vets that push it based on the price, there’s nothing you’ve presented that links the dog food with causing cancer.
Kickbacks do not cause cancer.
I have NO evidence. If I had evidence I wouldn’t have posted this thread. What I have is rumors, speculation, and second hand knowledge.
You’re right, kickbacks don’t cause cancer, I never said they did, one person asked why vets would sell the food if it did and I posted the reasons that OTHER people thought why.
I don’t have a dog in this fight, I don’t even have a dog. Just a curiousity as to what the truth is.
I don’t believe there is any evidence that Science Diet causes cancer. I have certainly never seen any peer reviewed studies that would indicate such.
However, it is true that Science Diet isn’t a very good food, it uses cheap ingredients and the purchase price is mostly due to how much Hills spends on advertising. If you do your research, you will find that you can buy kibbles with much higher quality ingredients for the same price or less from smaller companies that don’t spend so much on advertising.
As for vets recommending it, most veterinary schools do not spend much time on canine nutrition and teaching students what to look for on the label of a dog food bag. Most of the canine nutrition literature is provided to vet schools for free by companies like Hills and Iams, so you can guess the bias. Also, vet clinics do get kickbacks from selling these foods.
Oops, came back to say that Science Diet doesn’t use BHA/BHT as a preservative in their food now, they use the natural preservatives of mixed tocopherols and citric acid. However, I believe they used to use BHA/BHT for many years, and I guess there are studies showing BHT causing cancer in lab animals in large doses.
But I still wouldn’t feed it to my dogs.
Here’s what Hill’s has to say about their content.
Well, our cats and our dog all eat Science Diet. And our cats are much healthier than they were before-especially Noel. She has chronic problems with her teeth and gums, but they’ve been MUCH better since we switched her. Her coat is extremely thick and soft as well.
I have never received a kickback in more than 12 years of practice and I have never heard of a veterinarian receiving kick backs. I sell Hills and Eukanuba because I believe that they are good foods. Do I have a degree in animal nutrition? No, but I do have an education that includes physiology and nutrition so I think that qualifies me to make recommendations to my clients.
If anyone can tell me how to get a kick back, please let me know.
From the Wall Street Journal:
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My SIL and friend from college who are both vets tell me this is true. You disagree Catjuggler?
I wouldn’t disagree that I make a profit from selling dog and cat food. That’s what a business does. Market forces certainly keep me from marking things up 40%. No matter how much I recommended a food no one would pay that much. As for funding research at Veterinary Schools, I think that this is a good thing. The foods that these companies sell are research based. I may not be a nutritionist, but the people doing the research are.
No company ever paid for a course at my school.
What I sell to my clients is what I feed to my pets.
Well, you’re feeding them crap.
That’s your opinion. I have research to back up my position, not just anecdotes.
In your opinion, Ivar. 
Anyway…There’s a difference between getting a kickback from a company, which would amount to a bribe for selling their food, and making an honest profit on the food. Catjuggler is saying s/he doesn’t get kickbacks from the manufacturer, just that s/he makes a profit. There’s no harm in that.
If the theory is that the preservatives in Science Diet cause cancer, then other dog foods with preservatives should cause cancer, too. There are apparently a number of people out there who believe that dry dog food kibble, with its necessary preservatives, causes cancer. However, it sounds to me like this is more an offshoot of the whole “all natural/no preservatives” movement, rather than fingering dog food as carcinogenic in particular.
I have no problem with the fact that a vet’s office is a business. In fact, I think that compared to the price of comparable procedures for humans, quality veterinary care is a bargain. I have no problem with vets making a profit, they have to eat, too.
But I have physically seen the vet school nutrition education materials with the pet food company logos on them. And I have read the ingredients on the back of the bag. I am an educated person with good analytical and research skills, and it’s clear to me that there are much better foods out there. If you really believe that corn and by-products are better than human grade meats and less commonly allergenic grains, I guess we will just have to agree to disagree.
I agree-to disagree that is.
Just wondering - how would you know that? I don’t know which of my classes at MIT got grants from Microsoft, but I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that some of them did. Microsoft certainly is paying for the bulk of the new fancy CS building.
Which vet school did you attend?
I attended Iowa State University. To the best of my knowledge my tuition and the tax payers of the state of Iowa paid for my classes. I am not aware of any companies giving grants, but I may be mistaken.