I had a client come in this past weekend with two adorable dogs. Neither were overweight IMO, but the subject of pet nutrition came up and she had mentioned that her dogs were given a "prescription" diet (specifically Purina O/M) by her vet. I'm familar with Science Diet's attempts at prescription diets, but I wasn't aware that Purina had one (this apparently is quite new for them). One dog of hers apparently had pancreatitis (which we can possibly assume came from eating a low-quality pet food for a portion of it's life. It wouldn't be the first time something like this happened). The "O/M' is for Overweight Management and let's take a look at the ingredients: The Purina OM Canine formula (Overweight Management) lists the following ingredients: "Whole grain corn, corn gluten meal, soybean hulls*, soybean germ meal, soybean meal, pea fiber, wheat gluten, poultry by-product meal, animal digest, powdered cellulose, tricalcium phosphate, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), salt, choline chloride, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, Vitamin E supplement, manganese sulfate, niacin, Vitamin A supplement, calcium carbonate, copper sulfate, brewers dried yeast, calcium pantothenate, garlic oil, pyridoxine hydrochloride, Vitamin B-12 supplement, thiamine mononitrate, Vitamin D-3 supplement, riboflavin supplement, calcium iodate, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), folic acid, biotin, sodium selenite." http://www.purinaveterinarydiets.com/CanineProductDetail.aspx?prod=227 Is anyone seeing meat in this food? Honestly, if you or another omnivore (such as a dog) were trying to lose weight, would you be eating a food loaded with carbohydrates and no protein?? Does this even make sense? Our client went home with a better quality food and a wealth of information and you can find out more about this food and a veterinarian's opinion on it right here. |