Are prescription diets better for my dog?

Prescription diets may be better for your dog if your dog has certain conditions that require that prescription. So as a whole, happy, healthy dogs don't necessarily need prescription diets, but it’s not going to hurt your dog. But unless certain things come up, whether they have osteoarthritis and we want to make sure that they get lubrication of their joints, you probably want to avoid a prescription diet due to cost.

I'm going to answer that and say, "Only if your dog needs a prescription diet." Most of these prescription foods, and I underline the word most, not all, are formulated for dogs that have medical issues that require dietary changes to help treat medical issues such as kidney disease, liver disease, heart disease, and diabetes. So for those cases, yes, prescription diets are superior. But if you have a young, healthy dog that has no underlying medical issues, the only thing that I would say is that a prescription diet might benefit the teeth.

If your dog has a medical condition that requires a prescription diet, sure. But in general, I would say no.

A prescription diet would be better if the dog has a medical condition that that prescription diet helps treat or slow the progression of.

Again, a healthy dog does not need a prescription diet. If they have a condition that your veterinarian has suggested may benefit from a prescription diet or, again, slow progression of that disease process, then a prescription diet's a good way to go. They've been heavily researched and with feeding trials done and studies to show that they are beneficial, but I would go by the guidance of your veterinarian on that.

Not necessarily better in quality, but if your dog is on a prescription diet, it usually has a medical need for that diet. The prescription diets are all of excellent quality. Are they better than the regular commercial diets? Not necessarily, but there's probably a reason we're asking the prescription to be fed. They're formulated differently for diabetes, kidney disease, all kinds of things. So it's maybe not appropriate that they eat an over-the-counter ration because of whatever disease they've been diagnosed with. It's almost like a heart diet. If you've been diagnosed with heart disease, you can't have salt and fat. They’ll put you on a prescription diet.

Prescription diets are extremely useful in many different circumstances because prescription diets treat or manage specific conditions. So if you're dog has an underlying joint disease, you can use prescription joint diets to help manage that. Suppose your dog has urinary problems or a history of bladder stones, which are actually fairly common in dogs. In that case, there are prescription urinary diets that will help reduce the risk of recurrence once the underlying issue is addressed.

Those are just two of many examples where prescription nutrition can be very valuable. Because they are prescription diets, they have a particular condition that they're treating. They have to be prescribed by a veterinarian to ensure that it is the appropriate diet for that pet. My personal approach in the way I practice is to rely heavily on therapeutic diets whenever possible because if we can manage or treat disease through nutrition, it's always a good starting point.

Not necessarily. I have plenty of dogs that need to be on a balanced over-the-counter diet. On the other hand, if your dog's a candidate that one of our prescription diets would help make it have a happier and better life, then prescription diets are another great choice. Neither one is better than the other. It's more just based on the individual dog and their dietary needs. If you have any questions on over-the-counter diets versus prescription diets and/or what recommendations we might have, give us a call. We'd always like to help answer those because we know your pet through exams, and by answering your questions, we can better fine-tune your nutrition recommendations.