# The dog cancer guru has sold his soul



## RCTRIPLEFRESH5 (Feb 11, 2010)

i always thought damian dressler was a genius who got into cornell vet school...BUT followed alternative approaches to treating cancer (i havent really followed any of his advice because i believe short of chemo, there isnt really anything that can be done for shane..he's not going to live for much longer.)

but when i was watching his documentary he reccomended hills hahaha.

go to 42:30
YouTube - ‪Dog Cancer Vet Advice if Your Dog has Cancer‬‏


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## PUNKem733 (Jun 12, 2009)

Jesus...pet food industry money reaches farther than one thinks.


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## PDXdogmom (Jun 30, 2010)

I plan on watching the entire thing; only caught a few minutes so far.

But if he indeed recommends Hills as the "go to" nutrition route for cancer pets, that is pathetic. We had a young dog once with cancer; had the Hills prescription canned recommended; paid a ton and brought it home; read the ingredient list and said "no way can that be good".

So we tried EVO instead. That was our beginning to better feeding and nutrition knowledge from years of having fed Eukanuba, Nutro, SD, etc.


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## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

You just wonder where these peoples heads are sometimes. As a cancer Dr, you would expect nutrition and feeding the body correctly would be high on their list of priorities. I just don't know what to say.


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## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

"It's important to restrict carbohydrates".. 

Hills N/D diet
Ingredients

Beef By-Products, Water, Pork Liver, Rice, Menhaden Oil, Chicken, Chicken Liver Flavor, Powdered Cellulose, Dried Beet Pulp, Potassium Citrate, Calcium Carbonate, L-Arginine, Iron Oxide, Dicalcium Phosphate, Taurine, Vitamin E Supplement, Choline Chloride, Zinc Oxide, Ferrous Sulfate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Copper Sulfate, Niacin, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Biotin, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Riboflavin, Calcium Iodate, Folic Acid, Sodium Selenite.

So why is there rice, cellulose, beet pulp in a canned food? And why is the first ingredient by products? Ugh. It probably costs 3x more than a better 95% meat canned like EVO.


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## Serendipity (Aug 13, 2010)

bishopthesheltie said:


> "It's important to restrict carbohydrates"..
> 
> Hills N/D diet
> Ingredients
> ...


Sadly, this must be the meatiest SD formula I've seen.


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## Sapphire-Light (Aug 8, 2010)

Its incredible how companies are so good at brainwashing people. :shocked:


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## Stretch (Jul 9, 2011)

I read recently that the major manufacturers of commercial dog food are often found "grooming" young vets at vet schools across the country giving them samples and "sponsoring" their individual dogs....I guess the good doctor could only hold out for so long? 

Sorry about Shane...


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## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

I know it's allowed in the society we live in but it *infuriates* me that companies are allowed to basically bribe vets into selling their product and blatantly lie that it's good nutrition, and helpful in treating disease. Yet they say it's raw and homecooked that are bad. They insult our intelligence by saying people are not possibly capable of formulating their own diets for their pets. Their "food" (I use that term loosely) costs $6/lb here for prescription food but probably costs them less than $0.10/lb to manufacture, and most of that is probably spent on gas and wages, definitely not on ingredients.

Their marketing team I hope gets paid well, because they are f-ing brilliant. 

It's not just with pets.. sadly the government doesn't give a crap about our health either.. just money. :tape:


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## Scarlett_O' (May 19, 2011)

bishopthesheltie said:


> I know it's allowed in the society we live in but it *infuriates* me that companies are allowed to basically bribe vets into selling their product and blatantly lie that it's good nutrition, and helpful in treating disease. Yet they say it's raw and homecooked that are bad. They insult our intelligence by saying people are not possibly capable of formulating their own diets for their pets. Their "food" (I use that term loosely) costs $6/lb here for prescription food but probably costs them less than $0.10/lb to manufacture, and most of that is probably spent on gas and wages, definitely not on ingredients.
> 
> Their marketing team I hope gets paid well, because they are f-ing brilliant.
> 
> It's not just with pets.. sadly the government doesn't give a crap about our health either.. just money. :tape:


I TOTALLY agree!! 

And the vet, just like you just mentioned knows LESS then we all do, because we actually care to look into our dog's nutrition!!!


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## Stretch (Jul 9, 2011)

Its sad for sure...Is anyone on this forum a DVM or know one personally? Ive had strong debates with my vet and he wont fess up about the commercial manufacturers...but he has to know I wonder why most seem to share the same views as inteligent people??? 
Maybe its just sheer economics after all and a vet recommending any old dry kibble is sort of like your mechanic recommending you pour sand in your gas tank....job security?


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## Scarlett_O' (May 19, 2011)

Stretch said:


> Its sad for sure...Is anyone on this forum a DVM or know one personally? Ive had strong debates with my vet and he wont fess up about the commercial manufacturers...but he has to know I wonder why most seem to share the same views as inteligent people???
> Maybe its just sheer economics after all and a vet recommending any old dry kibble is sort of like your mechanic recommending you pour sand in your gas tank....job security?


One of my friends is going back fro her BA(Pre-Vet) once she is a little farther along I shall see if she can/will tell me anything! But I know when I worked at the vet clinic both of the vets HIGHLY recommended hills/rc but fed FAR higher quality foods!! (They both regularly gave bags to local shelters/rescues out of their own pocket, which IMO came from free foods from the manufactures!)


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## DoglovingSenior (Jun 26, 2011)

No wore than the MD's relationships with drug co.reps-I'm trying to get my health back right now as the result of a drug that was pure poison for me. I did more research for my dogs sake than I did for myself. Duh


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## Liz (Sep 27, 2010)

My dad lost his bladder due to medications that literally destroyed his bladder.


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## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

Since getting my first dog a year ago, I went from a firm believer in conventional medicine to one who believes it does more harm than good. It has it's place; but medications are FAR FAR too often prescribed. You see too often people who are on medications like cholesterol and blood pressure lowering medications who have done nothing to change their lifestyle.. still not active and still not eating a diet high in fruits and vegetables. Instead of just prescribing medications that treat symptoms, doctors should be looking at the causes of problems, and treating those.

Same goes with dogs and things like diabetes.. dog gets diabetes? Vet puts dog on diabetes prescription food, instead of looking at what caused it in the first place.. high amounts of carbohydrates. Now the vet gets income from both the special diet and the insulin that the dog still needs because the proper diet still isn't being addressed. Either way someone is to blame.. either the vet for knowing truly what is causing the pets problems and not caring, or the companies and universities who teach this crap to gullible vet students. The dog is still the one who suffers (and the owner's wallet).

I just don't think these low quality dog foods (and prescription foods) should ever be marketed as healthy for your pet. Convenient, yes.. healthy, no. It's also unethical for pet food companies to blatantly lie and say healthy diets will kill your dog.


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## SerenityFL (Sep 28, 2010)

Twenty years ago we never saw all these pills being sold on television. Now there's a "Fix" for everything, just ask your doctor about it on your next visit!

Instead of finding the source, we just look at symptoms and throw a pill at it. I do not take pills, I do not believe in taking pills, (with the absolute rare exception of Ibuprofen 1600mg because of a back injury from an accident 12 years ago that nothing else takes away the pain when I really need the pain to go away), I don't even get flu shots or anything of the sort.

I believe that our bodies are perfectly capable of "fixing" most things if we treat it correctly. Yes, there are times that no matter what we do, we succumb to things but overall, if we treat it correctly from the get go, we can avoid a lot of this stuff.

My favorite part of those commercials are the side effects. "You can make your arthritis better, just ask your doctor the next time you see him about Arthritisfix. Side effects may include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, excessive hair loss, heart palpitations, shingles, jaundice, seizures, globules of pus filled cysts over 70% of your body, loss of limbs, stroke, heart attack, brain malfunctions, death."

But HEY! AT least your hands won't hurt anymore! I've not trusted the drug manufacturer's for ages...pretty much ever since every kid on the planet seems to be ADHD instead of BORED and unchallenged, so let's throw a pill at them to make them walk around like little zombies.


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## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

Also the asthma medications.. "Is your asthma not being controlled by inhalers? Talk to your doctor about ***! Side effects.. may increase the incidence of asthma related death"... uh, WHAT? Does that not just defeat the purpose of the medication entirely??


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## PUNKem733 (Jun 12, 2009)

SerenityFL said:


> Twenty years ago we never saw all these pills being sold on television. Now there's a "Fix" for everything, just ask your doctor about it on your next visit!
> 
> Instead of finding the source, we just look at symptoms and throw a pill at it. I do not take pills, I do not believe in taking pills, (with the absolute rare exception of Ibuprofen 1600mg because of a back injury from an accident 12 years ago that nothing else takes away the pain when I really need the pain to go away), I don't even get flu shots or anything of the sort.
> 
> ...


ROFL!! OMG those side effect warnings are gold! The side effects are usually 1,000x worse then what you're trying to treat. I still am shocked that the FDA allows those meds to get to the public. But money talks, and BS walks.


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## RCTRIPLEFRESH5 (Feb 11, 2010)

PDXdogmom said:


> I plan on watching the entire thing; only caught a few minutes so far.
> 
> But if he indeed recommends Hills as the "go to" nutrition route for cancer pets, that is pathetic. We had a young dog once with cancer; had the Hills prescription canned recommended; paid a ton and brought it home; read the ingredient list and said "no way can that be good".
> 
> So we tried EVO instead. That was our beginning to better feeding and nutrition knowledge from years of having fed Eukanuba, Nutro, SD, etc.


hhow old was the dog, and how'd he make out?


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## RCTRIPLEFRESH5 (Feb 11, 2010)

Sapphire-Light said:


> Its incredible how companies are so good at brainwashing people. :shocked:


even with all the knowledge i have about pet food, seeing dr dressler endorse hills, and knowing about how dog's do well on a no carb diet for a second i doubted my knowledge, and thought maybe this hills diet would be good rofl.


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## cast71 (Sep 16, 2010)

RCTRIPLEFRESH5 said:


> even with all the knowledge i have about pet food, seeing dr dressler endorse hills, and knowing about how dog's do well on a no carb diet for a second i doubted my knowledge, and thought maybe this hills diet would be good rofl.


Don't worry dude, you did good for Shane. chemo and all
the other poisons these vets are pushing disgust me. It actually makes me feel nauseous. It's very hard to beat cancer and sometimes it's not even worth it. if your dog survives chemo, there quality of life is probably poor. Every living creature has there own time here. Most of these drugs prolonging the inevitable and are not natural. A no or very low carb diet, plenty of exercise, a few natural supplements, no pesticide exposure, and most importantly love are the best medicine for any dog;0) Take it easy dude.


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## bumblegoat (May 12, 2010)

SerenityFL said:


> I've not trusted the drug manufacturer's for ages...pretty much ever since every kid on the planet seems to be ADHD instead of BORED and unchallenged, so let's throw a pill at them to make them walk around like little zombies.


And don't forget the kids with terrible living conditions, abusive parents or the ones who just can't get a full night's sleep... Why correct these things, when you can just give them pills to fix the symptoms!


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