Conflict of interest …. At the vet?

 I took my 15 yr old cat to the vet yesterday, and noticed that the display area for “prescription” pet foods seems to get larger every time I take him in. Last year the vet “prescribed” Hills k/d kidney care for our cats, prominently displayed in the lobby. “Prescribed” is in quotes because there aren’t any drugs/controlled substances in it. These specialty diets do help pets, but shouldn’t require a prescription.  

I dutifully purchased some at the vet, and decided to add some to my next Chewys order. Later that day I got a call from the vets office explaining that there’s a special hill’s prescription diet website that I can order the food from. I got the distinct impression that part of the money spent at the site ends up at the vets office. The call felt a bit pushy and trying to guilt me into buying it from them instead of Chewys. 

And that’s a red flag for conflict of interest. A vet giving a “prescription” for a non drug item then the vets office putting on the pressure tactics to get the ongoing food sale. The vets should have information/recommendations on food, but not profit from also selling it. 

It ain’t small potatoes either. My calculated cost of the canned food is $2.75 a can, or 8$ a pound. And the first ingredient:  Water.  The can says it is up to 78% moisture. Kidney diets for cats should have a lot of water, but $8 per pound? I’m contemplating learning more about making my own food. Seems like for $8 a pound I could make healthy cat food, one that doesn’t include sugar, caramel color, or powdered cellulose that I’m paying $8 a pound for.

Enough ranting. We do order the k/d kidney diet food from Chewys, and Chewys gets “veterinary approval” for my “prescription “ cat food. All of this for two furballs that don’t actually have kidney disease, but the vet recommends kidney diets for old cats because kidney failure is so common in older cats.