Re:  information on food:
It often appalls me the way that the topic of food is a "damned if you do
and damned if you don't" subject where vets are not listened to because
they don't have enough nutrition courses (which is sometimes true though
some vets have as much or more such education than those same folks who
repeatedly tell us to discount vet input on nutrition, and vets do know
things like the ways diets impact on infections -- like the way that
tuberculosis in ferrets in the U.S. has almost disappeared ever since
kibble became more common than feeding raw beef, raw poultry, or raw
milk), while animal nutritionists like Dr. Tom Willard who actually do
have an advanced educational background aren't listened to (or sometimes
are shouted down on lists) by some people because they represent the
status quo and products.  Who does that leave?  People who have had
no related courses or several courses (compared to a doctorate in the
topic)?  A balanced picture can't be gotten that way.  Good ideas can
at times be gotten and have been gotten and used, but weighing them to
know which are good and which of those good ones should be left without
modifications involves needing the input of those who can fill the
knowledge gaps: the animal nutritionists and the vets.
 
I like having a balanced picture so that I can weigh the arguments from
all of the sides.  That means that I want not only to read what those
whose field is not animal nutrition or animal health have to say --
because often they have good points or exciting observations or useful
contributions -- but I ALSO want to read what the people who do have
related educational backgrounds have to say because they so very (very,
very) often can spot gaps in the knowledge of the rest of us which we
don't even know are there and which pose some major cautions or
considerations if we only can discover that the gaps are there.
Getting a fuller picture can only be a good thing.
 
So, anyway, that's a gripe of mine: that diet has become enough of
a "damned if you do and damned if you don't" situation that the
conversations too often close out information from two essential sources
of input: those with advanced degrees in animal nutrition and vets.  I
doubt that most people feel that input from experts should not be
present, and I doubt that many of the people (perhaps all) who provide
info think that such input should not be present, but a loud enough few
have created an avoidance by experts which hurts us all by the often
repeated true comments that never-the-less reflect ONLY on the negative
(such as "Too many vets have not studied nutrition." or "He makes his
living from kibble.") instead of ALSO mentioning the ESSENTIAL
contributions such experts can make.  As a result such repetitions
decrying vets or those with degrees in animal nutrition cause their
avoidance -- reducing expert participation in such conversations -- and
can prevent all of us from getting a balanced assessment.  We can utilize
what those experts have to offer when we weigh what we read.  Unbalanced
repetitions which address only the weaknesses of such experts undermine
input and deprive us of information which could only help us make our
choices.
 
I'm glad that Bill included the kidney and diet info in the FML
Tuesday.  What I learned from Tom who holds a Ph.D. in Animal
Nutrition/Biochemistry, a M.S. in Animal Science/Statistics, and a B.S.
in Agriculture Technical Engineering and Animal Science was actually
different from what I'd thought I'd hear, and that is fine.  It's better
to learn than not, and learning sure helps ferrets.  Learning is what
the exercise of asking him about this (since he does have the right
background to know more than most) is all about and that includes finding
that a previous hypothesis I'd known about was just a hypothesis with
only one study behind it and that it has been overturned by later work,
something which has happened in many areas of ferret health and
well-being over the years and will continue to happen many times over.
Knowledge is always in a state of flux by definition.
[Posted in FML issue 4154]