I’ve never once had a food pushed at me by vets in over 30 years of having dogs. Yes our vets sell specialist foods, they always have, but the only time we have even discussed it was when I had a seriously ill dog on end-of-life care and it was discussed as one potential option, if, we couldn’t find any other foods he could tolerate.
If you do the research properly, hydrolysed food is sometimes needed for dogs that are reacting badly to almost every food. It breaks the food down into particles the dog’s body doesn’t recognise and react to, whilst maintaining optimum nutrition. Just because the label doesn’t read organic, premium, fresh chicken or whatever other ingredient you’re looking at, doesn’t mean it isn’t what some dogs need or doesn’t meet their nutritional needs. Two of my dc have a condition that can lead to extreme reactions to almost anything including most foods. Thankfully mine aren’t too badly affected, but if they were, I wouldn’t be objecting to them being on prescription foods via tubes as many of their peers are and instead insist on feeding them a home made organic/fresh/paleo diet instead. I would be led my medical science and knowledge. No one dog food is going to suit all dogs, some need complex, medically derived veterinary food, most don’t. If my vet was trying to sell such food to me when I had an healthy/fit dog I would probably move vets, not assume they are all out to cash in.
No-one is suggesting prescription diets are right for the vast majority of dogs, but there are a wealth of other choices out there and it’s down to personal preference, budget and circumstances as to which one is right for an individual and their dog.
As for @Veterinari, I am extremely grateful to them for pointing me in the direction of evidence based information on raw feeding on a thread ages ago. It helped me to research both sides of the story and make an informed choice - which, for me, was not to return to raw feeding (and I say that as someone that fed raw for almost a decade). I don’t think it’s fair or appropriate to rubbish someone and start accusing them of being sanctimonious based on the fact you don’t like their posting style. Veterinari’s posts are direct, straight talking and fact based. They are on the sharp end of insults on pretty much every raw/kibble feeding thread and yet still post fact based information every time this subject comes up (which it does a lot) because it’s a subject they feel strongly about.
At the end of the day, all any of us can do is what we feel (based on our own experience and knowledge) is right for our own dogs and that’s fine. We can all offer opinions and suggest further reading/evidence, but suggesting it’s all ok and will suit any dog/family situation without being fully aware of the other person’s circumstances or the potential consequences for them/their family/their dog is very far from ideal and potentially dangerous. Veterinari’s contributions are needed to provide balance and help people to make a fully informed decision about what is genuinely right for them/their dog.