Pet nutrition matters
Veterinary toolkit
The AVMA's animal obesity toolkit helps you educate clients about the risks associated with obesity, and how to work with you to prevent and manage it.
Communicating the value of nutrition in pet health
Regular nutritional assessment and counseling can be a vital link in the chain of preventive care for pets. Good nutrition improves pets' life expectancy and quality, and discussing diet and nutrition can enhance your clients' perception of the care you provide. Having a clear plan to talk about diet and nutrition can help you make sure this important topic gets the attention it deserves in every office visit.
During every exam
- Check in with your clients on pet diet and feeding routines. Make it a point during each exam to ask clients what brands and formulas of food and treats they feed their pets. This is especially important for patients with conditions that may be affected directly by diet. Even with healthy patients, it offers an opportunity to help clients understand the connection between diet and health and lets them know they can rely on your expertise to help with nutrition decisions.
- Ask about the pet's food delivery system. Find out how clients are feeding their pets and whether the current method is working well. Talk about possible alternatives, such as slow feeders or devices that present a toy or puzzle, if those might be beneficial.
- Use visual aids to help communicate. Sometimes images do a better job than verbal explanations in helping clients understand an animal's condition. Pictures that show various animal weight profiles can often help clients recognize when their own companion animals are overweight or underweight. You can use body condition score charts or other images when talking with owners about their animal's healthy weight, and fecal scoring charts can help you explain what you are seeing in a patient's stool sample.
Between exams
- Be aware of food-related recalls. Our sortable list of animal food recalls and alerts dates back a full year. You also can track recalls and alerts as they happen by following our AVMA Recall Watch Twitter feed.
- Stay abreast of veterinary nutrition research and news. Keep nutrition in mind when you're reading JAVMA and other publications. What you learn can be directed toward educating clients.
- Consider creating a nutrition newsletter for clients, or including nutrition articles in your existing newsletter. You can feature important information and tips on general nutrition and diet issues, and share news about food recalls, diet-related research, and hot topics.
Policy
Safe handling of commercially prepared pet food and pet treats
Microorganisms in prepared pet food and treats may cause serious illness in pets that eat them as well as people who handle the food and treats. Infected animals also may pose a risk to people with whom they come in contact.
Recalls and safety alerts
Stay informed about recalls and safety alerts issued for products used in veterinary medicine, animal foods, or other animal-related items.
Reporting adverse events
Adverse events that occur after use of a medication, medical device, pesticide, vaccine or other biological product are rare but can be life-threatening.
