Preventive Care: Nutrition

Obesity is the second most common diagnosis of dogs and cats, behind dental disease. Contributing factors include overfeeding, reduced exercise, and lack of recognition on the part of pet owners. Dogs that are kept at their ideal weight had reduced incidence of disease and lived 15% longer than their overweight counterparts. It is important to begin nutrition discussions early, and hold them throughout the pet’s life.

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

1. Recognize the factors that help determine a patient’s nutrition guidelines,
2. Perform a body condition score and muscle condition score on companion animals,
3. Define resting energy requirements (RER) and daily energy requirements (DER), and calculate these for a healthy patient,
4. Practice verbal and non-verbal communication, and
5. Communicate with clients about the components of a food label.