Dispelling Nutritional Myths in Small Animal Medicine

Presentation Description / Summary: There are a lot of nutritional myths from both pet owners and from the veterinary industry that recent evidence has shown not to be true or incorrectly interpreted. One example would be feeding giant and large breeds from a height – there is no evidence to support this. Better recommendations would be to feed the dog in the way that prevents the least amount of air to be ingested. Other nutritional myths include: - Feeding of chicken and rice - Raw is better for skin problems - GDV predisposed breeds shouldn’t eat grains - Fat content of diets for dogs with pancreatitis - Adequate Cobalamin levels can only be achieved parenterally. This will make up half the lecture. The other part of the lecture will be how to talk to pet owners about these myths.

Learner Outcomes: Understand the importance of using evidence-based medicine (nutrition) in clinical practice. Understand where to find reliable evidence and how to access the evidence. Update the audience on some now proven aspects of nutrition, which might contraindicate what we had previously recommended.