Description
Gastrointestinal Expertise Series. Let's evaluate the facts and fiction behind senior pet foods. Is this just a marketing claim? Without an established nutrient profile for the "senior" life stage there is a wide variety of commercial products marketed for aging pets. This discussion will use case examples to demonstrate how to do a nutritional 'risk assessment" and make a feeding recommendation to optimize health, mobility and cognitive function of elder dogs.
Objectives/key concepts At the end of this session learners will be able to: • perform a nutrition risk assessment for patients • identify common nutritional concerns in elder dogs • apply evidence when making feeding recommendations to optimize: o health and wellness o mobility o cognitive function of aging patients
Dr. Churchill, a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Nutrition is an Associate Professor, and directs the Nutrition Service at the University Veterinary Medical Center. She is passionate about all aspects of small animal clinical nutrition including the role of nutrition in maintaining wellness, obesity prevention and treatment, the nutrition needs of geriatric patients, nutritional management of kidney diseases, and critical care nutrition. She is interested in improving client communication to successfully integrate nutrition into primary patient care. She served on the task force writing the AAHA guidelines for weight management and serves on the Boards of the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention and the Pet Nutrition Alliance (PNA) and serves on the PNA Educational Tools Committee.