Veterinarians Urged to Lead Nutrition Discussions to Combat Misinformation, VMX Speakers Say

Veterinarians Urged to Take Lead in Pet Nutrition Conversations

Veterinary professionals must proactively discuss nutrition with pet owners before they turn to potentially unreliable sources for information, according to nutrition specialist Megan Shepherd. Speaking at the recent VMX veterinary conference, Dr. Shepherd delivered a compelling presentation on “Modern pet diets: risks, rewards and real talk,” highlighting the critical role veterinarians play in guiding clients through the complex landscape of pet nutrition.

“If you’re not communicating about nutrition with your pet owners, someone else is,” Dr. Shepherd warned attendees, adding that artificial intelligence tools have also become sources of nutritional guidance for many pet owners seeking answers outside the veterinary clinic.

As the Royal Canin scientific communications nutritionist, Dr. Shepherd emphasized the importance of understanding clients’ nutritional goals for their animals before providing recommendations. This approach allows veterinarians to tailor their guidance to align with what matters most to the pet owner.

“Knowing what the owner’s goals are can help you contextualise the suggestions or the guidance that you’re providing,” she explained. “For example, if I have a pet owner who says their goals for their pet is to minimise the risk of joint disease and optimise longevity, then when we’re talking about the importance of maintaining healthy weight, I can let them know.”

By connecting nutritional recommendations directly to the owner’s stated goals, veterinarians can make their advice more relevant and compelling. “I can bring in their goals and say, ‘Hey, maintaining healthy weight in your pet is really important for achieving your goals and minimising risk to joint health and optimising longevity’. So, knowing the owners’ goals up front is really important,” Dr. Shepherd added.

The presentation addressed the growing challenge veterinary professionals face in a marketplace flooded with pet food options and nutrition misinformation. From raw feeding to homemade diets and fresh pet food alternatives, the variety of feeding approaches requires veterinarians to stay informed and prepared to discuss the benefits and risks of each.

Dr. Shepherd advocated for comprehensive nutrition assessments and detailed diet histories as standard practice in veterinary care. “If we’re not taking a diet history, we might be missing out on conversations that we really should be having,” she noted, pointing out specific examples where veterinary guidance is crucial.

These include ensuring raw feeders understand potential risks, helping owners formulate appropriate homemade diets, and guiding clients through the increasingly popular fresh pet food market. Each scenario presents different challenges requiring tailored professional guidance.

The presentation acknowledged the practical constraints many veterinarians face, including limited appointment times and difficult conversations with clients who may have firm beliefs about pet nutrition based on marketing or online research. Dr. Shepherd reassured attendees that these challenges are common across the profession.

“If you’re not communicating about nutrition, know that you’re not alone,” she said, recognizing the reality that many practitioners struggle to incorporate thorough nutritional discussions into busy practice schedules.

However, her message emphasized that despite these challenges, veterinarians must position themselves as the primary source of nutritional guidance. “I encourage you to be the guide. So, the pet owner has the ultimate say on what they feed, and our role is to guide them with the factual information we have,” Dr. Shepherd advised.

The presentation comes at a time when pet nutrition has become increasingly complex, with pet food manufacturers introducing specialized diets and consumers facing a barrage of often contradictory information online. As pet ownership continues to rise and owners become more invested in their pets’ health, nutrition conversations represent both a challenge and an opportunity for veterinary practices to strengthen client relationships and improve animal health outcomes.