BSAVA Guide to Nutrition in Small Animal Practice

Veterinary professionals are often called upon to provide guidance on appropriate nutrition for animals under their care. Since nutrition is the cornerstone of all good veterinary care it should ideally form part of the discussion with every pet owner seeking advice about their pet. As veterinary professionals, our advice to our clients should always be based on sound scientific evidence, whenever available, excellent clinical reasoning and informed risk management. Given the wealth of information available to pet owners, it is the responsibility of veterinary professionals to assist them in making decisions about what to feed their pet. As well as ensuring that minimum nutritional requirements are met, the chosen diet should ideally provide optimal nutrition.

This guide contains information on hospital and critical care nutrition, management strategies for adverse reactions to food and the key role nutrition plays in pets with chronic kidney disease.

Additional resources have been included to enhance the degree of pet owner understanding with printable client handouts to reiterate the information given during consultations.

This updated and expanded guide replaces the original online-only guide which was published in 2022 and updated in 2023. It is also now available as a printed book.

Written by Georgia Woods-Lee and edited by Marge Chandler and Alex J. German.