Supporting Clients Feeding Non-Traditional Diets

How can veterinary teams handle the global rise of raw and homemade diets while keeping client trust intact?

In the first episode of our series on nutrition, interviewer Gregg Takashima talks with Marge Chandler and Grace Lin to look closely at non-traditional feeding trends. First, Marge Chandler discusses raw food facts, explaining why a dog's starch metabolism differs from a wolf's, and how unbalanced raw meals can cause weak bones, pathogen shedding, and antibiotic resistance. Then, Grace Lin looks at homemade diets, highlighting the hidden dangers of using artificial intelligence to write recipes for sick pets and offering practical ways to assess indoor pets while communicating kindly with anxious owners.

Resources & Links

• WSAVA Global Nutrition Committee
• WSAVA Global Nutrition Guidelines
• Balance It Formulation Service – Software mentioned for designing safe homemade recipes. 
• University of Illinois Digestibility Study – Research mentioned regarding raw food nutrient digestibility variances. 
• University of Liverpool Research – Study tracking antibiotic-resistant E. coli in the faeces of raw-fed pets. 
• UK Raw Pet Food Contamination Survey – Government study tracking microbiological risks and leaky packaging in retail raw food. 

Contributors

• Gregg K. Takashima, DVM: Episode Interviewer; CEO of GKT Enterprises and retired Small Companion Animal Practitioner. (LinkedIn)
• Marge Chandler, DVM, MS, DACVIM (Small Animal Internal Medicine and Nutrition), MANZCVS, MRCVS: Independent Consultant in Small Animal Nutrition and Internal Medicine at Chandler Veterinary Nutrition and WSAVA Nutrition Committee Member.
• Grace (Hsiu Chia) Lin, BVSc: Founder and Veterinary Director of AVC Veterinary Hospital (Shanghai, China), and WSAVA Nutrition Committee Member.

This podcast was edited and produced by Contento Media Ltd.