Alternative Veterinary Diets

Course overview

This online course for veterinary nurses and veterinary technicians will discuss the various different alternative diets available for our pets. The pet food industry is vastly varied which makes choosing a suitable, safe diet hugely challenging, particularly in the face of overwhelming amounts of information, misinformation, and strong divided opinion. This course will separate fact from fiction by evaluating the latest available evidence for four of the common alternative diets types which are increasingly being fed to dogs and cats: Module 1: Grain free diets Module 2: Home-prepared cooked diets Module 3: Raw meat-based diets Module 4: Plant-based diets As with all veterinary medicine, it is vital that a recommendation should be evidence based and so for each diet type the course will evaluate the evidence for and against its use, alongside highlighting where further work is required. Each of the four diet types have associated risks, but also associated potential benefits which should be carefully considered. Our role as veterinary professionals is not to dictate what pet owners should feed their pet, but to provide support through information and education by becoming a reliable resource a pet owner can trust. Our aim is to support pet owners so that in the full knowledge of the facts they can make informed decisions when they choose a diet to feed their pet. Ultimately some pet owners will continue to wish to feed a diet which is not recommended. The course will therefore examine ways in which safety can be improved and will detail where to find specialist help and reliable information, so support is always given to every pet. This is an on-demand four module course with unlimited lifetime access, where each module consists of a tutorial, quiz and further reading.