3 must-see expert interviews on nutrition

Photo: Africa Studio

A patient’s dietary needs and how nutrition correlates to overall health and wellbeing frequently generate topics of interest during veterinary conferences. In a series of interviews, industry leaders and conference presenters Christopher Pachel, DVM, DACVB, CABC; Mark J. Acierno, DVM, MBA, DACVIM; and Karen Shenoy, DVM, spoke with dvm360 editors. In these videos, they provide expert insights about different aspects of companion animal nutrition, including mitigating feline stress with dietary supplements, managing chronic kidney disease, and understanding the gut microbiome, respectively.

The following video titles include a link to view the individual interview:

Alleviating feline stress with nutrition and supplements

Christopher Pachel, DVM, DACVB, CABC, discusses the role of nutrition and supplements in reducing stress in felines, in this dvm360 interview. These and additional insights were presented in a lecture, “Top Tips for Stress-Associated Conditions in Cats,” at the 2024 Fetch dvm360 conference (Fetch Coastal) in Atlantic City, New Jersey. In the lecture and interview, Pachel highlights the importance of reducing stress in cats through targeted dietary strategies and palatable supplements that these felines will actually take.

Managing chronic kidney disease in cats

What options are there for controlling nausea and stimulating the appetite of a feline patient with chronic kidney disease? Mark J. Acierno, DVM, MBA, DACVIM, professor and associate dean at Midwestern University, talked about different methods for controlling these symptoms in cats, breaking these methods down into management strategies, and different medications that can be used, in a dvm360 interview discussing his lecture “Improving the Lives of Feline Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease,” presented at the 2024 Fetch dvm360 conference in Atlantic City. The lecture is currently available through dvm360’s Fetch On-Demand conference series for Fetch Coastal.

What the microbiome means for pet health

Microbiome science is being explored by researchers and addressed by Hill’s Pet Nutrition in some new and enhanced prescription diet and science diet products. Karen Shenoy, DVM, then-chief veterinary officer for Hill’s US and current vice president and chief veterinarian for Hill’s EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa), discussed the importance of a healthy microbiome and the work being done to study more about how it affects pets and how that knowledge can be applied to their diets, in a dvm360 interview at the 2025 Veterinary Meeting & Expo (VMX), presented by the North American Veterinary Community, in Orlando, Florida.