How to discuss nutrition with clients

Vicky Ograin, MBA, RVT, VTS (Nutrition), scientific communication specialist at Hill's Pet Nutrition, told dvm360 in an interview how she was inspired to specialize in veterinary nutrition. She then gave some tips on how to approach a nutrition conversation with clients.

The following is a partial transcript of the video.

Vicky Ograin, MBA, RVT, VTS (Nutrition): When I was in practice, and had just moved out on my own, I had gotten a cat, his name was Slick. And at a year and a half of age, he was diagnosed with glomerular nephritis, so his kidneys were failing. The veterinarians gave him 2 months to live. So obviously, a devastating diagnosis, but I wanted to do everything possible that I could for him. So we decided to try a therapeutic food...and he took to that quite well. He ended up living for 10 years. So when I saw the power of nutrition, it absolutely just fueled my passion and I wanted to share that with everyone else.

First off, every time a patient comes into the hospital, we need to do a nutritional assessment. And it doesn't matter if you've already done an assessment with them.

I think the biggest thing that we need to do when we're having these conversations with pet parents is be sympathetic. So never judge, they love their pets, just like we love our pets. We got in this profession because we want to help, right?