Pet nutrition service now available through NC State's veterinary hospital

Raleigh, N.C. - 5/21/07 - The Veterinary Teaching Hospital (VTH) at North Carolina State University's College of Veterinary Medicine has added a nutrition service to its list of 16 clinical specialties that are available to referring veterinarians and their patients.

Directing the new offering is nutrition specialist Dr. Korinn Saker, who will consult with referring veterinarians and VTH clinicians on the nutritional requirements of both critical and non-critical care patients in the hospital, be available for consult on various nutrition-related issues involving their non-hospitalized clients and be available to support individual owners in creating appropriate diets for their animals.

A planned addition to hospital services, the integration comes in the aftermath of the national concern over the safety of pet food. Saker advises pet owners to be attentive to the issues of food safety, but not to overreact.

"A primary reason major pet food companies formulate and market commercial pet foods is that they want to ensure a complete and balanced diet for your pet," Saker says. "As long as the food is designated for your pet's life stage and/or identified disease state, you can be reasonably reassured that it is all you need to feed the pet every day. The mainstream pet food companies spend a great deal on research, time and expertise in formulating health, safe diets."

While the majority of her consults are expected to involve companion animals, Saker's nutritional expertise includes horses, pigmy goats, sheep, potbelly pigs, llamas, alpacas and other animals. As an associate professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine's Department of Molecular Biomedical Sciences, her nutrition research will include obesity, cancer and critical care with emphasis on the relationship between oxidativestress and disease.

A small- and mixed-animal private practice veterinarian for five years, Saker has a master's degree in animal nutrition with a focus on equine nutrition from Clemson University, a DVM degree from the University of Georgia, and a doctorate in nutrition from Virginia Tech.