Advancing pediatric nutrition: Strategies for puppies and kittens

This podcast is sponsored by Royal Canin

In this live podcast recording of The Vet Blast Podcast presented by dvm360 at our Fetch National Harbor conference, host Adam Christman, DVM, MBA, and Emmanuel Fontaine, DVM, MSc, PhD, DECAR, sat down to talk about pediatric care and nutrition for the puppies and kittens coming into veterinary clinics. Throughout the episode, Fontaine and Christman talk about the importance of regular veterinary visits, significance in nutrition for these patients, with statistics to match, and more.

Below is a partial transcript, edited lightly for clarity

Adam Christman, DVM, MBA: I know we're talking about having the clients come in often during the puppyhood phase. How can veterinarians communicate the value of multiple pediatric visits to owners who may see them as optional?

Emmanuel Fontaine, DVM, MSc, PhD, DECAR: I think we need to reframe the conversation, and we should not present those pediatric visits as checkups. We should present them as an investment for the future health of those puppies and kittens. Earlier, we talked about this new framework that is recommended by the growth chart studies. And I think all those touch points, all those assessments, should be seen as a way to pick up early on potential problems like behavioral issues, early growth, development problems, nutritional gaps. And if we pick those early, we can correct them while if we don't, they might lead later on to more health problems during adult life, and especially more costly treatment.

So I always tell pet owners that those visits during the pediatric phase, they're kind of an insurance policy for their pets future, and by doing that, they will optimize and really help improve the health of their future, adult dog or adult cat basically.

Christman: Yeah, you want to be more proactive than reactive, and that's how you can do that.

Fontaine: I fully agree. And I think you know, pet owners want what's best for their puppies and kittens during this period, they're more receptive to everything we want to offer, and we can offer a lot. I mean, my presentation yesterday, I was talking about a case I had 15 years ago, and I had this golden retriever in consultation, and I was super excited, and there was so much I wanted to share about the health of this puppy, because I thought, 'Oh, those owners, they are new to this. They have to hear about this.' And that I had 15 minutes to do my consultation. I couldn't cover anything, and in the end, I had to wrap up the consultation, and they were really upset because I didn't answer what they were coming for. I think communication with pet owners is critical during this period.

Christman: Totally

Fontaine: And it's not just about the message we want to share in veterinary medicine. It's not just about vaccines, deworming Spain and nurturing. There are plenty of other stuff that they want to learn, like emotional well being, well being of their pets. Nutrition. How do we properly feed which is critical during this period, all of that should be integrated in a real content calendar that we should develop in our clinics to feed them properly.