New free online service provides pet parents nutrition and wellness advice

According to a May 2023 Purina Institute survey,¹ 96% of pet parents reported that veterinarians are their most trusted source for nutrition advice and 78% of pet parents said nutrition expertise is an "important" or "extremely important" element in their satisfaction with a veterinary clinic. However, only 1 in 5 veterinary professionals surveyed reported proactively providing nutrition advice during most client visits.

Photo courtesy of The IAMS Brand.

To help fill the gap for this need, the IAMS brand, part of the Mars family of brands, has released the PETconnect by IAMS, a free digital service with no login required offering pet owners general nutrition and wellness advice for dogs and cats.² It connects them with a licensed veterinary technician or a nutrition advisor in real time to answer their questions surrounding their pet’s health and wellness or nutrition and feeding needs.

Here is how to use PETconnect by IAMS²:

• Go to IAMS.com and select the PETconnect chat bubble in the bottom right corner.
• To connect with a licensed veterinary technician, choose: "Connect with a Vet Tech about Health and Wellness." To connect with a nutrition advisor, choose: "Nutrition and Feeding."
• Answer several quick questions about you and your pet, then you can connect to a real, live expert.
• Pet experts will ask further questions to understand your pet and then will offer you with customized advice and guidance.
• Following the chat, the licensed veterinary technicians or nutrition advisors may follow up with a summary of the conversation and related resources.

"Having a pet is one of life's greatest joys. But when our pets are not at their best, it can be incredibly stressful for pet parents to navigate the internet for the best advice and information on how to help keep their pets happy and healthy," said Jean-Paul Jansen, senior vice president of marketing for Mars Petcare North America, in a company release.² "Through IAMS PETconnect, our IAMS brand is providing pet parents with a free, easily accessible service, further solidifying our ambition to keep pets healthy for life."

References

1. Purina Institute launches new canine and feline clinical nutrition handbook for veterinary teams. News release. Nestle Purina Petcare. June 30, 2023. Accessed August 30, 2023. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/purina-institute-launches-new-canine-and-feline-clinical-nutrition-handbook-for-veterinary-teams-301867589.html
2. Petconnect by IAMS service launches to provide immediate online access to pet experts. News release. The IAMS Brand. August 30, 2023. Accessed August 30, 2023. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/petconnect-by-iams-service-launches-to-provide-immediate-online-access-to-pet-experts-301913285.html