Setting up a nurse-led nutrition service

Nutrition can play a role as the cause of a disease (e.g. deficiencies, foodborne illnesses), but it can also cure diseases (e.g. struvite dissolution), or support in management (e.g. osteoarthritis) or prevention (e.g. periodontal disease) of diseases (Baldwin et al, 2010; Freeman et al, 2011). Nutrition is a very important topic for pet owners. Pet owners like to give food and treats to their companion animals and they want to be assured by their veterinary team that they are giving the right foods and treats. Providing food and treats strengthens the human–animal bound, and it is rewarding to both pets and owners (White et al, 2016). Treats are often used in training, as food is a very strong motivator for pets. A common pitfall is that pet owners over-treat animals, which might have opposite the effects; withholding foods or treats can result in severe withdrawal symptoms such as begging or aggressive behaviour (Pretlow and Corbee, 2016). Overweightness is therefore the most common nutrition-related disease in pets, which is difficult to treat (German, 2006). Therefore, at Utrecht University Companion Animal Clinic, a pet obesity clinic was opened. The pet obesity clinic was set up according to the example at Liverpool University, and was run by a veterinarian (nutrition resident Ronald Jan Corbee) and a veterinary nurse (Inge van Duiven). The other veterinarians and veterinary nurses were very happy with this new service and started referring many cases of over-weight dogs and cats that were referred primarily for other illnesses. In parallel to the obesity clinic, the nutrition service was started. At first, most cases were dealt with by the nutrition resident, who was responsible for nutritional assessment, nutritional recommendation, and follow up, as he needed to have a large case load for his residency. But the veterinary nurse gradually took over most of these tasks, as she learned quickly through being present at the nutrition consultations, through company training events, and by attending post-graduate courses in nutrition. Later on, a veterinary nurse, who is also human dietician (Rilana van de Lande), was hired as the other veterinary nurse missed the contact with the animals and returned to her job as veterinary nurse at the teaching hospital. The veterinary nurses have really advanced the nutrition service and made it very rewarding (both in terms of client and staff satisfaction, and profitability).