To find out more, check out these fantastic websites, blogs and tools from reliable and highly educated sources. This is by no means an exhaustive list, just some of the resources I use and recommend.
Dog and Cat Calorie Calculators
For more animal nutrition calculators, head to OmniCalculator – Animal Calculators
Textbooks
Small Animal Clinical Nutrition textbook – available for free download from the Mark Morris Institute website, contains extensive information on treatment plans for health conditions, key nutritional factors and pet food.
Blogs & Websites
AAFCO Consumers – American Association of Feed Control Officials website that provides simple definitions on pet food ingredients, marketing terms used by pet food companies and legislation around pet food simplified for consumers (pet owners).
FEDIAF – is the trade body representing the European pet food industry. Their website contains useful information such as fact sheets, handouts and nutritional guidelines and regulations.
PFIAA – Pet Food Industry Association of Australia has a number of helpful resources and blogs on their website, including information on how to understand pet food labels and what companies are voluntary regulated in Australian pet food.
UK PET FOOD – Formerly known as the Pet Food Manufacturing Association, UK PET FOOD is the trade body for the pet food industry in the United Kingdom. Their website also contains fantastic resources, handouts and information for professionals and pet owners.
FDA Pet Food – The Food and Drug Administration in the USA regulates pet food, and their website has a number of helpful resources. They also provide updates on the latest recalls affecting pet food.
Tuft’s University Petfoodology – blog posts written by Board Certified Veterinary Nutritionists on current topics in pet nutrition, trends and the latest research. There are also some handy calculators available here.
SkeptVet – practising Veterinarian writing about evidence-based veterinary medicine, including veterinary nutrition and debunking various myths
Doc of All Trades – Dr Caitlin writes about a variety of topics such as One Health, pet nutrition and current veterinary medicine topics – she keeps a log of the latest studies in DCM from grain free and boutique diets in the DCM Research List.
Tools
Pet Nutrition Alliance – created by a team of Board Certified Veterinary Nutritionists, Vet Tech Specialists in Nutrition and Associations, the website has a number of incredibly useful tools for both pet parents and professionals. Notably, the Calorie Calculator and the Pet Food Manufacturer’s Report for comparing pet foods based on the WSAVA guidelines!
WSAVA Nutrition Toolkit – created by the Global Nutrition Committee, this toolkit contains a number of useful handouts and resources for clients as well as forms and guides for professionals. This toolkit contains the WSAVA Guidelines for Selecting a Pet Food.
BalanceIT.com – created by a Board Certified Veterinary Nutritionist, this tool allows you to build a complete and balanced home cooked diet recipe using human supplements or branded BalanceIT supplements. Their website also provides the option for veterinarians to create recipes for health conditions and the ability to purchase supplements. There is also a Guaranteed Analysis Converter to assist in comparing foods on a Dry Matter Basis rather than % ME.
Research and Continuing Education
Royal Canin Vet Portal – contains journal articles published by Royal Canin, as well as a huge range of podcasts and nutritional information on their diets (see below for more CPD websites)
Royal Canin Academy – contains Royal Canin’s library of educational content, courses, webinars and materials to support your continuing education needs for breeders, veterinary professionals and more (this link is the Australia and New Zealand based site, check locally for your country’s link)
Hill’s Research Library – contains research that has been conducted by Hill’s on their foods, ingredients, therapeutics, etc.
Purina Institute – news and research on the latest studies being conducted by Purina.
Google Scholar – search journal articles on any topic in the world!
Not sure if something you read online is reliable? Check the source – my blog post “Everyone’s an expert in animal nutrition” explains who and what credentials you should be looking for when consuming pet nutrition advice online. Ideally individuals should have, at a minimum, a formal university qualification – BSc, MSc, PhD and/or be specialised in the species they are providing advice/information on – VTS (Nutrition), DACVIM-Nutrition or DECVCN. Your treating veterinarian will be able to provide general advice pertaining directly to your pet’s diet and current condition, but may choose to refer you to one of the above listed professionals/specialists.
NOTE: Your vet’s opinion should be sought before making any changes to your pet’s diet or medical treatment/protocols. The information provided here is general in nature and is not intended to replace or substitute the professional opinion of your vet and/or specialist.