Knowledge of the nutrition of companion animals is essential to the veterinary nurse. Clients frequently seek advice regarding feeding for various life stages of their pet and a sound grounding in this subject is vital in order to provide the required information.

Hospitalised patients may require specialised nutritional support and this chapter has been designed in order to ensure that you have the ability to understand the reasoning behind the choice of the various diets available.

Further study is highly recommended. Hills Pet Nutrition and Pedigree Pet Foods run excellent courses in the subject.

It is suggested that this chapter is used in conjunction with Book 2 - Chapter 1 - General Nursing (Module 2 - Enteral Nutrition).

Recommended reading:

• Veterinary Nursing (Butterworth Heinemann). Edited by D R Lane and B C Cooper
  Nutrition - by Sandra McCune
• The Waltham Book Of Companion Animal Nutrition (Pergamon Press)
  Edited by I Burger
• Applied Clinical Nutrition Of The Dog And Cat (Waltham Centre For Pet Nutrition)
  By P J Markwell