Nutrition
The Clinical Nutrition Service (CNS) is an integral service providing nutritional recommendations and feeding plans for the medical and surgical services at the Veterinary Health Complex (VHC) which includes the Terry Center and the Animal Health and Wellness Center. The CNS works closely with the Critical Care Service in providing various types of assisted and minimally invasive tube feedings, as well as intravenous nutrition when needed. We also work closely with Internal Medicine, Surgery, Oncology, the Rehabilitation Service and other specialized services to provide state-of-the-art individualized nutritional plans for patients with various medical conditions.
The Clinical Nutrition Service offers commercial diet recommendations for patients, critical care nutrition for inpatients, customized weight loss programs, and nutritional consultation for metabolic diseases such as diabetes, kidney and liver diseases or urinary stones. We are not beholden to any particular pet food company and receive no monetary ‘kickback’ for our recommendations. Therefore we are able to explain simply the best dietary options for your companion cat or dog.
We can also evaluate your current diet and, if needed, suggest appropriate changes or substitutions to ensure a complete and balanced dietary intake for your pet. We can also formulate a complete and balanced home-prepared therapeutic diet if there are no appropriate commercial diet options or if you desire to cook for your pet.
How do Pet Owners request a Nutrition Consult for their dog or cat?
We provide individual consultations for owners of dogs and cats. We offer owners several different means of consulting with us. Consults may be via phone/Skype or in-person visits. We work in conjunction with both your pets’ NCSU veterinarian and local primary care veterinarian. We will ask for your local veterinarian’s contact information and ask that you have the most recent medical information on your pet faxed to us prior to the appointment. Additionally, so we may have all available information on hand at the time of the consult, owners are asked to complete and submit the online consult form in advance of their appointment time.
Email Consult Instructions:
- Complete the Owner Nutrition Consult Request
- Request your pet’s medical records be faxed (919-513-6905) to Attn: Nutrition Service
- We will contact you or your veterinarian if we have additional questions
- An account will be established for you and your pet.
- Diet recommendations will be emailed to you and your Veterinarian
- Credit card will charged after dietary recommendations have been emailed
- Service Fees:
- Commercial diet options $77
- Formulate homemade diet $231
- Recheck or Reformulation $77
In-person Visit Instructions:
- Complete the Owner Nutrition Consult Request
- Request your pet’s medical records be faxed (919-513-6905) to Attn: Nutrition Service
- Call VHC appointment line 919-513-6999 to schedule a Nutrition Visit. Appointments are generally 30 minute ($55) with the option of adding on 15 min increments if needed for a lesser ($30) charge.
- Payment options are credit card, cash, CareCredit or personal check.
How does a Veterinarian request a Nutrition Consult for a patient?
We provide consultations to veterinarians for individual patients concerning commercial or homemade diets. The Clinical Nutrition Service offers phone /Skype or web email based consults to veterinarians for a wide variety of medical conditions such as kidney disease, heart disease, cancer, gastrointestinal disease and those challenging cases with more than one medical condition and an owner with a keen interest in the pet food industry.
We provide -
- Commercial diet recommendations for particular patients
- Dietary recommendations for pets with multiple medical conditions
- Weight loss plans for obese pets
- Individualized assisted (tube) feeding protocols
- Customized home-cooked diet formulations
Email Consult Instructions:
- Complete the Veterinarian Nutrition Consult Request (pdf download) or Online Vet Referral (http://www.cvm.ncsu.edu/vhc/inform/inform_nutrition-vet-referral.html)
- Please fax (919-513-6905) the pertinent medical data (blood, urine, biopsies, US reports, stone analysis, etc) to Attn: Nutrition Service.
- Please be sure to provide an email (or fax) so we may send you our written recommendations.
- Service Fees:
- Commercial diet options. List sent to Veterinarian at no charge.
- Homemade diet formulation:
- Sent to Veterinarian only who will do all of the client communication; $205 charged to veterinarian
- Sent to Client and Veterinarian and $231 charged to Client. Prior to diet formulation, a homemade diet questionnaire will be sent to the Client for additional information. Nutrition service will communicate with both client and referring vet as needed.
- Reformulation $77
- Assisted (tube) Feeding instructions $77