Pet nutrition, sustainability and good practice management were on the agenda for Royal Canin’s 2023 Vet Symposium last month as hundreds of invited guests joined thousands more online to hear speakers outline the latest thinking on key pet care topics.
The hybrid event took place simultaneously in Montpellier, France, and online via a dedicated platform, with delegates from more than 100 countries worldwide tuning in and content translated into Chinese, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, French and German.
The event focused on veterinary nurses, the societal and career challenges they face, and the good advice they are in a position to pass on to pet owners. Vet nurses, including Georgia Woods-Lee, weight management clinic nurse at the University of Liverpool’s Small Animal Teaching Hospital, and Nicola Lakeman, head medical nurse at Plymouth Veterinary Group and nutrition manager at IVC Evidensia, gave their insight into managing the challenges of their profession and how to tackle issues such as healthy pet weight and nutrition ‘myths’.
Lakeman in particular challenged the view that all-raw, grain-free and meat-enriched diets were necessarily the best for dogs.
She said: “Dogs have evolved to digest carbohydrate – a dog today is very different to a wolf 3,000 years ago – and the One Health principle means that we have to look after the health of the owner too, so we need to be careful when handling raw food.
“Also, grain is not just a filler, it has so many positive properties, such as fibre, probiotics, vitamins and fatty acids, and even vegetarian diets are possible for dogs.
“The best diets not necessarily the most expensive, the key thing is for them to be complete and balanced.”
Cécile Coutens, global president of Royal Canin, commented: “For 55 years, Royal Canin has been striving to create a strong and mutually beneficial collaboration with the veterinary ecosystem. These professions are crucial to the health and well-being of pets, who, in turn, make our lives better.”
Coutens added that 65% of the input from ingredients into Royal Canin recipes are now optimised for carbon emissions, and three quarters of its electricity use comes from renewable energy sources.
