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NUTRITIONAL
SUPPORT FOR VETERINARY PATIENTS
First broadcast on www.provet.co.uk
as part of it's Focus On Nutrition Week
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This information is provided by
Provet for educational purposes only.
You should seek the advice of your
veterinarian if your pet is ill as only he or she can correctly advise on the
diagnosis and recommend the treatment that is most appropriate for your pet.
During the history taking, physical
examination and general clinical evaluation of a patient clinicians can detect
signs that the patient requires nutritional support of one kind or another -
in addition to any need for fluid replacement. There
are many situations in which a veterinary patient may require additional
nutritional support and it is important to recognise them and take action to
ensure that the patient is not nutritionally compromised - because not to do
so could jeopardise the success of treatment.
- The presence of starvation, inappetance
or anorexia
- Physical inability
to eat, or swallow, or retain food
- Rapid body weight loss in excess
of 10% of normal weight
- Increased loss of nutrients from
the body via :
- vomiting
- diarrhoea
- bleeding
- polyuria
- discharging abscesses
- burns
- wounds
- Inability to digest or absorb
nutrients in food
- malabsorption
- gastrointestinal disease
- pancreatic insufficiency
- bacterial overgrowth
- short-bowel disease
(post-resection)
- Presence of any catabolic disease:
- renal failure
- heart failure
- cancer
- hyperthyroidism
- liver failure
- many others
- Increased energy requirements due
to :
- trauma
- surgery
- infection
- burns
- pyrexia - whatever the cause
- most major organ diseases (possible exception of hypothyroidism)
- Prescription of any catabolic
drugs :
- corticosteroids
- cytotoxic anticancer drugs
- immunosuppressants
- some antibiotics
- Any underweight animal
- Hospitalised animals
- Any animal with peripheral oedema
- Any animal with protein-losing
disease (egs nephropathy, enteropathy, lymphangiectasia)
- Poor skin quality and condition -
most skin diseases
- Many orthopaedic conditions - for
repair following trauma, hypervotaminosis A, etc
- Most major organ diseases -
hepatomegaly, gastrointestinal disorders, congestive heart failure etc.
- Life-cycle stages - notably
Growth, Pregnancy and Lactation
Last updated : January 2016
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