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Nutritional assessment in the cat: Practical recommendations for better medical care
Angela Witzel Rollins1, Maryanne Murphy1
1College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tennessee, 2407 River Drive, Knoxville, TN, USA.
Practical Relevance:
Pet owners want dietary recommendations from their veterinarian. Providing a brief nutritional assessment for every cat at every visit will result in better medical care and build trust with clients.
Clinical Challenges:
Examination time is limited, and it can be challenging to ensure appointments are efficient, yet thorough. A range of practical assessment tools is available that can assist with this process.
Patient Group:
Every cat can benefit from a screening nutritional evaluation as the fifth vital assessment (after temperature, pulse, respiration and pain assessment). Identifying patients with nutritional risk factors or nutrition-responsive diseases should prompt a more in-depth review of dietary needs.
Audience:
This article is aimed at all veterinary health professionals and is accompanied by videos demonstrating the body condition scoring process for a series of cats ranging from ideal body weight through to obese.
Evidence Base:
Information in the review is drawn from the current scientific literature, as well as the clinical experience of the authors.
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