9 Aug 2022
Cecilia Villaverde covers some of the developments in diets intended to help manage health conditions in companion animals.
Cecilia Villaverde
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Veterinary therapeutic diets are those formulated to help with the management of clinical conditions in dogs and cats.
In Europe, these diets are regulated differently than other (physiological) pet food, under the feeds for a particular nutritional purpose (PARNUT) legislation1. They must meet specific characteristics, depending on each PARNUT. In many cases, it will also include a limited length of time for their use, mainly to ensure their use under continuous veterinary care.
These diets are very useful in veterinary medicine, as they have a dual purpose: firstly, providing nutrition and energy for the species and life stage; and secondly, contributing to management of the disease in a consistent manner. This is important to explain to caregivers, to show the benefit of their use, despite a potentially higher cost per day over physiological diets.
Nutrient-sensitive diseases are those that respond to dietary management (alone or in combination with other therapies). Some of the diseases where veterinary diets can be used are listed in Panel 1.
While patients with non-nutrient-sensitive diseases still need a feeding plan, a veterinary therapeutic diet is usually not required.
While some of these diets have been available for a long time, the number of conditions for which therapeutic diets are available is growing. Some of the new developments are detailed in this article.
It is important to know both the nutritional goals for the patient and the characteristics of veterinary diets, to match them to each patient and use them to their maximum benefit.
To choose the best therapeutic diet for each patient, the veterinary team should perform an advanced nutritional assessment25. This will identify any malnutrition risk factors and help identify the desired nutritional strategies; for example, a low-calorie diet for overweight patients or a phosphorus-restricted diet for a patient with CKD.
Therapeutic diets for the same condition differ in several aspects, including ingredients and texture (and, therefore, palatability), but also nutritional profile, including energy density and concentration of key nutrients.
The availability of multiple therapeutic diets (both wet and dry) for one disease allows customisation to each patient, and even rotation or combination in some cases.
Many companies that sell veterinary therapeutic diets have more detailed nutritional information in their product guides than on the label, and veterinary clinics should request those for the use of the veterinary team.
These guides are particularly useful because they express the concentrations of key nutrients on a calorie basis, which is the best way to compare diets among themselves and to the nutritional goals without the confounding effects of moisture or energy density.
It is also important to assess the evidence for their efficacy, ideally with peer-reviewed publications. It is important to ask each manufacturer for such information, to provide the best care possible to patients.
