Certification Veterinary Integrative Therapeutic Nutrition

Do you need a better dietary answer to chronic allergies because you are not finding relief or overall health using "hypoallergenic" foods or novel proteins? When a client brings you a recipe they found for their pet's urinary tract condition, do you feel you can't properly evaluate its therapeutic value? Do you wonder about the confusing ingredients in commercially available therapeutic diets and are hoping for better options? Are you interested in finding appropriate recipes for animals with liver disease, cancer or seizures but there are too many options? Are you finding weight loss a difficult and frustrating subject, and weight loss foods concerningly low in nutrition? As you discuss the effects of protein on pets with kidney disease, do you want current research and clinical nutrition data to make sense of the many food options? Do you already know that food is medicine, but you just need to understand the interaction of ingredients as a nutrient based pharmacy to treat conditions you commonly see? Let us help guide you to the answers to these and many other small animal therapeutic nutrition questions. 

The Certification in Veterinary Integrative Therapeutic Nutrition is a four-module course for the small animal practitioner and each module takes approximately three months of part-time study to complete. The whole course is undertaken over 12 months. While you will be required to formulate and evaluate recipes and diets using small animal cases during this course, you will not need a large number of diverse cases for treatment (suitable for locums, part-time veterinarians).

This course was originally developed by Barbara Fougere, DVM, Barbara Royal,DVM,  Susan Wynn, DVM, DACVN and Natasha Lilly, DVM.  Their background combines experience in clinical work and cases, pet food industry collaborations, nutrition software development, study, research and literature publications, authorship and pioneering work in nutrition, international university affiliations and professorships and worldwide leadership in progressive and effective therapeutic veterinary nutrition.  Integrative therapeutic nutrition takes a comprehensive approach to our veterinary nutrition/supplement/nutraceutical/husbandry options.  The course will provide a bridge between conventional veterinary commercial food options, supplements and pharmaceuticals, and fresh food nutrition options, and will assess both commercially available and individual recipe options for health conditions.  With a clinically relevant approach to the effect of food on health  from the microscopic to macroscopic, we will incorporate current research, species specific metabolic information, and a growing database of clinical successes to describe best practices in an integrative nutritional prescription.  

Taught and supported by a team of tutors and additional experts in their fields, this course will develop your competence and confidence to safely and effectively integrate small animal therapeutic nutrition for each of the topics into your practice. Relevant data on nutrients and practices for each medical condition will be evaluated and discussed. 

The course will provide an appropriate individual home-made therapeutic recipe for dogs and cats for each disease/condition.  Based on their examination and assessment of the patient, the small animal practitioner may decide to use these recipes as is, or as a template to further develop appropriate individualized recipes for patients. These recipes are not for commercial use.

Free CIVT Membership

Students enrolled in the Certification in Veterinary Integrative Therapeutic Nutrition course are eligible for one year free membership of CIVT. Membership benefits include free and discounted webinars, extended course enrolments, access to journals and databases, and more.