On April 5th, Jess successfully defended her MSc. thesis titled, "The Nutrigenomic Effects of Dietary Choline and L-Carnitine on the Muscle and Liver of Lean and Obese Cats When Fed for Weight Maintenance."
Read more about "Congratulations Jess on a Successful MSc. Defense!"
Congrats to Hannah Godfrey (MSc., PhD Student) for her recent publication in PLOS ONE; Dietary choline in gonadectomized kittens improved food intake and body composition but not satiety, serum lipids, or energy expenditure.
The Ontario Veterinary College’s Pet Nutrition team is thrilled to announce that two of our team members successfully met the rigorous requirements of the European College of Veterinary and Comparative Nutrition to become Diplomates.
Read more about "Congratulations to Canada’s Newest Veterinary Nutritionists!"
Congratulations to Dr. Sarah Dodd on a new publication!!! Published in a special edition of Animals, she investigated the suitability of plant-based diets for pets. Thank you to our sponsor, OVC Pet Trust.
Read more about "Comparing Plant-Based Diets for Dogs & Cats in Canada"
Increased intake of dietary choline may improve the safety and efficacy of weight loss in the treatment and care of obese cats.
Weidner et al observed that blood vitamin D concentrations were lower in dogs with one type of cancer. The dogs with this cancer type also had increased concentrations of multiple inflammatory markers, supporting a relationship between vitamin D and inflammation in dogs with cancer.
Recently in the news, there has been a large concern in the pet industry with dog foods potentially contaminated with aflatoxin. An international recall of pet food products was issued in December 2020, as many dogs became ill after eating contaminated dog food. According to the FDA, the recalled products contained potentially fatal levels of these toxins. In September 2020, a pet food sample was found to contain unsafe levels of aflatoxins, resulting in Sunshine Mills to announce a recall of the tested pet food product and other products made with the same corn.
Hannah’s thesis is titled, “Effects of additional dietary choline on food intake, body weight and body composition, respiratory quotient, serum lipid profile, and serum metabolic signature in post-gonadectomy kittens.”
Cats are obligate carnivores, meaning they need to eat meat to survive and thrive. A study published last week by Dodd et al. demonstrates that some pet parents have observed otherwise. Congratulations to Dr. Sarah Dodd on her recent publication!
When treating and preventing obesity in our companion animals, it is not uncommon for caregivers and members of the healthcare team to question: How low is too low when restricting calories for weight loss? Are our cats meeting their nutrient requirements during weight loss?
Last week was the European Society of Veterinary and Comparative Nutrition (ESVCN) Congress, presented remotely to maintain the safe delivery of data to the world of animal veterinary and comparative nutrition. Due to the need for the congress to proceed virtually, our team was unable to socialize and network with colleagues from around the world. The virtual format was well organized, featuring session times allowing for a breadth of international attendance.
Read more about "On the World Stage, From Home – ESVCN Congress 2020"
Congratulations to Dr. Adronie Verbrugghe, Alexandra Camara, and our colleague, Dr. Anna Kate Shoveller, on their most recent publication!
Congratulations to Dr. Caitlin Grant (ECVCN Resident) for defending her thesis today and successfully completing her Doctor of Veterinary Science (DVSc) with the Clinical Nutrition team!
Congratulations to one of students and team member, PhD candidate Alexandria Rankovic, on her publication earlier this month in the Journal of Animal Science!
From August 12-15th, the University of Guelph was proud to be the first virtual host to the Global Animal Nutrition Summit (GANS). This event was very special to the OVC Pet Nutrition team, as Drs. Adronie Verbrugghe and Sarah Abood were two of the co-chairs of this summit. Additionally, all the members of the OVC Pet Nutrition team worked hard behind the scenes to make this event a success.
Read more about "Global Animal Nutrition Summit 2020 (GANS2020)"
The Ontario Veterinary College and Ontario Agricultural College of the University of Guelph are proud to be hosting the Global Animal Nutrition Summit (GANS). A conference designed to bring leaders in animal science, comparative nutrition and veterinary nutrition together for the first time ever. This global nutrition summit is a collaboration between eight international animal nutrition organizations.
Read more about "Program for the Global Animal Nutrition Summit (GANS) is now live!"
Pet food is no longer just about kibbles and cans, as more owners are exploring different avenues to feed their canine and feline companions. This was recently demonstrated by Dr. Sarah Dodd's recent publication in the British Medical Journal Veterinary Record, An observational study of pet feeding practices and how these have changed between 2008 and 2018 .
Read more about "More Room at the Table: Unconventional Diets on the Rise"
From June 10th – 11th the American Academy of Veterinary Nutrition (AAVN) hosted its 20th annual meeting and first virtual AAVN Clinical Nutrition and Research Symposium. While the event was originally scheduled to be held in Baltimore (USA), the global pandemic with COVID-19 forced organizers to change to a virtual format. Fortunately, this did not detract from a great program with excellent research presented on a wide variety of topics: feeding methods in horses, renal care in senior cats, dietary interventions on the canine microbiome, and obesity prevention, treatment, and communication.
Our team's work was recently showcased at the Canadian Nutrition Society's Annual Conference, hosted virtually this year. MSc student, Hannah Godfrey, had the opportunity to present her study, Choline supplementation lowered body weight, body condition score, and daily food intake compared to a control in post-gonadectomized kittens. Despite it's potential health and behavioural benefits, spay and neuter surgery has been demonstrated to increase the risk of obesity. By supplementing growing kittens with choline after their neuter surgeries, dietary choline might provide a preventive effect against obesity.
In a recent study published in Veterinary and Comparative Oncology, our team surveyed owners of pets undergoing treatment for cancer to evaluate the prevalence of unconventional diets and supplements, finding a greater number of pet owners with pets undergoing cancer treatment were exploring alternative options as part of their treatment program. The abstract, Unconventional diets and nutritional supplements are more common in dogs with cancer compared to healthy dogs: An online global survey of 345 dog owners, was published and studied by our gradate, Adriana Bianco and our own Dr. Adronie Verbrugge, Dr. Sarah Abood, OVC's Dr. Jason Coe, Dr. Paul Woods, and Dr. Anthony Mutsaers.
Research previously conducted on mice concluded differences in microbiota in obese vs. lean mice. This feline study, recently published in BMC Veterinary Research by our own Dr. Adronie Verbrugghe and our prior DVSc student, Dr. Moran Tal, along with OVC's Dr. Scott Weese, sought to investigate the microbiome of obese cats who embarked on a weight loss program. Entitled, Bacterial fecal microbiota is only minimally affected by a standardized weight loss plan in obese cats, the study concluded that little change was demonstrated in microbial populations following a successful weight loss program.
In a study recently published in the Journal Of Veterinary…
Congratulations to our team members, Alexandra Rankovic and Dr. Jackie Parr, who coauthored a published study investigating the inaccuracies of measuring cups for preparation of a pet's daily food ration. Along with the Ontario Veterinary College's Dr. Jason Coe as the lead author, their paper entitled, Dog owner's accuracy measuring different volumes of dry dog food using three different measuring devices, was published in the BMJ Journals Vet Record.
