Our board-certified clinical nutritionist^® offers a range of services to support canine and feline patients at the WCVM Veterinary Medical Centre (VMC). 

• Commercial diet recommendations for dogs and cats
• Nutritional plans for pets with multiple medical conditions or special needs
• Customized weight loss plans
• Customized assisted (tube) feeding plans
• Critical care nutrition
• Customized home-cooked diet formulations

At this time, the VMC is unable to offer nutrition support services to external clients/patients due to limited clinician availability and high internal caseload. A list of alternative service options (click button below) has been provided to help locate other board-certified veterinary nutritionists who may have openings for Canadian clients at this time. Thank you for your understanding.

Your primary veterinarian may choose to directly contact the VMC's Nutrition Support Service for support and advice regarding your pet’s nutritional needs before pursuing a consult with another service. Dr. Owens can only discuss case management options with the treating veterinarian and can only offer informal or general guidance.

If your pet is not a VMC patient, please click the link below to view the list of other nutrition service options. 

• Other nutrition service options

A veterinary nutritionist is a veterinarian who has undergone additional specialty training — usually in the form of a residency — in the field of clinical nutrition.

Residency training involves clinical management of patients as well as research and teaching responsibilities. Additionally, residents must meet certain qualification standards determined by the American College of Veterinary Nutrition (ACVN).

After their training, they must pass an extensive written examination to obtain board certification and receive credentials to be a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Nutrition (DACVN). Board certification gives them unique training and qualifications to offer expertise in the nutritional management of both healthy pets and those with diseases.

For additional information, please visit the American College of Veterinary Nutrition

We use a customized approach for every patient. We don’t provide generic or stock recipes, but rather, we create a recipe specifically to meet your pet’s specific nutritional and/or medical needs while trying to balance individual dietary preferences or specific requests when possible.

To do so, we individually review your pet’s medical history, recent bloodwork and unique diet history. Next, the veterinary nutritionist applies his or her knowledge, experience and data from a variety of reputable sources to design a diet that will best meet the individual’s needs.

Ultimately, the veterinary nutritionist uses a computer software program with complete nutritional profiles from standardized food sources to create and adjust the dietary profile containing specific ingredients. 

You will need to complete the diet history form (click link below) and submit it to the VMC Clinical Nutrition Service before an appointment or consultation. 

• Diet history form

Click on the following links to view internationally-recognized scoring charts for body condition, muscle condition and feces. 

• Dog body condition scoring chart
• Dog muscle condition scoring chart
• Cat body condition scoring chart
• Cat muscle condition scoring chart
• Fecal scoring chart

The WCVM Veterinary Medical Centre's clinical team members are dedicated, compassionate people with specialized training and a diverse range of experiences. In addition to providing our patients with high-quality care and support, we are helping to train Western Canada's next generation of veterinary professionals.

• Our Team