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 © World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) 2013. All rights reserved.

The Savvy Dog Owner’s Guide:

Nutrition on the Internet

More than 75% of all American homes have computers

and this is both a blessing and a curse. For dog owners,

the internet provides vast amounts of information on many

subjects. The information, however, is virtually unregulated

and its quality ranges from excellent to pure quackery.

Deciding which websites are trustworthy can be difficult!

Canine nutrition is a popular topic. There are literally

thousands of websites, promoting everything from recipes

for raw food and vegetarian diets; advertisements for

supplements and holistic foods; recommendations for diets

that allegedly prevent or cure disease; ‘get-rich-quick’

pyramid-selling schemes for nutritional supplements and

consultation services operated by ‘nutritionists.’ Many

home-made diets are promoted - some which are almost

nutritionally balanced; some that are mildly unbalanced and

some that are downright dangerous!

All in all, many nutritional myths are perpetuated, many half-truths

reinforced and many incorrect facts conveyed. There

is, of course, some excellent information - but not nearly as

much of it!

Surfing Tips

So how can you decide what to believe? Here are some

recommendations to help you when evaluating the content

of websites:

Discuss the information with your veterinarian. 

What you read online should enhance what your vet tells you, not

replace it. If in doubt, ask him or her to help you evaluate it.

Research the credentials of the site’s author. Is it a

pet owner; a company; a veterinarian; a Ph.D. in animal

nutrition or a board-certified veterinary nutritionist? Be

careful when a person marketing his or her services claims

to be a ‘pet nutritionist’ or a ‘certified nutritionist,’ as there

is no standardization in training for this. The exception is a

a veterinary nutritionist who is board-certified by the American

College of Veterinary Nutrition (ACVN) or the European

College of Veterinary Comparative Nutrition (ECVCN).

These are veterinarians who have undergone several years

of rigorous post-graduate nutrition training in approved

residency programs and who have passed the ACVN or

ECVCN’s certifying examination.

Read the website address. Sites with an address ending in

.com are commercial. Those ending in .edu are educational

and those ending in .org are nonprofit organizations. Large

pet food companies often have high-quality websites with

good general nutrition information that is separate from their

product information.

Check the source of the information. 

Do the authors

simply state that a product ‘prevents cancer’ or is there

a reference to a scientifically-conducted research study?

It is easy - though illegal - to make unproven claims for

nutritional products but it is much harder to back them up

scientifically. If there is a reference, where is it from? Is it

from the author’s own article or promotional literature or is

it from a peer-reviewed veterinary journal? Most products

on the internet do not cite studies to back up their claims.

Those that do often cite studies on humans or rats which

may not be pertinent to dogs.

Check the timeliness of the information. 

Things change

quickly in veterinary medicine and especially in the field

of nutrition. Many websites are out of date. What was

recommended two years ago may not be accepted practice

today? A good website will be updated frequently.

Be wary of anecdotal information. Descriptions of one

person’s experience (e.g. ‘When my dog was diagnosed

with kidney disease I gave him ‘GET BETTER’ nutritional

supplement and now he’s cured’) can be misleading. While

it can be useful to hear about other people’s experiences,

their positive evaluations do not mean that the actual

product or treatment is really beneficial. Always discuss

what you’ve heard with your veterinarian.

Watch out for rating websites. 

Most websites that rank

dog foods do so either on opinion or on criteria that do

not necessarily ensure a good quality food (e.g. price,

ingredients, size of the company). It’s important to use more

objective criteria (science, quality control) in judging a dog

food.

Be skeptical of grand claims or easy answers to difficult

problems. Remember the old adage: if it sounds too good

to be true, it probably is.

If you are a critical web-surfer and work with your veterinarian

to analyze the information you find, you will reap the benefits

of the computer age without experiencing its problems.

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© World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) 2013. All rights reserved.

wsava.org

Below are the web addresses of some useful, accurate sources of information on nutrition:

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Nutrition Guidelines

• World Small Animal Veterinary Association Nutritional Assessment Guidelines

http://www.wsava.org/educational/global-nutrition-committee

• American Animal Hospital Association Nutritional Assessment Guidelines https://www.aahanet.org/Library/NutritionalAsmt.aspx

Tools for the Veterinary Healthcare Team

• World Small Animal Veterinary Association Global Nutrition Committee Nutrition Toolkit http://wsava.org/nutrition-toolkit

• Pet Nutrition Alliance – information and tools to increase awareness of the importance of optimal pet nutrition

http://www.petnutritionalliance.org

Pet Nutrition – General Information for Pet Owners

• National Research Council downloadable booklet: Your Dog’s Nutritional Needs http://dels-old.nas.edu/banr/petdoor.html

Pet Food

• Association of American Feed Control Officials: Information on regulations, labeling and other important facts

about pet food http://petfood.aafco.org/

• FAQs about pet foods www.tufts.edu/vet/nutrition/faq/general_pet_nutrition.html

• Federal Drug Administration (FDA) Pet Food site: Information, links, food safety issues, recalls, pet food labels,

reporting portal http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/Products/AnimalFoodFeeds/PetFood/default.htm

• Pet Food Institute: Information on ingredient definitions, labeling regulations

http://www.petfoodinstitute.org/Index.cfm?Page=Consumers

• Pet Food Report: Consumer’s Guide to Pet Food www.petfoodreport.com

Nutrition Consultations

• American College of Veterinary Nutrition: Listing of board-certified veterinary nutritionists who will

conduct nutritional consultations for veterinarians and/or pet owners www.acvn.org

• European College of Veterinary and Comparative Nutrition: Board-certified veterinary

nutritionists in Europe www.esvcn.com

Home-cooked Diets

• American College of Veterinary Nutrition: Listing of board-certified veterinary nutritionists who will formulate

nutritionally balanced homemade diet recipes for veterinarians and/or pet owners www.acvn.org

• BalanceIT: Commercial website which offers semi-customized balanced home-cooked diet recipes for pet owners

with healthy pets. Veterinarians can customize pre-formulated recipes for animals with medical conditions

www.balanceit.com

• European College of Veterinary and Comparative Nutrition: Board-certified veterinary nutritionists in Europe

www.esvcn.com

Obesity

• Pet Obesity Prevention: Useful information on assessing pets’ body weight, calorie needs, and weight

loss tools www.petobesityprevention.com

Dietary Supplements

• Consumerlab: Site (with a small subscription fee for use) that independently evaluates dietary supplements

(primarily for human supplements but some pet supplements are included)) www.consumerlab.com

• Food and Drug Administration (FDA): Regulatory and safety issues of dietary supplements, adverse event reporting

http://www.fda.gov/food/DietarySupplements/default.htm

• Mayo Clinic drugs and supplements information: Fact sheets on human supplements and herbs

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/drug-information/DrugHerbIndex

• National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Dietary Supplements: Evaluating supplements, fact sheets,

safety notices, internet health info http://ods.od.nih.gov

• United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Information Center: General supplement

and nutrition information links to a variety of dietary supplement websites

http://fnic.nal.usda.gov/nal_display/index.php?info_center=4&tax_level=1&tax_subject=274

• United States Pharmacopeia Dietary Supplement Verification Program: Independent testing of dietary supplements

(human supplements only) http://www.usp.org/usp-verification-services/usp-verified-dietary-supplements

Raw meat diets

• Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine raw diet fact sheet

http://www.tufts.edu/vet/nutrition/resources/raw_meat_diets.pdf

• FDA guidance document on safe handling and raw foods

http://www.fda.gov/downloads/AnimalVeterinary/GuidanceComplianceEnforcement/GuidanceforIndustry/UCM052662.pdf

Other

• Ohio State Indoor Pet Initiative: Nutrition and other tips for optimizing the indoor pet’s environment

http://indoorpet.osu.edu/

• USDA Nutrient Database: Full nutrient profiles on thousands of human foods

http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search