This episode is made possible ad-free by the sponsorship of Hill’s Pet Nutrition!

Dr. Andy Roark has a 4yo FS Labrador that is 6-7/9 body condition score. He’s wondering why he struggles to motivate clients to make changes that will get this dog back to an ideal condition. Dr. Mike Robbins is in to discuss what vets get wrong in these conversations, how vets and technicians can make better recommendations to motivate these clients, and the missed opportunities we all have in doing nutritional assessments.

LINKS:

Hill's Quick Reco Tool for personalized feeding fecommendations made easy:

https://quickreco.com/

Hill's Veterinary Resources for Patient Weight Loss:

https://www.hillsvet.com/pet-solutions/weight-management-pet-food

American College of Veterinary Nutrition specialty website:

https://acvn.org/

WASAVA for Diet History Form:

Full Form:

https://wsava.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Nutritional-Assessment-Checklist.pdf

Shortened Form: https://wsava.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Diet-History-Form.pdf

Veterinary Technician Nutrition Specialty Program/Info:

https://nutritiontechs.com/

Veterinary Healthcare Team site: www.endpetobesity.com/vet

Pet Parent Friendly site: www.endpetobesity.com

Dr. Andy Roark Swag: drandyroark.com/shop

All Links: linktr.ee/DrAndyRoark

ABOUT OUR GUEST:

Michael T. Robbins, DVM, Dipl. ACVN received his veterinary medical degree in 2015 from the

University of Tennessee and completed a rotating internship at the BluePearl Veterinary

Hospital in Louisville, KY. This was followed by a residency in small animal clinical nutrition at

North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine. He then stayed on with the

Clinical Nutrition Service for 7 months following his residency to further hone his skills prior to

accepting the position of Scientific Communications Specialist with Hill’s Pet Nutrition. During

his time at NC State, Dr. Robbins was involved with developing specifically tailored assisted

feeding tube diet blends, outlining feeding plans for all ICU patients, creating appropriate

homemade diets for those patients with specific and complex nutritional needs (as well as

extremely particular taste preferences), while also providing nutritional advice to referring

veterinarians. He also assisted with teaching responsibilities of third and fourth year veterinary

students as well as rotating interns. In 2021, Dr. Robbins received his diplomate status with the

American College of Veterinary Nutrition which has recently been altered to American College of

Veterinary Internal Medicine (Nutrition). His current responsibilities with Hill’s are to deliver

education to veterinary staff, students, and those involved with Hill’s tours; provide technical

support to Hill’s Veterinary Consultation Service; assist with review of technical documents;

support the execution and development of digital education and social media strategy; and build

relationships with Key Thought Leaders.