When most people go to the veterinarian it is assumed the veterinarian is trained in the skills that are needed. Graduation from a veterinary curriculum means “trained and ready to serve your pets.”
Any veterinarian can provide any service. There are specialty services that may require additional training – like orthopedic surgery or spinal manipulation – but none of these services require the veterinarian be board certified.
Some veterinarians find they have a special interest in a particular field and want more depth to their training. Be it dermatology, behavior, or herbal medicine, these doctors return to school, perform research, and publish their results before “sitting for the board” exam. Once the board examination is passed, that veterinarian is a specialist in that area, but can still practice all other areas of medicine if (s)he chooses. An internal medicine veterinarian can still perform surgery, as an example.
On the other side of the coin, a general practice veterinarian can provide any service as already mentioned, like surgery or internal medicine. The purpose of board certification is two-fold: provide the doctor more training in a specialty field, and increase the body of knowledge in that field – both of which benefits more pets.
Some pet owners may need the services of the board-certified veterinarian to resolve their pet’s health issue. Some general practitioners may consult with a specialist on a case.
At no point is the generalist precluded from practicing in the specialty field.
Except for the field of veterinary nutrition. For some reason, the American College of Veterinary Nutrition is different.
While every veterinarian in this country is considered capable of practicing all aspects of veterinary medicine upon graduation and passage of the national veterinary board exam, general practice veterinarians are strongly discouraged from giving nutrition advice to their clients.
It would be possible to argue it’s because veterinarians receive little to no training in nutrition in school, but the same can be said for orthopedic surgery. (Either field would be an elective for further training.) Therefore, lack of training isn’t the explanation why general practice veterinarians are discouraged from giving nutrition advice.
Is it about control? Is it that the ACVN wants to change the entire veterinary health care system in this country and model it after human medicine where only specialists can practice? Can pet owners afford such a paradigm? Is this an unfair practice behavior opening the ACVN and veterinary medicine to libel?
If the veterinary nutrition industry were open to growth like every other specialty area, the ACVN would offer courses in continuing education for the general practitioner. They do not. The ACVN is a closed association.
What, or who, is behind this?
Dr. Cathy Alinovi DVM
As a practicing veterinarian, Dr. Cathy treated 80% of what walked in the door — not with expensive prescriptions — but with adequate nutrition. Now retired from private practice, her commitment to pets hasn’t waned and she looks forward to impacting many more pet parents through her books, research, speaking and consulting work. Learn more at drcathyvet.com
marlene salter
May 13, 2016 at 11:29 am
what does it mean if a Vet has DVM Diplomat after his name
Dr Cathy
May 13, 2016 at 12:55 pm
Diplomate means the vet received board certification/training. Good observation!
woofielover
May 13, 2016 at 11:48 am
If the very foundation of good health is proper nutrition, it seems clear why they might not wish to encourage further training in that field. And let’s not forget the financial backing provided by the worst pet food manufacturers in the world – Hills/Waltham/Science Diet and Royal Canin. These are the same brands of prescriptive pet food sold in just about every vet clinic in the country.
Shannon
May 13, 2016 at 1:32 pm
The only four vets certified in nutrition in my state are in the pockets of big pet food companies…
Pat P.
May 13, 2016 at 1:37 pm
I would love to be able to walk into a vet’s office and NOT see a corner devoted to “prescription” pet food! I have not found ONE local vet, either, that knows anything about good nutrition, and yet, that should be mandatory. Our pets our dying because of poor nutrition and toxic foods! Of course, that makes more money for unethical vets.
After doing a lot of research looking for a new vet in my area, a few years ago, I chose one who mentioned on her website her knowledge and specialty of pet nutrition. After taking my cats there, I discovered that she, of course, had Royal Canin and knew NOTHING about good pet foods! I, also, later discovered that she was not a very good cat vet nor a very sensitive one!
Unfortunately, many of the problems with our terrible human health system are the very same ones for our veterinary one.
Laurie Raymond
May 13, 2016 at 2:03 pm
When you say general practice DVMs are “discouraged” from advising on nutrition, what form does the “discouragement” take? Are their licenses in danger of being revoked? If so, by what body? In my area, all the vets give advice about feeding and nutrition — and they are all over the map, with many selling prescription diets and a few promoting a whole-foods diet including raw meat and bones. I have never heard any of them say they can’t give advice on feeding and nutrition, based on their own knowledge. And they all know me and my strong stance in favor of fresh, whole homemade meals and strong aversion to commercial kibbles, especially, and my teaching home made pet food classes at the local community college and being about to launch our on-line course. Some of the ones who sell Science Diet send clients to me who are upfront about preferring more species-appropriate food. I suppose this “discouraging” of giving nutrition advice may be stronger in some states or regions than others, but I would really like to know how it happens and what consequences have come to vets who defy the “discouragement.”
Dr Cathy
May 17, 2016 at 9:22 pm
Laurie – I am not ignoring your excellent question. Instead, I’m gathering some examples to share. Stay tuned…
Judy
June 25, 2016 at 3:33 pm
I think Laurie has asked an excellent series of questions. As someone who is trying to discern science from emotion, critical thinking in the form of questions like these are a breath of fresh air.
I look forward to your response.
Deniese Ann
May 13, 2016 at 2:30 pm
Dr. Cathy, was that the case with you when you were in vet school? Did you learn more about pet nutrition on your own?
Dr Cathy
May 13, 2016 at 2:43 pm
I learned about how prescription diets could help different health conditions – during lunch and/or dinner seminars hosted by the pet food companies. We were taught nothing about ingredients for dogs and cats. We did learn nutrition, as an elective, for livestock and horses. Our education was on which foods caused which growth/performance gains, no training on the ill effects due to hazards in the food.
meadowr
October 26, 2017 at 8:23 pm
Must vary a lot. We had a full semester of nutrition, with biochemistry, physiology, emphasis on development as well as adult and geriatric care, for small and large animals, plus additional electives and research opportunities. And I can think of no instance where I was discouraged from interest and advising re nutrition. The school continues to provide educational opportunities regarding nutrition- in fact, their nutritionist spoke at the local veterinary meeting several times in recent memory, and the resident did a program for the dog training club recently (both on their own time, with no sponsorship)
guest
June 17, 2016 at 8:48 am
We go to lots of vet thru the years. Because there is always a problem. The vet sells a chemical treatment that does more harm than good. Finding a vet that actually cares about what is best for our pet and us, instead of just their profit, is next to impossible. We try finding holistic veterinarians, but many are very limited in knowledge and keep falling back on the chemical based medicine. Sometimes it seems I know more than the vet I am paying thousands of dollars too for bad results. I research the safe alternatives for everything which vets hate and even get angry that I refuse the expensive chemical prescription for a safer alternative that really works. I use nosodes now. Works for lyme tick disease or preventing lyme tick disease. There are nosodes for most all diseases for both humans and pets and they really work with great success. Nosodes work better and safer than vaccines. That and raw nutrition, raw eggs, cold raw salmon oil and some supplements. Dr Will Falconer at VitalAnimal.com has a lot of helpful holistic pet care tips. For cancer help, go to CancerTutor.com TheTruthAboutCancer.com EarthClinic.com and LongLivingPets.com Be a guarrdian for your pet and do your research and find natural safe alternatives to the chemicals the chemical based medicine vets will sell you. Research as there are numerous safer alternatives that really work but are kept quiet as they are not profitable like chemical based medicine, chemicals may mask symptoms temporarily, but the damage in the long run is not worth it for you or your pet.