This article is sponsored content brought to you by Royal Canin.
Nutrition is fundamental to patient health, yet it is often overlooked in veterinary education and ongoing professional development. “You cannot be healthy and have a poor diet,” says Dr Nick Cave, a board-certified veterinary nutritionist and advisor to WSAVA’s Global Nutrition Committee. “You can be unhealthy and have an excellent diet, but a good diet is the foundation of health.”
To address the education gap, Dr Cave (pictured right) partnered with the Royal Canin Academy to create a Certificate in Advanced Small Animal Nutrition. This free, evidence-based online course is hosted on the Royal Canin Academy platform and aims to give veterinarians and vet nurses the knowledge and confidence to make sound nutritional recommendations.
Dr Bronwen Slack, Chief Health Officer at Royal Canin ANZ, says the knowledge gap in clinical nutrition is broader than many realise.
“As a vet, I received very little training in small animal nutrition, especially clinical nutrition,” she explains. “That’s why Royal Canin felt it was vital to develop a science-led, product-agnostic course taught by a board-certified veterinary nutritionist.”
Dr Cave, with a background in clinical practice, academia, and research, was the ideal choice to develop the course. He earned a Master’s in Veterinary Science from Massey University and a PhD in nutrition and immunology from the University of California, Davis. In 2004, he became a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Nutritionists (ACVN). After many years as a senior lecturer and researcher at Massey University, he moved into private practice and consulting in 2023.
His goal for the course is to help clinicians better navigate the complexity of nutritional options, especially when managing disease. “For healthy animals, nutrition isn’t complicated,” says Dr Cave. “But with complex or multiple diseases, it’s unrealistic to expect commercial diets to meet every individual need. Clinicians must be equipped to make tailored decisions.”
The course begins with two foundational modules, with future topics planned on areas such as raw and plant-based diets, obesity, gastrointestinal disease, chronic kidney disease, and inpatient feeding. Dr Cave aims to eventually cover around 13 topics in total.
“These initial modules are designed to be timeless and grounded in science,” says Dr Slack. “We’re investing heavily in making them engaging and gamified, so they remain a valuable resource for years to come.”
The course is delivered through the newly launched Royal Canin Academy. “The new platform is user-friendly and allows us to house all of our education in one place,” Dr Slack explains. “That includes this certificate and other offerings like our Pet Nutrition Advisor program for vet nurses, with more content on the way.”
By filling a longstanding educational gap, the Royal Canin Certificate in Advanced Small Animal Nutrition is helping clinicians integrate nutrition into treatment plans and improve patient outcomes—one evidence-based recommendation at a time.
Available now! Visit Royal Canin Academy and search Certificate in Advanced Small Animal Nutrition to enrol.
