Nurse-Led: Nutrition and Prevention in Veterinary Practice https://nurse-led-nutrition-and-prevention-in-veterinary-practice.transistor.fm Transistor (https://transistor.fm) https://feeds.transistor.fm/nurse-led-nutrition-and-prevention-in-veterinary-practice Dog and cat nutrition and weight, and the hard problem of getting owners to change how they feed. Conversations cover why overweight dogs look normal in the park, diet histories, plans built with owners, and the veterinary nurse's role in preventive care. With Nicola Lakeman, a UK registered veterinary nurse since 1992 and principal editor of Aspinall's Complete Textbook of Veterinary Nursing. For vet and nursing students, practising vets and nurses, allied professionals, and owners wanting more than standard advice. © 2026 Aloudable Ltd 963810a1-c5de-5b3f-aada-3bb07957abe9 yes en Wed, 11 Nov 2026 07:07:07 +0000 Wed, 11 Nov 2026 07:08:16 +0000 https://img.transistorcdn.com/kanG_tuc6BsDdAmIaHTxnWNUtSKPbYO37-RW_ZgUVzM/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:1400/h:1400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS83MGMw/OWNmM2UyYjZlM2Yz/ZDk4YjBjNWU2ZTA3/YjNkMS5wbmc.jpg Nurse-Led: Nutrition and Prevention in Veterinary Practice https://nurse-led-nutrition-and-prevention-in-veterinary-practice.transistor.fm episodic Nicola Lakeman Dog and cat nutrition and weight, and the hard problem of getting owners to change how they feed. Conversations cover why overweight dogs look normal in the park, diet histories, plans built with owners, and the veterinary nurse's role in preventive care. With Nicola Lakeman, a UK registered veterinary nurse since 1992 and principal editor of Aspinall's Complete Textbook of Veterinary Nursing. For vet and nursing students, practising vets and nurses, allied professionals, and owners wanting more than standard advice. Dog and cat nutrition and weight, and the hard problem of getting owners to change how they feed. Aloudable No No Why nutrition gets left out of the vet consult 2 2 Why nutrition gets left out of the vet consult full d0958d87-d97e-408a-9882-b6622914cca6 https://nurse-led-nutrition-and-prevention-in-veterinary-practice.transistor.fm/episodes/why-nutrition-gets-left-out-of-the-vet-consult Nicola explains why weighing the animal, scoring body and muscle condition and asking what it eats should happen at every visit, done by whoever is seeing the animal, vet or nurse. She argues it is done more often than taking a temperature, yet gets skipped because of short appointments and fear of an emotional reaction from owners who want to talk about it. The question at the centre is what it takes for that check to happen every time, not only once weight is a problem.

You will come away knowing why Nicola recommends the nine-point body condition scale, why weighing the animal yourself opens the conversation, and why to ask which treats an owner uses rather than whether. She covers why changing a diet can take years, how referral to a shared nutrition nurse helps, and why older cats can lose weight up to two years before kidney failure shows in tests.

00:00 Intro
00:49 Easier to keep it off than take it off
03:24 Five points or nine
04:47 Why the conversation gets skipped
06:10 Put the animal on the scales yourself
08:58 Checked more often than a temperature
10:59 Ask which treats, not whether
12:40 Changing a diet works like the grief cycle
15:15 Passing the baton
17:29 The drift on the weight graph

]]> Nicola explains why weighing the animal, scoring body and muscle condition and asking what it eats should happen at every visit, done by whoever is seeing the animal, vet or nurse. She argues it is done more often than taking a temperature, yet gets skipped because of short appointments and fear of an emotional reaction from owners who want to talk about it. The question at the centre is what it takes for that check to happen every time, not only once weight is a problem.

You will come away knowing why Nicola recommends the nine-point body condition scale, why weighing the animal yourself opens the conversation, and why to ask which treats an owner uses rather than whether. She covers why changing a diet can take years, how referral to a shared nutrition nurse helps, and why older cats can lose weight up to two years before kidney failure shows in tests.

00:00 Intro
00:49 Easier to keep it off than take it off
03:24 Five points or nine
04:47 Why the conversation gets skipped
06:10 Put the animal on the scales yourself
08:58 Checked more often than a temperature
10:59 Ask which treats, not whether
12:40 Changing a diet works like the grief cycle
15:15 Passing the baton
17:29 The drift on the weight graph

]]> Wed, 11 Nov 2026 07:07:07 +0000 Nicola Lakeman Watch on YouTube Nicola Lakeman 1195 Nicola explains why weighing the animal, scoring body and muscle condition and asking what it eats should happen at every visit, done by whoever is seeing the animal, vet or nurse. She argues it is done more often than taking a temperature, yet gets skipped because of short appointments and fear of an emotional reaction from owners who want to talk about it. The question at the centre is what it takes for that check to happen every time, not only once weight is a problem.

You will come away knowing why Nicola recommends the nine-point body condition scale, why weighing the animal yourself opens the conversation, and why to ask which treats an owner uses rather than whether. She covers why changing a diet can take years, how referral to a shared nutrition nurse helps, and why older cats can lose weight up to two years before kidney failure shows in tests.

00:00 Intro
00:49 Easier to keep it off than take it off
03:24 Five points or nine
04:47 Why the conversation gets skipped
06:10 Put the animal on the scales yourself
08:58 Checked more often than a temperature
10:59 Ask which treats, not whether
12:40 Changing a diet works like the grief cycle
15:15 Passing the baton
17:29 The drift on the weight graph

]]> No Why the dog in the park makes overweight look normal 1 1 Why the dog in the park makes overweight look normal full a47a12c1-b9ee-401d-8965-0694aef5be63 https://nurse-led-nutrition-and-prevention-in-veterinary-practice.transistor.fm/episodes/why-the-dog-in-the-park-makes-overweight-look-normal Nicola explains why so many owners believe an overweight dog or cat is a healthy weight. When the dogs in the park have drifted heavier, overweight starts to look normal. Breed standards ignore individual body frames, and feeding is how owners show love. The question at the centre is how a nurse can change the way a pet is fed without the owner hearing it as criticism of that love.

You will come away with a hands-on way to let owners feel the ribs, waist and tail base under the fur. Nicola covers the four reward areas, with treats kept within 5 to 10% of daily calories, and the case for concordance over compliance. She also explains how team meetings, guidelines and checklists keep the whole practice consistent, how to take a fuller diet history, and how tape measurements and muscle scoring keep owners motivated when the scale won't move.

00:00 Intro
00:43 Why owners don't see the fat dog
03:02 Hands on: ribs, waist and tail base
04:08 Every change meets resistance
06:46 Other ways to show love
10:11 Scrap compliance, move to concordance
12:27 Singing from the same song sheet
15:49 What the diet history misses
20:39 When the scale won't move

]]> Nicola explains why so many owners believe an overweight dog or cat is a healthy weight. When the dogs in the park have drifted heavier, overweight starts to look normal. Breed standards ignore individual body frames, and feeding is how owners show love. The question at the centre is how a nurse can change the way a pet is fed without the owner hearing it as criticism of that love.

You will come away with a hands-on way to let owners feel the ribs, waist and tail base under the fur. Nicola covers the four reward areas, with treats kept within 5 to 10% of daily calories, and the case for concordance over compliance. She also explains how team meetings, guidelines and checklists keep the whole practice consistent, how to take a fuller diet history, and how tape measurements and muscle scoring keep owners motivated when the scale won't move.

00:00 Intro
00:43 Why owners don't see the fat dog
03:02 Hands on: ribs, waist and tail base
04:08 Every change meets resistance
06:46 Other ways to show love
10:11 Scrap compliance, move to concordance
12:27 Singing from the same song sheet
15:49 What the diet history misses
20:39 When the scale won't move

]]> Tue, 03 Nov 2026 12:20:42 +0000 Nicola Lakeman Watch on YouTube Nicola Lakeman 1424 Nicola explains why so many owners believe an overweight dog or cat is a healthy weight. When the dogs in the park have drifted heavier, overweight starts to look normal. Breed standards ignore individual body frames, and feeding is how owners show love. The question at the centre is how a nurse can change the way a pet is fed without the owner hearing it as criticism of that love.

You will come away with a hands-on way to let owners feel the ribs, waist and tail base under the fur. Nicola covers the four reward areas, with treats kept within 5 to 10% of daily calories, and the case for concordance over compliance. She also explains how team meetings, guidelines and checklists keep the whole practice consistent, how to take a fuller diet history, and how tape measurements and muscle scoring keep owners motivated when the scale won't move.

00:00 Intro
00:43 Why owners don't see the fat dog
03:02 Hands on: ribs, waist and tail base
04:08 Every change meets resistance
06:46 Other ways to show love
10:11 Scrap compliance, move to concordance
12:27 Singing from the same song sheet
15:49 What the diet history misses
20:39 When the scale won't move

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