Services

The Henry and Lois Foster Hospital for Small Animals is extremely fortunate to have two Board Certified Veterinary Nutritionists® on the faculty to help pet owners and their veterinarians incorporate nutrition into their pet’s wellness and treatment plans. The Clinical Nutrition Service has extensive experience in nutritional management of dogs and cats, from healthy animals to those with very complex health concerns. The nutritionists will work with you and your veterinarian to optimize your pet’s nutrition.

There are several ways for pet owners to utilize Tufts Clinical Nutrition Service:

Current Patients at our Hospitals

If your pet is currently hospitalized at or under the care of a veterinarian at one of the hospitals, ask them if a nutrition consult might benefit your pet.

To prepare for your appointment, please fill out the Request for Consultation (a requirement before making an appointment). If you have questions or need more information, please contact the Clinical Nutrition Service liaison.

All Other Patients

Starting in 2020, the Nutrition Service is prioritizing current patients of one of hospitals at Cummings Veterinary Medical Center and no longer offers remote consultations or nutrition appointments for non-Tufts patients, with the exception of pets with heart disease as their primary problem (see below). To help your pet get seen as soon as possible to address their nutrition needs, there is a directory of Board Certified Veterinary Nutritionist® at https://acvn.org/directory that allows you to search by location or by veterinary nutritionists who offer remote consultations with pet owners.

For Dogs and Cats with Heart Disease

If heart disease is your pet’s primary medical issue and you are willing to feed commercial diets (we have many tricks to tempt finicky pets with heart failure to eat), you can complete a Request for Consultation with Dr. Lisa Freeman.  A completed Request for Consultation does not guarantee a consultation but will provide Dr. Freeman with the information necessary to assess the best options for your pet.  Please note that we will require a separate consultation request form from one of your pet’s veterinarians.  We will also require records from both your primary care veterinarian and cardiologist.  We cannot schedule a consultation without this input from your veterinarians.

  • We also encourage you to visit our resources on heart disease on the HeartSmart website.

Referring Veterinarians

We do accept phone calls from veterinarians for brief nutrition questions, although for full consultations and home-cooked diet formulation, we recommend referring your client to the directory of Board Certified Veterinary Nutritionists® (https://acvn.org/directory) that allows you to search by location or by veterinary nutritionists who offer remote consultations with pet owners and referring veterinarians.

Nutrition Consultations

All consultations (in-person and by phone) require a Diet History Form to be filled out by the pet owner.

Our consultations start at $350-$365 and include recommendations for up to 3 commercial diets and treats (if desired) which will be selected to meet your pet’s medical conditions, nutritional needs, and preferences. Home-cooked diet formulations start at $580 including the consultation.

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