A truly global team!
The GNC team brings together veterinary professionals from around the world with a shared passion to educate veterinary healthcare team members and pet owners on the role and importance of nutrition as the fifth vital assessment in any patient consult.
Co-Chair
Dr Marge Chandler
An ACVIM and ACVN specialty boarded American based in Ediburgh, Scotland, Marge lectures gobally in small animal nutrition and internal medicine. She also provides consultations in nutrition and runs a nutrition referral practice.
Marge’s top tip: All pets should be on a complete and balanced diet made by a reputable company (see the WSAVA.org GNC toolkit for advice on recommending pet food companies). Don’t fall for the marketing of fad-based diets.
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Co-Chair
Dr Gregg Takashima
Gregg is a companion animal practitioner and founder of the Parkway Veterinary Hospital in Oregon and CEO of the Animal Care Group of Lake Oswego. He speaks around the world on standards of care, companion animal nutrition, animal welfare, team wellness, the human-animal Bond and One Health.
Gregg’s top tip: As a practitioner, I have seen nutrition to be a factor in everything from infectious disease and immune problems to orthopedics and neoplasia. Include nutritional assessments for your patients for optimum pet health!
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Ben Teng
Beng Teng
Beng Teng
Ben graduated from the Department of Veterinary Medicine of National Chung Hsing University, Taiwan, in 1995 and has worked as a clinical practitioner for 20+ years. He is an enthusiastic teacher and has lectured widely on feline medicine and small animal nutrition throughout China, Thailand, Malaysia and around the world.
Ben’s top tip:
I urge EVERY practitioner to undertake EVERY furry client’s nutrition assessment correctly or you may miss their vital signs and not create the right medical plan for them.
Cecilia Villaverde
Cecilia Villaverde
Cecilia Villaverde
Cecilia is a Small Animal Clinical Nutrition consultant for the Veterinary Information Network (VIN) and Associate Professor at the Departament de Ciencia Animal i dels Aliments at the University of Barcelona in Spain. She lectures around the world and is active in helping to develop new tools to help veterinarians, veterinary nurses and vet techs to provide reliable information to clients and to develop the best feeding plans for their patients.
Cecilia’s top tip:
Maintaining a healthy weight with an ideal body condition score, is one of the most important ways to improve quality of life and longevity for our patients. Use the Body Condition charts on the WSAVA website to perform this assessment and teach your clients to do it at home to help them adjust thir pet’s daily food allowance.
Rachel Lumbis
Rachel Lumbis
Rachel Lumbis
Rachel developed her interest in small animal nutrition while working as a veterinary nurse. She now works at the Royal Veterinary College in London, UK, where she is Course Director for the Foundation Science and BSc in Veterinary Nursing. Her nursing skills complement the GNC team and she has recently led a GNC research project to assess the impact of its work in promoting nutrition as the 5th vital assessment.
Rachel’s top tip:
Don’t forget the basics. Asking about a pet’s normal feeding regime and dietary preferences as part of your initial nutritional screening evaluation, together with accurate record keeping, can help to improve successful provision of nutritional support.
Members
Dr Ping-Chih (Ben) Teng – Taipei
Rachel Lumbis – UK
Dr Adriana Quintana Lopez – Uruguay
Dr Minna Rinkinen – Finland
Dr Martin de Scally – South Africa
Dr Cecilia Villaverde – Spain
Dr Lisa Weeth – USA