Purina Vet Centre offers new tool and resources on hydration

Purina has announced that its Vet Centre website for veterinary professionals has been refreshed with new tools and features, including an online water calculator which works out the expected normal water intake for individual pets. Any member of the clinical veterinary team can email vettechline@purina.nestle.com and receive a resource bundle which includes access to webinars on hydration and a short video on how to use the water calculator within Vet Centre.

The water calculator has been developed by Purina to provide a useful resource, helping vets and nurses give guidance to pet owners on a pet’s recommended daily water intake, depending on lifestage, bodyweight and diet. Assessing water intake can be difficult for pet owners and appreciating what is ‘normal’ is key to identifying when intake is excessive, requiring further investigation, or inadequate, requiring alternative hydration strategies.

Libby Sheridan, Scientific Affairs Manager at Purina says hydration is an especially important consideration and one that pet owners find difficult to assess, “All too often a pet has been suffering polydipsia for some time when they are presented at the clinic. That may be because water intake isn’t being measured or observed, but often there is a confusion with knowing what is normal for the individual pet. Cats, particularly when they are older may struggle to meet their water needs and this tool can be helpful in assessing their intake suggests some strategies for improving hydration.”

Also new to Vet Centre is a feeding calculator which gives a recommendation on how much to feed across all Purina Pro Plan lifestage and Veterinary Diets. A QR code on all packaging links to the calculator to help pet owners to feed correctly and veterinary professionals will also be able to create personalised feeding guides for their clients.

Further tools, free CPD and clinical resources will be launching on Vet Centre throughout 2024 and it is suitable for the whole practice team. To register, visit https://vetcentre.purina.co.uk/user/register . Registration tokens are available from Purina Veterinary Nutrition Partners.