How to find a good pet nutritionist?

People take more and more care of their cats and, especially, of their diet. For this reason, nutrition services have become very trendy and it can be challenging for pet parents to find a qualified professional. In this article, I will tell you what to look for and the red flags when looking for a pet nutritionist to formulate a homemade diet for your pets.

Disclaimer: I am myself a feline nutritionist. This is my advice if you are looking to hire a colleague. You can find my services here.

Who can be a nutritionist?

In many countries such as the USA, France, some provinces of Canada, and Australia, the title “nutritionist” is not protected, meaning that anyone can use it without any specific qualification. That’s why it is important to be careful when you are looking for a professional.

However, in the veterinary practice around the world, there are two protected titles: “Board Certified Veterinary Nutritionist ®” and “EBVS® European Specialist in Veterinary and Comparative Nutrition”. These veterinarians are board-certified by either the American College of Veterinary Nutrition (ACVN) or the European College of Veterinary Comparative Nutrition (ECVCN). These vets have undergone several years of training, residency programs, and the certifying examination for the boards. Here you can find a directory of board-certified veterinarians, as they are to be trusted. Nevertheless, they may not be formulating homemade diets for pets as not all veterinarians propose this service.

Other veterinary health professionals, such as veterinary nurses or non-board certified veterinarians, may exercise as nutritionists. In that case, you will need to be a bit more cautious and check if they did any additional training in nutrition. In fact, while their qualifications assure you that they are a professional with rigorous science-based training, it doesn’t mean that they did any extensive training in nutrition.

If a person has a Ph.D. (Doctor of Philosophy), MSc (Master of Science), or BSc (Bachelor of Science) in animal nutrition, it assures that they have an internationally recognized degree in animal science and are qualified in animal nutrition.

Finally, we have some people that don’t have a degree but some certifications or they have learned nutrition by themselves as autodidacts. That’s the case in which you will need to be the most careful as you don’t have any insurance that the person has a scientific background.
The rest of the article will focus on this case with a list of checks that help you assess the seriousness of a nutritionist.

Certifications and education

When choosing a nutritionist for your pet, the first step is to check if the certifications mentioned by the professional are meaningful or if it was just done so that the person can use the term “certified”.

Check which organism delivered the course and certification: a university will be more reliable than a private organism. Look for information about the course they undertook and here are a few questions that will help you to verify the seriousness: can it be done in a few hours or is it several months long? Does the course cover diet formulations or is it only an introduction to nutrition? Can you get Continuous Education credits or university credits when you undertake this course? How are the teachers, are they qualified? Is there an evaluation or does anyone who pays for the course automatically get the certificate?
As I already mentioned in the article about the Dogs Naturally Magazine certification, not all courses or certifications are reliable nor do they qualify someone to formulate a diet.
If the person does not even mention from which organism is their certificate or won’t give you information about it, I would consider it a red flag. This is true also if the person just uses obscure acronyms such as cert. RGHND… (I’m making this up, but you get the idea). A serious person should be happy to answer any of your questions about their qualifications and experiences.
Finally, being a moderator or an admin of a Facebook group isn't proof of education, no matter the size of the group.

Formulations

Regarding the formulation service that a nutritionist delivers, here are a few things you need to check. As the goal of a nutritionist should be to provide a balanced diet, they should mention which standard they use as a reference (NRC, AAFCO, FEDIAF) and they should be able to provide you with a full nutritional analysis of the recipe.

Keep in mind that making a recipe solely using ratio percentages such as BARF, PMR, or 80/10/10 is not balanced and complete, and it is something that shouldn’t be done by a proper nutritionist. They should also be able to explain the choice they made in the recipe and the purpose of each ingredient. If they are able to explain it in a comprehensible way that’s some extra points.

It can be interesting if they give examples of the diet they formulate or the ingredients they typically use so that you aren’t surprised. In fact, each nutritionist has their “bias” and will use different ingredients depending on their preferences. It’s important to know their philosophy so the recipe you order will match your expectations.

Pay also attention to the package you might be buying: does it include a follow-up so you can ask questions and get modifications or are you just buying a recipe and if you have any doubts you’ll need to pay more? Offering stand-alone recipes with no follow-up isn’t wrong per se, but be aware of what you’re paying for.

Knowledge of nutrition science

While you can’t expect every single nutritionist to also be an active content creator, it is surely reassuring if they display their knowledge in nutrition on their social media or personal website. If they write articles and use scientific sources such as studies, that’s a good sign.

Red Flags

Finally, I’m going to present some things that I consider as red flags and that you should be careful about.
Concerning the way a nutritionist market their services, do they make extraordinary claims like that their recipe will cure cancer or any other diseases, or that they are the best in the world?
Another untrustworthy marketing technique is using fear-based marketing, like telling you that if your pet doesn't eat their recipe they will be sick or die, or shaming you for not giving your pet a homemade diet.

I would also be careful if they shame the veterinary profession: while most veterinarians don’t have an in-depth knowledge of nutrition, that’s not a reason to shame their entire profession, especially when they are the ones that have the knowledge to keep our pets healthy! Similarly, I would stay away from someone that engage in the illicit exercise of veterinary medicine, for example if they diagnose a disease or prescribe drugs.

A final red flag would be if they try to inflate their qualifications, for example using the appellation MSc or BSc while their degree is totally unrelated to nutrition.

I hope this will be helpful if you are looking to hire a pet nutritionist and keep in mind that this advice list is not exhaustive! Make sure that the person you look to hire is transparent, open to answering your questions, and that they display their knowledge of the science of nutrition.
I also recommend reading this article by Hannah Ra: you will find some other great advice on the subject.
Finally, in this article from the Canine Health Nut you will find information on different animal nutrition courses & certificates.

Sources

WSAVA - The Savvy Cat Owner’s Guide to Nutrition on the Internet