Image Credit: © Jiri Hera - stock.adobe.com

Martha Cline, DVM, DACVIM (Nutrition), is a board-certified veterinary nutritionist and senior manager of veterinary technical communications at Purina who still provides clinical support in practice. In a 

 interview, she answers practical, clinic-facing questions about why nutrition assessment matters at diagnosis and how that perspective changes diet selection for diabetic dogs and cats.

Editor’s note: This Q&A was drafted from an audio interview. The responses from Cline have been lightly edited for clarity and flow in a written format.

: How does your nutrition background frame your perspective when treating a diabetic dog or cat?

 Nutrition assessment is going to be really essential in a newly diagnosed diabetic dog and cat. It's not just managing them medically—we also want to try to manage their dietary plan. We have to remember that nutrition assessment is not just about the diet; it's also about feeding management and assessing the patient. When we have all of those things considered together, we can make good nutrition recommendations. Especially for newly diagnosed diabetics, because we know nutrition can really help in management, it’s important to do that assessment and then make recommendations for that pet and the pet owner.

: When you’re choosing a therapeutic diet, what clinical factors drive your decision?

 First, make sure you have a complete nutrition assessment before making a diet recommendation. Focus on the animal and any comorbidities they may have, because those conditions can change what diet is appropriate. Also, take into account feeding management. Diabetes management changes daily life for the owner, so understand the household environment and what the owner can realistically do. For example, in a multipet or multicat household where you’re making specific recommendations for 1 animal, plan how to implement that recommendation so it’s manageable from a feeding-environment standpoint.

: Any species-specific expectations to set [cats vs dogs]?

 In cats, some newly diagnosed diabetics may have the opportunity to go into remission. That outcome is linked to diet changes, plus overall disease and environment management. Not all cats will go into remission, but some can, and diet plays a role. In dogs, remission isn’t expected, but diet and body weight management can make controlling the disease easier. Diet won’t "cure" diabetes in dogs, but it can help manage the disease process.

: What should clinicians document and communicate as part of the nutrition assessment?

 Document the diet currently fed, amount and frequency, treats and snacks, how meals are offered, and the household feeding environment [multipet issues, feeding access, who feeds]. Note any comorbidities, appetite changes, body condition score, and recent weight trends. Then provide a tailored feeding plan: food choice, exact portions [calculated], frequency, guidance on treats, and what to do if the pet won’t eat a meal.

: Is there a single takeaway you want veterinarians to remember?

 Take the time to give a specific feeding recommendation. That includes the food, feeding amounts, and frequency—and don’t forget treats. Being specific increases [adherence] and helps owners feel less overwhelmed.

Clinics interested in Purina’s diabetes kit (sample therapeutic bags plus practice resources) can enroll at 

Articles

A full nutrition assessment should direct therapeutic diet selection for dogs and cats with newly diagnosed diabetes.

Use nutrition assessment to guide diabetes care in dogs and cats

Dion Small, BSc, LVT, discusses one of the biggest challenges for veterinary technicians in a dvm360 interview.

Caring with an emotional cost

Dion Small, BSc, LVT, director of cardiology, primary care, internal medicine, and special care unit at The Schwarzman Animal Medical Center in New York, New York, addresses one of the biggest challenges for veterinary technicians in this 

 interview. In this video, Small discusses how veterinary technicians can become overwhelmed with the “emotional cost” of caring for patients with conditions that are not expected to improve. Technicians are also managing the mental and emotional well-being of clients with pets facing euthanasia, Small said.

Addressing challenges for veterinary technicians 

The following is a transcript of the video:

What are challenges that veterinary technicians often face on the job?

 I think for a lot of people, because we're so invested in patient care, it's really hard managing a patient that is really ill, especially if you know that sometimes pet parents aren't...emotionally prepared for euthanasia, so they want to hold on as long as they can. The technicians have to be the ones nursing the patients...which they do a phenomenal job at, but it's also, for some people, at an emotional cost. I think that is one of the biggest challenges: We're so caring about the patients.

 page for the latest content highlighting the roles and stories of these veterinary professionals.

Videos

Happy Monday, dvm360 readers! We hope that you had a great weekend and are ready to tackle another work week. As we continue to inch closer to the end of the year, we are also getting closer to our final Fetch conference of the year, Fetch Long Beach! Join us and our amazing Fetch faculty for 2 days of learning, networking, and fun! Check out the agenda, events happening at the show, and register 

In the meantime, here is what you can find this week on dvm360.com:

Zoetis recently announced the launch of its Vanguard Recombishield (

), a new injectable vaccine to protect against 

Gallant achieved the FDA’s Technical Section Complete for Target Animal Safety, a crucial requirement for the FDA drug approval process, putting them one step closer to becoming the first FDA-approved, ready-to-use stem cell therapy within veterinary medicine.

Once again this week, we are giving our Vet Blast Podcast episodes this week. To kick off the double feature, Brian Hare, MA, PhD, joins host Adam Christman, DVM, MBA, to talk all about the mindset of puppies. Then, Heidi Lobprise, DVM, DAVDC, will be featured Thursday on the show to talk all about hyaluronic acid in periodontal therapy.

Our most recent installment of dvm360’s Clinic Center will be available later this week! Check back in on dvm360.com to see all that is happening within the world of veterinary practice openings and expansions across the US.

In an interview with dvm360, Monica Tarantino, DVM, MBA, explains more about subtle behavior and physical signs that can present in a geriatric canine patient who is suffering from chronic pain.

Here is a sneak peek at this week’s headlines.

Sneak peek: Zoetis launches Vanguard Recombishield to the market, and other news

Happy Friday dvm360 readers! We hope that you have a fantastic first full week of November, and are looking forward to the holiday season ahead. Be sure to check out dvm360 throughout the season as we will be providing our readers with content for holiday safety, thankful veterinary professionals, and more.

 conference, we have a brand new continuing education opportunity, Fetch Encore? For only $25, you can attend the first Fetch Encore sessions, all focusing on feline medicine! In collaboration with FelineVMA, the 6 sessions feature critical topics presented by some of the biggest names in feline veterinary medicine, so you don’t want to miss this opportunity. You can learn more and register 

Once you are finished registering for Fetch Encore, you can catch up on this week’s top stories on dvm360.com:

 that its cefovecine sodium product (Solovecin; Dechra) is now available through all major distributors. The generic, long acting injectable antibiotic is used to treat canine and feline patients with skin infections.

 is now available on dvm360.com! Join our host Christopher Lee, DVM, MPH, DACVPM, as he has a very honest and open conversation about end of life care in the clinic with guest Coleen Ellis, CT, CPLP, in recognition of Senior Pet Awareness Month.

dvm360’s Vet Blast Podcast had not 1, but 2 episodes drop this week! To kick off the week, host Adam Christman, DVM, MBA, welcomed Rachel Venable, DVM, MS, DACVIM(Oncology) to talk about 

 that could be happening in your practice. Then, Christman shifts from the host seat to the guest seat as Matt Bubuala steps in to have a conversation with Christman surrounding a 

 earlier this week that it launched a new wireless monitoring system, O’Pet Curv, to help veterinary professionals track the vital signs of multiple patients in real time, and was designed to be used in preoperative, postoperative, and intensive care unit settings.

November, along with other awareness months, is Feline Diabetes Month. In recognition of the month, check out this 

 written by Ellen Carozza, LVT, VTS (CP-Feline), on the role the entire veterinary team plays in treating feline diabetes mellitus patients, and advancements in treatment.

Wrap up: New cefovecin sodium injection is available in the US.

Few cancer cases and limited access to education on oncology therapy can make it challenging for the average veterinary general practitioner to stay up to date on cancer care and therapy. However, as Ann E. Hohenhaus, DVM, DACVIM (Oncology, SAIM), director of Pet Health Information at the Schwarzman Animal Medical Center in New York, New York, shared during a session at the 2025 New York Vet Show, a 2023 study found that pet owners of dogs with cancer prefer their primary care veterinarian to collaborate with their veterinary oncologist.

 Such collaboration fosters client satisfaction and leads to positive perceptions of the veterinary service provided to the client’s pet.

 As such, Hohenhaus’ session focused on several oncology resources and tools that veterinarians can use in their practice.

Resources from the WSAVA Oncology Committee

Through the World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA), the WSAVA Oncology Group, known now as the Oncology Committee (WOC), was founded in 2021 to help the global veterinary community access education and gain awareness of effective and accessible treatments for pets with cancer.

The group has since published several free online resources in multiple languages.

One of the resources developed by the Oncology Committee is an Oncology Glossary, which contains definitions for more than 30 oncology terms commonly used by veterinary oncologists. The glossary can be useful to both pet owners and veterinary professionals, as it can help general practitioners better communicate complex information about cancer with the client. The glossary is WOC’s most widely translated resource and is available in 16 languages, Hohenhaus, who currently chairs WOC, noted in a session handout sheet.

WOC’s Cancer Surgery Checklist is the group’s latest resource. Modeled on the World Health Organization’s surgical checklist, the WOC Cancer Surgery Checklist aims to reduce errors and adverse events while improving teamwork and communication in the operating room. The checklist guides veterinary teams through 4 time periods in the surgery process, including before anesthesia, before moving the patient to the operating room, before skin incision, and before the patient leaves the operating room. According to Hohenhaus, surgical checklists reflect a growing trend and can be modified for use in any surgical procedure.

These fact sheets, which come in 2 versions—one for pet owners and one for veterinary professionals—focus on a singular type of cancer each. The veterinary professional version contains a concise summary of the treatment options for that type of cancer, while the pet owner version provides information to help clients understand their pet’s cancer diagnosis. Both forms can be printed out, and the pet owner sheet can be used as a handout. Together, the series currently addresses 8 different types of common tumors, including melanoma, soft tissue sarcomas, and insulinoma. In addition to English, some of the sheets are also available in Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, and Ukrainian.

WOC also has an Instagram account, WOWCancerInsights, where members of WOC take pictures of tumors that they see in their clinic, post a biopsy or cytology, and quiz their followers on what type of tumor they think that case is. “You can keep up with [the account] and learn something from these [Instagram quizzes],” Hohenhaus told her audience.

“One of the other things that the Oncology Committee did when it first formed was try to create a library of oncology articles aimed at the general practitioner,” Hohenhaus said.

 Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association

, WOC compiled 3 online oncology issues. Each journal article selected to be included contains a short summary of the article explaining its significance to the general practitioner. It “is not an abstract, but a summary,” Hohenhaus emphasized.

“You can go to the webpage of the journal, search ‘Oncology Issue,’ and these virtual issues will come up. You can read our summaries and then decide if you really want to read the whole article,” she continued, adding that the page will contain a link to the article at the bottom, which can be downloaded.

also contains articles that may be available in other languages if the article’s author is a native speaker of another language. “This is just a nice resource if you prefer to read in [another language], or you have a client that wants one of these articles in [another language],” Hohenhaus noted. The articles are available on the 

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center’s About Herbs

Pet owners of pets with cancer may come to veterinarians with questions about the use of vitamins and herbal supplements. To help practitioners and clients navigate these products, the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York developed a free mobile app, About Herbs, which contains comprehensive evidence-based information on herbal and dietary supplements. According to Hohenhaus, the app is designed for both veterinary professionals and the public.

“This resource is hugely comprehensive. [It’s] all in alphabetical order. It's very easy to search, and it's free,” said Hohenhaus. “So, when a client comes to you with 12 bottles of things they bought at the health food store, you can either assign them to look [this resource] up, or you can look it up yourself and say, ‘Yes, no, don't give that kind of thing because if the pet is actively [receiving] cancer therapy, we don't want [the supplement] to interfere with it.'”

For clients with questions following a pet’s diagnosis, the Veterinary Cancer Society website has a series of answers to frequently asked questions. Meanwhile, veterinarians seeking guidance on surgical oncology can access the Veterinary Society of Surgical Oncology website, which has information on canine and feline tumors, classified by tumor type and location.

The American College of Veterinary Surgery also has an online library covering a range of animal health topics, including cancer. In addition, the free digital textbook, 

The Cutting Edge: Basic Veterinary Surgery Techniques

, now in its third edition, has an entire chapter dedicated to surgical oncology. Lastly, when it comes to radiation oncology, professionals can find a list of facilities with radiation therapy technology across the world on the Veterinary Cancer Society website.

Hohenhaus A. Oncology tools you can use in your practice. Presented at: New York Vet Show; November 6-7, 2025. New York, NY.

Morello SL, Maxwell EA, Ness K, Minsel T, Shiu KB. Client perceptions improve with collaborative care when managing dogs with cancer: a Collaborative Care Coalition study. 

In a session at the New York Vet Show, Ann E. Hohenhaus, DVM, DACVIM (Oncology, SAIM), offered a comprehensive list of resources useful to veterinarians with oncology patients. 

Oncology resources for the general practitioner

The University of Cambridge’s Queen’s Veterinary School Hospital (QVSH) is currently the only place in the United Kingdom to perform a new treatment that is helping dogs with severe intervertebral disc disease (IVDD). According to QVSH, these patients are now being treated with a new enzyme injection, which is a less-invasive, safe, and "significantly more affordable" alternative to the spinal surgery usually needed for suitable cases.

This new treatment, called percutaneous intradiscal chondroitinase injection, works by delivering an enzyme directly into the damaged intervertebral discs, which then dissolves the central part of the spinal disc. When the central part of the disc is dissolved, it can potentially provide patients with relief from the pressure on the spinal cord without open surgery. As of earlier this year, QVSH has successfully treated 24 dogs, with all of them regaining their mobility within days of the injection.

“This is not a miracle cure, but it is an exciting new option for some dogs with severe spinal cord injury caused by a herniated disc. The injections are much less invasive than surgery and can offer similar outcomes for the right patients. Our aim is to give owners more choice, particularly where surgery may be difficult, and ultimately to help more dogs get back on their feet,” said Paul Freeman, MA, VetMB, CertSAO, DipECVN, MRCVS, codeveloper of the treatment.

This treatment was also created in collaboration with Texas A&M University in the United States. This procedure is now recognized by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons as a routine practice, allowing it to be offered outside of the original trial conditions. Along with this recognition, QVSH will continue to accept eligible dogs into the ongoing clinical trial.

The treatment and study in the United Kingdom are made possible due to funding and support from dachshund welfare charities, including Dachshund Health UK and Dachshund Rescue UK.

“We’re so proud to have played a part in supporting the ongoing IVDD research at Cambridge. IVDD impacts so many dogs and the families who care deeply for them, and progress like this wouldn’t be possible without collaboration. It’s wonderful to see a nonsurgical, affordable solution emerging, especially when so many dogs are sadly euthanized because their owners can’t afford surgery,” Lynn Hall, chair of Dachshund Rescues, said in the release.

Between January 2023 and June 2024, phase 1 of the clinical trial took place with dogs presented to 2 university neurology clinics. The dogs presented with acute onset nonambulatory paraparesis or paraplegia occurring within 48 hours before presentation. Each animal weighed less than 15 kg (approximately 33 lb), was between the ages of 2 and 10 years old, and their owners could not afford decompressive surgery.

 Each dog received 1.25 U of chondroitinase ABC into each of 4 consecutive intervertebral discs in the clinically identified lesion location under fluoroscopic guidance.

 The recovery of the patients was then defined as their ability to walk 50 steps without assistance by 4 months post injection.

Of the participating dogs, with 4 being lost to insufficient follow-up, 38 of 40 dogs with intact pain sensation in their hindquarters recovered by a median of 11 days after they received the injection, and 4 of 10 without pain sensation recovered.

 The researchers also noted that no adverse effects related to the injection procedure were detected.

Researchers concluded the study by stating that although uncertainty remains regarding the effectiveness of this treatment due to the small sample size, a similar proportion and time to recover were noted when compared with decompressive surgery. It was also stated in the research that randomized controlled trials are required to assess the effectiveness vs decompressive surgery.

New treatment for severe spinal cord injury in small dogs achieves exceptional success rate. News release. University of Cambridge. November 7, 2025. Accessed November 7, 2025. 

https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/new-treatment-for-severe-spinal-cord-injury-in-small-dogs-achieves-exceptional-success-rate

Freeman P, Atiee G, Donoghue EM, Jeffery ND. Percutaneous enzymatic chemonucleolysis of intervertebral disks appears safe and effective in treatment of acute-onset paraparesis and paraplegia in small dogs. 

. 2025;263(6):1-7. doi:10.2460/javma.24.12.0790

The new minimally invasive treatment for intervertebral disc disease (IVDD) is currently only available in the United Kingdom at the University of Cambridge’s Queen’s Veterinary School Hospital.