Vet 200 Small Animal Nutrition

 Course Syllabus & Class Schedule

 

 

Number/Title:        Vet 200, Small Animal Nutrition

 

Instructor:    Dr. Geneva Keene Acor                                     Mary M. Hatfield

Email: VT_nutrition@hillspet.com                        (Classroom Facilitator)

Telephone (785) 368-5779                                Office phone 423-869-6278

                   Hill’s Pet Nutrition, Inc.

                   P.O. Box 148

                   Topeka, KS 66601

 

Class Meeting: Monday 5:00 – 7:00 PM, Central Standard Time (EST)

                            

Textbook: Pocket Companion to Small Animal Clinical Nutrition,

4th Edition, Hand & Novotny

 

Prerequisite, co-requisite: Determined by the school.

 

Credit Hours: 3 credit hour.

 

Attendance:  The attendance policy of the school is applied to this course. The class facilitator will discuss the attendance requirements. The following is recommended as a general attendance policy.

 

Students are expected to attend all scheduled classes.  Make up tests or work will be allowed for excused absences only.  There is no make up for laboratories. Unexcused absences will result in a zero grade for that missed test or work.  An excused absence is illness or accident requiring a doctor’s care (a receipt or note will be required), or the death of an immediate family member.  The instructor may recommend administrative withdrawal of a student with absences in excess of 15% of scheduled class meetings.

 

Students are required to wear the Veterinary Technology Program uniform, nametag, safe footwear, and restrict jewelry to a watch, wedding or plain finger rings, and ear studs. No dangling jewelry will be permitted for safety reasons. Students are also required to maintain hair and nails at a length that provides for safety of the student and allows maintenance of sterility in classroom procedures. Students that do not conform to the required safety procedures will be considered absent for that class.

 

Students are requested to notify the instructor in writing of an anticipated absence when possible. With prior approval, the instructor may excuse absences for certain school activities and community service.

 

The student should refer to the student handbook for dates for dropping a class with a refund, last day to withdraw from a class with a grade of “W” and scheduled holidays. The Syllabus and Class Schedule are guidelines for Small Animal Nutrition, but are subject to change as needed.


 

Course Description: An introductory course for students accepted in the veterinary technology program providing identification and function of nutrients, understanding pet food labels, and applications for wellness, life stage, and therapeutic nutrition (prescription foods) for dogs and cats. The course will be an Internet based web seminar with simultaneous visual and audio presentation in the classroom.

 

Course Objectives: The course provides information required to evaluate nutrient needs for the dog and cat during life stages. The course introduces basic nutrition information related to the dog and cat and prepares the student to calculate energy needs, convert to amount of food and cost of feeding. The course will include practical application of the role of the technician in interacting with pet owners to enhance understanding of the veterinarian’s recommendations for wellness and principles of management of nutrients as an aid to in specific conditions.

 

Grading: Grades will be based on self-assessment quizzes, midterm and final exams and on the Student Project, Laboratory Exercises, and attendance and participation in the class discussion boards. The point distribution is as follows:

 

 

Points

Quizzes (10)

100

Midterm

100

Student Project

    50

Laboratory Exercises (2)

20

Final

200

Attendance

10

Discussion Boards

20

Total

500

 

A letter grade will be assigned consistent with the college policy manual.

 

Course Competencies: At the completion of the course the student will have competence in the following:

 

1.      List the six common nutrients.

2.      Calculate the energy needs for the dog and cat.

3.      Identify the major minerals and vitamins and the physiologic role.

4.      Identify health consequences of nutrient deficiency and excess.

5.      Explain the standard nutrient profile and the role of AAFCO.

6.      Discuss pet food label information and regulation.

7.      Calculate the cost of feeding for common canned and dry pet foods.

8.      Explain the differences in nutrient profile for growth, adult, senior, obesity prone, active, and reproduction and lactation.

9.      Understand the physiologic and pathologic basis for recommendation of therapeutic pet foods in allergic, cardiovascular, cancer, skeletal, gastrointestinal, digestive, renal, urolithiasis, and acute and critical care conditions.

10.  Demonstrate the role of the veterinary technician in client education and counseling for nutrition recommendations in the small animal practice.

.


 

Class Requirements:

 

Reading Assignments: The student is responsible for information in the recommended reading in the Pocket Companion to Small Animal Clinical Nutrition, 4th Edition and any information provided in brochures and class handouts.

 

Student Project: Using the principles of nutrition learned in class and the recommended reading, the student will prepare a patient assessment and nutrition recommendation for a dog or cat that the student owns or can access easily. The patient assessment will be recorded on a representative patient record form and will include the patient description, current weight, target or desired weight, body condition score, current pet food and treats both brand and amount, RER & DER, calculation of volume of current food based on DER, recommendation for feeding, and other general recommendations such as weight monitoring.

 

Quizzes: The student is encouraged to complete the self-assessment quizzes each week, but no later than two weeks prior to the end of the semester. Quizzes are available on Blackboard and are completed by the student on their own.

 

Written Tests: There will be a midterm and a final examination consisting of multiple-choice questions.

 

Discussion Boards: The student is responsible for reading the discussion boards on a weekly basis. Four postings are required of each student: two in the first half of the semester (prior to the midterm) and two in the second half of the semester (no later than one week prior to the final).

 

Class Schedule: The Class Schedule is a guideline for Small Animal Nutrition, but is subject to change as needed.  The meeting time is Wednesday, 4:00 – 6:00 PM CST.

 

Laboratory Exercises: Application of class material is provided in two laboratories: Life Stage Feeding Laboratory and Therapeutic Laboratory. The laboratories will require some advance set-up. Answer sheets for the laboratories will be provided and are required to be turned in for credit. 

 

Participating Colleges and Class Facilitators:

 

Alfred State College            Johnson College                 Lincoln Memorial University

Tracy Cochran, CVT            Patty O’Rourke, CVT           Mary Hatfield, LVMT

 

Manor College                    North Dakota State University

Liz Brass, CVT                    Eloyes Hill, CVT

 

Technology:

 

Lecture & Laboratory Classes: Sessions are provided on a weekly schedule consistent with the school calendar. The sessions are a combination of PowerPoint slides on PlaceWareÒ and audio through the telephone. The sessions are live and not recorded so attendance is important. A laminated card with instructions on connecting to the Internet classroom is provided to each school. Students as well as the Classroom Facilitator should be capable of connecting to the PlaceWareÒ lecture.


 

The telephone directions for the audio connection are also provided on the laminated card and on the PlaceWareÒ screen in the upper left corner when you are connected to the Internet classroom. As with a traditional class, you are encouraged to ask questions and participate in activities. Everyone in the course including other schools can hear you, so be courteous and mute the telephone when not in use.

 

Blackboard Supplement: Supplemental materials are available on the class BlackboardÒ site. Resources include duplicates such as the syllabus and class schedules, lecture slides, and calculation worksheets. Participation in the BlackboardÒ site is required for grades on the self-assessment quizzes and discussion board posting. Students are encouraged to use the information provided on the site. There is no special software or connection and the site is available to the student from any computer with an Internet connection at any time. The Classroom Facilitator will provide the individual student ID and logon for access to the BlackboardÒ site at hills.blackboard.com. Note that there is no www. for this URL.

 

Please note that resources in this course are ã2004 Hill’s Pet Nutrition, Inc. All rights reserved. Use of the slides by any individual must be approved in writing by Dr. Geneva Keene Acor, Veterinary Affairs Manager, Technician Schools or other authorized representative of Hill’s Pet Nutrition, Inc.

 

Recommended Reading: A list of the recommended reading is listed below. You may write in your specific class date from the following Schedule of Classes.  The schedule of classes is subject to change with varying starting dates and holiday schedules. The schedule will be modified as needed to accommodate the participating schools.

 


 

VT_Nutrition Recommended Reading

Spring, 2004

 

 

Date

Session

Topic

Recommended Reading

Pocket Companion SACN 4

 

 

0

 

Pet Food Manufacture & Video

Chapters 3 & 4, pp. 69 – 84

Jan 26

1

Orientation

Table of Contents,

Appendix  Contents, pp. 839 – 877

Feb 2

2

 Basic Nutrition, CHO, Lipids, Proteins; Calculating Energy

Chapter 2 pp. 23 – 32;

Chapter 1 pp. 14 – 15

Feb 9

3

Basic Nutrition, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants

Chapter 2 pp. 33 – 68

Feb 16

4

Pet Food Labels

Chapter 5 pp. 85 - 99

Feb 23

5

Life Stage Feeding

Chapter 9  pp. 127 – 174

Chapter 11 pp. 197 – 257

Chapter 17 pp. 390 – 408

March 1

6

Life Stage Lab

Review Above

March 8

7

Midterm Exam

 

March 15

8

Introduction to Therapeutic Nutrition & History Video

Weight Management

Chapter 13 pp. 304 – 326

 

March 15

9

Adverse Reactions,  Recovery (Acute and Critical Care),

Chapter 14 pp. 327 – 348

Chapter 12 pp. 258 – 303

 

March 29

10

Brain Aging, Cancer/Neoplasia, Cardiovascular

Chapter 25 pp. 776 – 796

Chapter 18 pp.

April 5

11

Diabetes mellitus, Gastrointestinal Disease, Liver Disease

Chapter 22 pp. 570 – 691

Chapter 23 pp. 692 – 731

Chapter 24 pp. 732 – 748

April 12

12

Renal Disease & LUTD

Chapter 19 pp. 439 – 462

Chapter 20 pp. 463 – 534

Chapter 21 pp. 535 – 569

April 19

13

Therapeutic Lab

Review Above

April 26

14

Special Needs including Oral Health

Chapter 16 pp. 368 – 390

May 3

 

Final Exam

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

Small Animal Nutrition Course

Spring, 2004

Monday Afternoon Session

4:00 – 6:00 p.m. (CST)

 

 

 

Date

 

Session

Topic

Alfred

Johnson

Lincoln Memorial

Manor

North Dakota

 

 

# Students

 

18

18

 

9

Jan. 12

0

Pet Food

 

1st Class

 

1st Class

 

Jan. 19

Holiday

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jan. 26

1

Orientation

1st Class

 

1st Class

 

1st Class

Feb. 2

2

CHO, Fats, Proteins

 

 

 

 

 

Feb. 9

3

Vitamins,

Minerals, Antiox

 

 

 

 

 

Feb. 16

4

Labels

 

Holiday

 

 

Holiday

Feb. 23

5

Life Stage

 

 

 

 

 

Mar. 1

6

Lab

 

 

 

Spring