Hill’s -You Are What You...LEARN

Practical tips for feeding your feline renal patients

We’ll explore practical, day‑to‑day approaches to feeding cats with kidney disease. We’ll touch on the role of nutrition in managing renal health, important features of supportive diets, and simple ways to encourage food intake with finicky eaters. We’ll also discuss how to guide pet parents on feeding routines, monitoring changes at home, and working together to support long‑term wellbeing.

Nutritional Interventions in Early Feline CKD: Evaluating the Evidence

Dietary interventions play a crucial role in managing chronic kidney disease in cats. Feeding a renal protective food to cats with IRIS-Stage 2 CKD or higher is considered the standard of care.  However, evidence shows that dietary strategies can also benefit cats with IRIS Stage 1 CKD.  Dietary interventions can enhance food and essential amino acid intake and support muscle mass in cats with IRIS-Stage 1 CKD. Food ingredients can be modified to favor saccharolysis over proteolysis, resulting in higher concentrations of metabolites and microbiota associated with a healthier state. These changes may offset the sarcopenia and chronic inflammation associated with aging in cats. Additionally, some renal foods have been implicated in the development of hypercalcemia in cats with early stage CKD.  Hypercalcemia is a risk factor for calcium oxalate urolith formation because of increased calcium fractional excretion and hypercalciuria. Dietary considerations to lower the risk of calcium oxalate stone formation in cats include feeding long-chain PUFA, avoiding severely restricted phosphate diets, and consuming a betaine and fermentable fiber supplement.

Cats & Carbohydrates

Tune in to this expert-led episode featuring Dr. Lisa Restine and Dr. Francisco Poblanno as they break down the complexities of feline metabolism and the physiological role of carbohydrates. This high-caliber discussion provides evidence-based insights into how cats process nutrients, offering veterinary professionals a deep dive into the metabolic science behind managing diabetes and obesity in their feline patients.
The podcast format allows you to access this essential clinical knowledge whenever it fits into your busy schedule—whether you're commuting, at the gym, or between appointments. Experience the convenience of professional development through high-quality audio that transforms complex nutritional theory into practical insights for your daily practice.

Great Danes, grandads and the science of longevity

Join Nicole Ehrhart, VMD, MS, DACVS, as she explores the science of longevity, teaching you how to differentiate between lifespan and healthspan and why increasing healthspan is a central goal of modern geroscience. The discussion will use comparative aging research in dogs—specifically examining breed-specific aging trajectories—as a model to inform therapeutic strategies in both veterinary and human medicine, focusing on senolytics, mitochondrial health, and regenerative therapies. Don't miss this opportunity to listen to the expert and discover how canine research is shaping the future of healthy aging

Old joints, new frontiers: Evolving strategies for OA pain management in mature dogs and cats

B. Duncan X. Lascelles, BSc, BVSC, PhD, FRCVS, provides an update on pharmacological and biological management of osteoarthritis (OA) pain in mature dogs and cats. Attendees will understand the current status of therapeutic management, appreciate that individual deterioration stems from the cumulative negative impact of pain over time, and learn how to outline the multitude of ways OA pain impacts individuals based on the biopsychosocial model of pain. The episode emphasizes that OA is a heterogenous condition demanding individualized treatment and phenotyping. Tune in to listen to the expert on evolving strategies for effective OA pain relief.

Fueling mobility: Integrating nutrition into the management of OA in aging pets

What matters at the end

Age is NOT just a number: Advocate for your senior patients!

Feeding the frail: Navigating nutrition for multi-disease geriatric pets

Compassionate care: Identifying and managing frailty and comorbidities in geriatric small animal patients