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Diet trials are a cornerstone of diagnosing and managing food-responsive skin disease, but success depends on more than just picking a food. Getting a clean, conclusive result requires the right patient, client, and plan from the start
In this latest installment, Julia E. Miller, DVM, DACVD, walks through the essentials of a well-run diet trial: identifying patients with year-round pruritus who’ve had other causes ruled out, pairing them with clients ready to commit fully to the diet, stocking a range of prescription, hydrolyzed, and novel protein options in both canned and kibble forms, and locking in in-person rechecks at the time of the initial exam to confirm the diet is working as intended
Below is a full transcript, edited lightly for clarity
Julia E. Miller, DVM, DACVD: Hi, my name is Dr Julia Miller, board-certified veterinary dermatologist. Let me share with you 3 tips to rock your diet trials
Number 1, make sure you choose the right patient and the right client. So, in your patient, do they have year-round pruritis? And if they do, have you ruled out all of the other things that could potentially be causing that pruritis. For the other part of that, it’s the client. Do you have a client that is willing and able to be really strict with the diet?
Number 2, you want to make sure that you have a lot of diets at your disposal. There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to diet trials, except for I always, always, always want you to do a prescription diet. Other than that, hydrolyze, novel protein. There are lots of different options out there. Personally, I like things that have a canned option and a kibble option, but it’s different for every patient. So just make sure you’re aware of what’s out there, so that you can have lots at your disposal.
Number 3, follow-up is so important. Please don’t just prescribe the food, send them out the door, and never see them again. I really like for you to set up in-person rechecks and get those rechecks scheduled at the time of the exam. Forward booking is our best friend, and that way you can make sure, ‘Is the diet working? Are they feeding it appropriately?’ And we can make sure we’re not prescribing food that isn’t necessary. So make sure you have good follow-ups for that too
I’m Dr Julia Miller, and make sure to come back to dvm360 for more Pet Connections
