HOW IT WORKS

Access is restricted to veterinarians and veterinary students in AVMA-accredited schools of veterinary medicine. While the disease management summaries will be useful to all veterinarians, the pet food nutrient information in the Guide is specific to the United States and may not be applicable to products available in other countries.

The Nutrition Guide is funded in its entirety by Mark Morris Institute (MMI). MMI receives educational funding support from Hill's Pet Nutrition. Hill’s also provided nutritional information on Hill’s foods directly to MMI for use in the MMI Nutrition Guide. The MMI Nutrition Guide also includes nutritional information from other manufacturers that was obtained from their veterinary product guides. All aspects of the MMI Nutrition Guide, including all content and decisions regarding the program, are exclusively at the direction of and in the sole control of MMI.

We have a short video introduction that you can view here that will walk you through the steps to initiate a “consult”, and then adjust the results.

Nutritional filters can be used to limit the number of foods that are displayed by setting a minimum or maximum concentration or a range for a nutrient. If a filter is selected, foods that do not include values for that specific nutrient will be excluded from the results along with all foods that do not meet the set minimum, maximum, or range, as appropriate.

Display-only nutrients allow the concentrations of that nutrient in foods to be displayed and foods sorted by that nutrient, but do not limit the foods that are displayed. They are helpful for getting an overview of the concentrations of a specific nutrient over a larger range of foods or when you don’t know what the optimal range is and want to see what is available.

The initial display order of the foods is randomized. The user can sort foods by any nutrient by clicking at the top of the column of nutrients already displayed or by adding additional nutrients. Results can also be limited by manufacturer by using the check boxes in the filter menu on the left side.

When possible, nutrient ranges were determined based on peer-reviewed published studies. Where data are lacking, ranges represent the “expert opinion” of a team of board-certified veterinary nutritionists composed of members of the MMI Leadership Team, Board of Directors, faculty, and independent outside consultants. No pet food manufacturer was directly involved in establishing the final range(s). Each disease condition includes a brief, evidence-based summary of the nutritional goals for that condition and the available data.

We make every effort to keep information updated as new information becomes available from the pet food manufacturers that we survey. Each individual food entry page includes the date of the last update. However, if a specific nutrient profile or nutrient concentration is critical for a specific pet, we strongly recommend confirming the information directly with the manufacturer prior to using the product.

In most cases, the pet food information was obtained from the most recent manufacturer product guides publicly available to veterinarians. In some cases, manufacturers have chosen to directly provide information on their foods in lieu of, or in addition to, the information published in the product guides. All information in the system has been published in product guides, or otherwise is freely shared by the manufacturers according to FDA CPG Sec. 690.150.

For the initial version of the Nutrition Guide, MMI chose to include foods from the three manufacturers most commonly used in veterinary practice in the US (i.e. Royal Canin, Nestlé Purina, and Hill’s) as these manufacturers have the widest offerings of therapeutic foods that meet FDA CPG Sec. 690.150 and readily available nutritional information in published digital or paper product guides. The specific foods included in each category are based on their nutrient profiles and/or their indications as determined by MMI’s team of board-certified veterinary nutritionists.

We are happy to entertain suggestions for additions and/or improvements. However, additions of manufacturers, foods, and/or health conditions will be at the sole discretion of MMI. Please email your comments and suggestions to info@markmorrisinstitute.org.

We expect the software to evolve over time as new research is published and new foods become available. As such, we may add additional disease conditions as warranted in future updates. If there are specific nutrients that you are interested in, you can create a “custom condition” that includes those nutrients and then filter or sort based on those nutrients. For other situations, we recommend consulting directly with an independent Board Certified Veterinary Nutritionist® or with the specific manufacturers’ consultation services for help with health conditions not listed.

The interface only allows one health condition to be selected at a time. However, if you have additional nutritional goals, you can add more filtering or display nutrients manually and then sort the available foods based on them. For example, you could select pet foods appropriate for the nutritional management of renal disease and then add fat as an additional nutrient to then be able to sort the foods by dietary fat concentration. For more complex or multiple disease conditions, we recommend consulting directly with an independent Board Certified Veterinary Nutritionist® or with the specific manufacturer consultation services for help.

While we make every effort to ensure that the data in the system are accurate, mistakes can occur both in the source material (e.g. manufacturer product guides or databases) and when entered into the MMI Nutrition Guide database. If you believe that you have found an error, we encourage you to report it to info@markmorrisinstitute.org.

The feeding amounts for all foods are calculated based on the body weight of the dog or cat entered, using common factors for maintenance (or daily) energy requirements (see Table 5-2). These calculations assume that the pet is an adult, has an ideal body condition, and an average energy need. Suggested amounts should be adjusted to maintain an ideal body condition and to ensure that the pet is being fed within the range recommended by the manufacturer for each specific food by comparing the amount required to maintain an ideal body condition to the amount recommended on the label or in other manufacturer-provided information.

For foods intended for weight loss, no suggested feeding amounts are provided. Initial calorie goals/target should be determined based on the pet’s current calorie intake and consideration of the amount of excess weight as well as the pet’s ideal weight and body condition.

For growing animals, ensure that a food with a nutritional adequacy statement appropriate for growth is selected and then adjust intake to maintain an optimal body condition and growth rate.