The Clinical Nutrition Service’s mission is to improve the health and quality of life of pets by providing optimal nutritional support and offering consultations and training to veterinarians and students. Our veterinary nutritionist specialists work closely with our in-house specialty service providers in emergency and critical care, internal medicine, oncology, cardiology, neurology, small animal surgery, theriogenology and community practice to assist in the nutritional management of patients in the Veterinary Health Center.
The Clinical Nutrition Service can only accept consultations from patients medically evaluated or treated by the MU VHC (any service) within the last 6 months. No external consultation requests can be accepted at this time.
Nutrition Faculty Veterinarian
Elena Leavitt, DVM
Nutrition Section Head
Small Animal Clinical Nutrition Instructor and Director of the Nestlé Purina Endowed Program in Small Animal Nutrition
Residency trained in Small Animal Nutrition
Elena Leavitt is originally from the state of Washington. She obtained a bachelor’s degree in biology with minors in business and zoology from Washington State University Vancouver in 2015. She then attended Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine and completed her clinical training at Mizzou in 2020. After graduating, Leavitt completed an intensive small animal rotating internship in North Carolina before completing her nutrition residency back at Mizzou in 2023. Her special interests include the gut biome, client education and renal disease. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her cats, Scribbles and McClain, as well as reading, gardening, PC gaming and cooking.
Leavitt offers Nutrition Consultations to VHC clients and pets for feeding tubes, esophageal disorders, home cooked diets, weight loss plans and more. She is particularly passionate about optimally managing chronic conditions with diet such as GI conditions and chronic kidney disease. There is not a “one-size-fits-all” diet plan with Leavitt — every pet is treated as the unique individual that they are.
