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.
Clinical Nutrition Faculty Veterinarians
Robert C. Backus, MS, DVM, PhD, DACVN
Associate Professor and Director of the Nestlé Purina Endowed Program in Small Animal Nutrition
Board-Certified Specialist in Veterinary Nutrition
Elena Leavitt, DVM
Small Animal Clinical Nutrition Instructor
Residency trained in Small Animal Nutrition