The nutrition history is the foundation of a nutrition recommendation in which an intricate relationship exists between conducting a nutrition history and making a relevant nutrition recommendation. A comprehensive nutrition history requires exploring all animal-, diet-, environment-, and human-related factors associated with a dog’s or cat’s nutrition.

To gather a comprehensive nutrition history, whether using a diet-history form or during an in-person interaction, veterinary professionals should begin with open-ended questions or statements that allow clients to share information unhindered by the practice’s own goals or agenda. For example, phrases starting with “Tell me . . .”, “Describe . . .”, or “Walk me through . . .” allow clients to share information that the veterinary professional may not have otherwise considered. Using open-ended inquiry during the initial screening evaluation increases efficiency while also allowing for greater detection of nutritional risk factors that can signal the need for an extended nutrition evaluation. Veterinary personnel should move from these broad exploratory lines of open-ended inquiry to more focused lines of open-ended inquiry before using closed-ended inquiry to gather specific details, that is, questions often answered with one-word responses (Table 9).

When gathering information on diet-related factors, research suggests that veterinary personnel should be cautious about starting with simple what-prefaced questions (e.g., “What kind of food is your pet on?”).^{72, 73} Although a what-prefaced question is commonly used by practice team members, when analyzing clients’ responses, the question has been found to obtain limited diet information and to encourage defensive responses from clients.⁷² In addition, treats that a dog or cat may consume have been identified as a specific component of the diet-related history that clients are less likely to disclose,^72,73 warranting more focused questioning or use of different wording (e.g., snacks, rewards, extra foods) to avoid the threat directly associated with the word “treat.”