Nick Thompson joins Benyfit’s advisory team

Holistic vet, Nick Thompson, has joined leading Benyfit Natural's team as an independent nutrition advisor. Dr Nick Thompson, BSc (Vet Sic) Hones, BVM&S, VetMFHom, MRCVS is to work with leading BARF Diet manufacturer, Benyfit Natural's, advisory team of consultants. This means that Benyfit Natural will not only have a range of delicious premium recipes to choose from but will also have access to a team of consultants who can offer advice on a range of subjects including health, nutrition, dog behaviour and training. Nick, who has been a great advocate of the bones and raw meat diet for many years, runs a successful veterinary practice called Holisticvet in Bath. He has researched and used raw food to treat a whole host of medical issues in cats and dogs. Nick and Benyfit Natural believe that you only get out what you put in and that feeding quality natural raw ingredients is the best way to ensure the health and vitality of dogs. Nick qualified from Edinburgh University with a degree in Pathological Sciences and a Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery in 1992. He has been an advocate of raw feeding since the mid-90s, giving lectures all around the country on all aspects of nutrition, but mainly on raw food for dogs and cats. He established his specialist practice Holisticvet in 1999 (www.holisticvet.co.uk). In 2014 Nick founded the Raw Feeding Veterinary Society (www.rfvs.info), an international collaboration of vets and vet nurses with a passion for species appropriate nutrition. As President of the RFVS he has unique insight into both the nuts and bolts of what people are thinking and feeding all round the world, together with deep appreciation of how the industry ticks. Nick is also a father of two under fives and has a German Shepherd Dog, a Snowshoe cat and three chickens. All are mainly raw fed. Other members of the Benyfit Natural consultancy team also include Morag Moseley, a qualified veterinary nurse and animal training behaviourist. She too is an advocate of “species appropriate nutrition”. Morag is also very interested in how animals learn and very soon realised that food affects behaviour. Following the experience she had with her two collies particularly her dog Glas, she left her full-time job in a veterinary practice and set up her dog training business called Gelert Behaviour Training in 2004. She has been a member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (number 00743) since 2003 and she is a Registered Animal Training Instructor with the Animal Behaviour and Training Council. Morag is also still a Registered Veterinary Nurse and keeps her hand in there where she can. Behaviourist Dr Isla Fishburn (BSc in Zoology and MBiolSci and PhD in Conservation Biology) is passionate about creating a co-existence between people and wildlife. She is also a member of Benyfit Natural’s team of consultants. Along with her extensive qualifications in the realm of animal behaviour and conservation, Isla works as an holistic dog behaviourist who has worked with wolves, wolf hybrids and domestic dogs for several years. Her experience as a conservation biologist who is eager to teach people about the importance of nature conservation quickly made her discover that conservation needs to begin at home; many people do not consider the individual needs, differences and requirements of a dog as a canine and how this can affect their very wellbeing. Isla’s mission is to still create a co-existence between people and wildlife but first she must help people to co-exist with their domestic friend; the dog. As such, Isla has established a commitment to canine welfare and conservation. Other consultants include nutritionist Moddie Lambert BCCSDip.HthNut and Inger Alexanderson who is a trainer. Moddie is a qualified nutritionist (British College of Canine Studies – Health and Nutrition) with over four years' experience of tailoring raw feeding solutions for dogs and cats of all breeds. As a dog and cat owner all her life her passion is helping owners to get the best outcome for their cats and dogs through a balanced, natural diet. Moddie's high levels of empathy with customers, particularly those whose dogs and cats have health issues, means she is now a noted advisor on several raw feeding sites and forums Finally, trainer Inger Alexanderson, following a highly successful business career decided to utilise her life-long love of dogs by opening a boarding kennels, and combined this with running training classes for all breeds of dogs, but especially gun dogs. Her reputation as a trainer, with an emphasis on focusing on the many and variable temperaments and requirements of owners and their dogs gave her the impetus to create Dog Solutions in 2007. Building on her many years of experience and achievements, Inger creates methods of training that help produce successful partnerships between her human pupils and their canine companions. Handlers are taught techniques that not only lead to better behaved pets, but also achievements for those who would like to take their partnerships into the world of competitions, or attain solutions for those with more complex problems. For further information on any of the Benyfit Natural recipes or for any help and advice that your may need, visit the website: www.benyfitnatural.co.uk, telephone 01892 770 188 or email: info@benyfitnatural.co.uk.