Devise a Plan to Communicate Breakthrough
Long-term Study Results

• A 14-year study in Labrador retrievers confirmed a link between body fat and chronic health conditions and proved that a dog’s life span can be extended by restricting diet to maintain ideal body condition.
• Nestlé Purina asked Dr. Kathy Gloyd to design and implement a scientific communication plan to disseminate the results of its landmark Purina Life Span Study.

Kathy Gloyd gave direction to Nestlé Purina regarding the most effective approaches and publications for promotion of the study results to veterinarians.

• The Life Span Study became the central theme of the annual Purina Nutrition Symposium for that year. In addition to the usual audience, veterinary nutritionists and key opinion leaders from other specialties—orthopedists, pain specialists, internal medicine, researchers working on similar studies in other species—were invited, as well as the media.
• Gloyd Group’s editorial and design team produced a proceedings of the symposium presentations for distribution at the symposium.
• Gloyd Group planned and coordinated symposia focusing on the clinically relevant data for presentation at national veterinary meetings, including NAVC and WVC, and edited, designed, and printed proceedings for those programs.

The Purina Life Span Study remains a seminal body of work in veterinary medicine.

• The Purina Life Span Study continues to be widely cited by researchers and mainstream media, and the results linking diet restriction, health, and longevity have been extrapolated from Labrador retrievers to other animals and even humans.
• The data provide conclusive evidence that veterinary practitioners can use in conversations with pet owners about the impact of maintaining a healthy body weight on their pet’s health and quality of life, an especially important message today when so many pets are overweight or obese.