Meet Chris Warner of Warner Pet Wellness

Today we’d like to introduce you to Chris Warner.

Hi Chris, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
I started as a veterinary technician over 10 years ago. As a new technician in general practice, I was introduced to alternative medicine (acupuncture, traditional Chinese medicine, whole food nutritional supplements). I saw how our veterinarians incorporated these methods in place of or in addition to traditional Western medicine approaches (medications to treat symptoms) with successful outcomes. As I grew in my career this stayed with me.

I made the transition from a general practice registered vet tech to a specialty vet tech focusing on canine and feline rehabilitation. I started working with whole food nutrition supplements again with rehab patients and saw a boost in improvements most noticeably with arthritic and overweight patients. I wanted to learn more about what was going on here and it led me down the road of veterinary nutrition and it was amazing how this road paralleled human nutrition. I began advanced certification in pet nutrition and found that many pet parents want to feed their pets a less processed diet but don’t have many options for where to reach out for guidance.

With the support of a like-minded veterinarian, Dr. Casara Andre, through her Medicine of Wonder program, we were able to develop a Pet Nutrition Guidance Program to provide pet parents with the information and support to provide whole food minimally processed nutrition to their furry loved ones.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Dr. Andre has been incredibly supportive of me and understands that for the body to be healthy it needs to be given high-quality, easily available nutrients.

I have been very fortunate to have found a veterinarian to work with who is at the forefront of providing pet parents with the support that they need. There are many strong opinions both in favor of whole food nutrition for our pets and adamantly against feeding anything other than commercial dry food. Occasionally I come across an email from a primary care veterinarian expressing that they do not approve of or support the use of a fresh or raw diet for a patient of theirs.

Thankfully, I am a pretty thick-skinned person (you kind of need to be in this field). It comes down to perspective and perseverance. I am just so thankful that the vet took the time to share their opinion and I am grateful that my nutrition patient has a primary care veterinary team that cares about them. It’s a case of agreeing to disagree I suppose. I can only imagine those very first interactions when physical rehabilitation for animals was in its infancy.

Those folks persevered through the adversity and physical rehab for pets has grown immensely because of those pioneers. I am far from a pioneer but I intend to persevere through the adversity and support those pet nutrition pioneers (and all the pet parents) in the common mission to support the health and well-being of our pets.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Warner Pet Wellness?
I created Warner Pet Wellness to take my 10 years of experience as a certified veterinary technician and pay it forward to others in the veterinary community. I have learned so much and relish the opportunity to support folks in our common desire to be the best we can be for our patients. I specialize in providing nutritional support for pet parents who are looking for ways to optimize the health of their pets or ways to support their pets through a variety of different disease processes.

I am very proud of this service because many pet parents are at wit’s end for what to do next. For example, their pet might be suffering from the miserable symptoms of allergies despite being on an expensive prescription diet and several allergy medications. I am proud to be able to provide another path that many of them have not tried before.

I want our readers to know that they can expect to be heard. I once heard someone in the veterinary field say, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” That was a powerful statement for me and has been the driving force behind the service I provide to both my patients and their family units.

How do you think about luck?
Luck has played a huge role in my professional life in the form of being in the right place at the right time. I wonder if “luck” is a good way to describe it though. I believe good things happen when you surround yourself with good people.

My story is proof of that. My girlfriend, Kelly, was aware of my struggle to find a way to provide nutrition support to our community of pet parents looking for just that. She introduced me to Dr. Andre and we hit it off. She saw the importance of nutrition for her patients and has a genius mind for problem-solving.

The development and growth of a Nutrition Program was then just a matter of time.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.cultivatewellbeing.health/nutrition.html