Fat Fighters Clinic
Preventative medicine is the latest trend in human and animal health. Our aim in the weight clinic is to reduce and eliminate the health risks resulting from obesity.
As part of our Fat Fighters Clinic we offer advice and support to you, if your pets need to lose weight. We use prescription foods as these are specially formulated to be lower in calories while supplying all other nutrients in the correct amount. Feeding regular foods but reducing the quantity can result in nutrient deficiencies. Many veterinary diet foods are formulated to make your pets feel full longer, so that they do not beg.
Our veterinarians will calculate your pet’s required weight loss and then work out a feeding plan that will give safe and steady weight loss, using a prescription diet food.
The veterinarian will offer you hints and tips on how to make the process as easy as possible for both you and your pet. We have weigh-ins every two weeks to monitor progress, reassess feeding and offer encouragement.
Your pets rely on you for everything in life and keeping them slim and healthy is one of the most important things that you do for them. If you are concerned about your pet after looking at its body condition score, please call us and make an appointment to see one of our veterinarians.
You can evaluate whether your pet is obese with body condition scoring. The next steps will enable you to do it effectively:
- Feel the pet's ribs. In a pet with normal weight the ribs are easy to feel. There should be a slight amount of fat over them, but you should be able to feel each rib individually. If you can see the ribs protruding from the pet, it is underweight.
- Check the area near the base of the tail. There should be a slight fat covering, feeling smooth. Protruding bones indicate an underweight pet whereas when no bony structures are palpable it means your pet is obese.
- Feel other bony prominences on the pet's body such as the spine, shoulders, and hips. The same principles apply here as well. A slight amount of fat should cover these areas. If prominences are protruding the pet is underweight and if they can’t be palpated at all the pet is overweight.
- Examine your pet from above. The animal should have a definite waist behind the ribs. If the waist is extreme, or again, bony prominences are visible, the animal is too thin. If there is no waist, or worse yet, the area between the ribs and hips is wider than the hips or ribs, the dog or cat is grossly overweight.
- Examine the pet from the side. Dogs and cats should have an abdominal tuck. Use the pictures as provided as a reference. There are species differences, e.g. Italian Greyhounds have a far more prominent abdominal tuck than an English Bulldogs.
The list below shows the potential complications of obesity in pets so that you can see how detrimental to your pet excess weight is.
Risks of obesity:
- Bone and joint disease
- Greater general anaesthetic risk
- Heat stroke
- Diabetes
- Obesity induced insulin resistance
- Cystitis(cats)
- Urinary incontinence(dogs)
- Liver disorders (cats)
- Non-allergic skin condition
- Impaired ability to groom
- Reduced resistance to infection and disease
- Constipation
- Delayed wound healing after surgery
- Difficulty giving birth
- Pancreatitis
- Mammary cancer
- Heart disease
- High blood pressure
- Respiratory problems
Hints and Tips
Use a smaller feeding bowl so it does not look so empty when you feed your pets’ correct ration
Feed pets separately where possible as there is always one greedy one!
If you tend to over-fill the measuring cup when scooping up the food, cut if off to the correct height or find a container that takes exactly the right amount.
Increase your pets’ exercise gradually with play, walks or make them ‘hunt’ for their daily food.
Instead of giving your pets extra treats put their meal in a treat ball or Kong so that they can spend time playing to get the food.
What treats can be used in a weight loss programme?
Dogs are omnivorous so there is a variety of non-fatty healthy treats that can be used for them:
- Pieces of apple and carrot.
- Plain raw-hide chews without the fatty accessories.
- Treats implemented in a specific weight loss program: Eukanuba reduced calories tins, biscuits or Hill’s Science diet Light biscuits.
What breeds of dogs are prone to obesity?
- Basset hounds
- Beagles
- Cairn terriers
- Cocker spaniels
- Dachshunds
- Golden retrievers
- Labrador retrievers
- Maltese poodles
- Schnauzers
- Staffordshire terriers
No matter what the breed of your pet, individual factors will also play a role in any breed’s weight control.
Will spaying or neutering make my dog fat?
Regardless of whether they have been spayed or neutered, all animals require sufficient exercise and their calories should be adjusted to their individual needs.
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