Obesity and Weight Control

Many dogs suffer from a weight problem. This is especially so in neutered canines. They certainly require less calories per day for normal body maintenance following neutering.

Any excess calories will simply lead to an ever increasing weight problem. Whilst exercise helps a little, it is dietary management which is essential if a dog's weight is to be lowered to a normal level.

I suggest you use a high fibre, low calorie complete diet - my favourite is Hill's Canine r/d - available from your vet in tins, or dry form. Get your dog weighed, and ask your vet's nurses for a target weight, and a suggested amount of daily r/d to eat. You mustn't feed anything else at all (water excepted of course). It is likely to take several months for the weight to come under control. Weighing every fortnight is essential to ensure that you are making progress and do keep a record of this – plotting a graph is really helpful, and you can see the progress (or lack of it!) at a glance. Below we have provided a chart for you to print out. You will need to set up appropriate axes on the chart – put the current weight of your pet at the top left corner, and set a target weight on the bottom left. Then divide up the left hand columns into appropriate stages between the two. Along the bottom, arrange a time schedule, starting with the start date at the bottom left, and moving to a projected end date (say 3 to 6 months time) at the bottom right. Again divide up the time in between into sensible, fortnightly divisions, along the bottom of the chart. Weigh the pet regularly and put the appropriate X on the chart!

If you find the dog won't eat the diet, don't worry. And DON'T give anything else as a tastier alternative – the dog doesn't need it! A fat dog which eats its diet loses weight. And a fat dog, which doesn't eat its diet, loses even more weight!! Stick with it. And when the normal weight has been achieved, you'll both be thrilled.

Do get the help of your vet's practice in this. Have the dog's health checked first to ensure everything is OK, and then use the services of the practice to keep monitoring your dog's progress. Just occasionally an overweight dog may be suffering from an underlying medical problem, so it is important for your vet to oversee the diet.

Good luck

Tim Mainland MA, VetMB, MRCVS