Last year was the first year of running the pet slimmer of the year competition, over the year nurses see many clients regularly for weight checks to help support them with their animals in losing weight. With the help of hills we decided to give them something back and an incentive to really get to grips with helping their animals lose weight and so came up with Pet Slimmer of the Year. The winners were chosen and given the good news in January.
We always want to give pet owners the best advice on giving their pets a long and healthy life. One of the more common problems we see, is obesity. When pet owners are recommended for their pet to lose weight 90% of pet owners fail with no support, as we all know with trying to diet ourselves the enthusiasm can start to slip. We support owners through the weight loss process with regular weight clinics run by the nurses and the winners were chosen from the weight clinics the nurses saw during 2013.
For the Felines it was Mrs Mian with Coffee, Coffee only has three legs after losing it in an accident in his younger years so he was a challenging case. With cats it is always more difficult to get the weight off, as it is they who decide whether they want to play or exercise. Coffee’s weight had gone up to 6.8kg in July 2013, so far he has reached 5.9kg but we still have a little way to go as ideally he should be around 5-5.5kgs. Since starting his diet in July Coffee has been diagnosed with arthritis so it has been even more of an uphill struggle to get his extra weight off but even more important. Mrs Mian said ‘When Ellie informed me that our cat would have to go on a diet it was a daunting prospect. The cat has always managed to eat extra by being sweet to the neighbours or hunting. Added to that he gets very grumpy if his belly is not full!. However Ellie and her team at Pennard Vets have been brilliant! They have provided excellent support, tips and advice and amazingly the weight is falling off of our podgy cat! I cannot thank Ellie and her team enough for their friendliness and professionalism.’
The dog winner is Mrs Skilton with Bruno, who was a rescue dog that Mrs Skilton took on in the summer. Bruno was a very nervous dog at the vets and also weighed in at 39.3kgs.
We advised that Bruno came in for desensitization as well as regular weight checks. Our target weight for Bruno is about 33kgs and currently, Bruno is weighing in at 34.2kg at his last weigh-in, so he is doing very well. Mrs Skilton has noticed ‘Bruno has definitely showed improvement in his walking and running and has so much more energy since losing the weight, where as before he was quite a sluggish dog’. Again she found the thought of putting Bruno on a diet difficult and said to begin with she was a bit skeptical about starting the new food but has seen such great results since being on it that she has since recommended it to her neighbour for her cat. But she felt that Kats help and support over the last few months has been great, especially with him being so nervous.
It is a great feeling to see all our slimmers doing well and their quality of life improve, so we are very excited to be running the competition again for 2014. Please speak to us if you are concerned about your pet’s weight at any of our sites.
