Staying slim is as important for your pet as it would be for you…
“Marley is in fabulous condition!” It’s what all pet owners want to hear: that their pet is fit and healthy, and that I am going to help them make sure he stays that way.
Marley is a gorgeous black Labrador, with a nicely tucked in waist, a ripplingly shiny coat and just a little rib showing as he bounced round my consulting room. You would never guess by looking at him that he had just turned 7 years old.
I was particularly interested to record his successfully slim waist, as my whole team have been working towards an official accreditation these last 2 months. We hope to soon be an RCW Weight Management Clinic.
This means that we have all received additional training to help us work with pet owners, identifying animals who are weight challenged, and supporting them and their owners in finding a healthier future.
I learnt in my training that some health professionals are starting to consider obesity as a chronic incurable disease. I reject that concept wholeheartedly.
I believe that there is a slim healthy pet inside every porky pet, and all I have to do is find the right tools to get things back under control.
So I was fascinated by a video I watched recently of an extremely enormous rescue cat, being lovingly slimmed by the rescue volunteers. He virtually had to be taught to walk again, and encouraged to take every few strides by receiving a biscuit as a reward. They had him walking on a treadmill to catch up with biscuits, and later, as he slimmed down, walking on an underwater treadmill!
He was an extreme case, but I can recall my own success stories, including with a pair of pugs whose arrival at the Clinic was always announced by their extraordinarily loud puffy breathing, which disappeared once their waists were trimmed down.
Being a Weight Management Clinic means that we can help any canine or feline friend (rabbits too!) whose owner is worried they might be carrying a bit too much weight. We will weigh them and teach you how to do a Body Condition Score yourself. Then we will assess what, how much and how often they are fed, and offer lots of free advice and encouragement on how to get them healthily slim again.
If you think your pet might benefit from a Weight Assessment, call my friendly team on 01444 456886
