Lea, one of the Embracers you may have talked with about your pet insurance policy, has been working on her dogs' weight over the last few months. Here she shares her experience with you so that you might be inspired to look at your own dog's weight with fresh eyes.
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I know dogs pretty well. I work with them, I foster them, I’ve studied canine behavior…but I didn’t know that my own dogs were obese.
I’m not trying to guilt you if you’re already slacking on the new year’s resolution to get in shape and shed those pounds. But what better time to give you a wake-up call about your pets’ weight? Are they overweight? Obese? “More of them to love” might mean a sick or uncomfortable pet.
Back in the summer, I was approached by Nulo to have Lyger and Tahlula participate in the Nu-Campaign to fight pet obesity. The challenge involved feeding my dogs a quality diet, monitoring their caloric intake, and increasing their exercise. Easy enough right? Tell that to two hungry chow-hounds!
We were able to show the results of the challenge on local TV, and talk about our “wake up call”:
Step 1: To get you started, Nulo offers a (free) helpful chart to help you determine how overweight your dog is, and about how much they need to lose. There are some quick ways you can evaluate your pet yourself-but you need to be very open and honest with yourself. From Nulo.com FAQ:
“First, view your pet from the side. You are looking for a normal body shape showing a tucked abdomen and no sagging stomach. Second, view your pet from above. You are looking for an hour glass shape between its shoulders, stomach and rear. If your pet has a broad, flat back and no waist definition your pet is most likely overweight. Finally, feel for your pet’s ribs. If your dog or cat’s body is difficult to feel under the skin, this could be a sign of excess fat.”
Step 2: determine how many calories your pet should actually be getting. If you opt to feed Nulo, the serving amounts are calculated for you. If you opt to feed another food, I’d suggest getting recommendations from your vet on what food and how much to serve. I learned that the serving suggestions on most grocery brand foods are very broad, and tend to be excessive. Without realizing it, I’d been “supersizing” their meals.
Step 3: This is the part of the program that helps you bond with your pet, and gets you some exercise too; Get your pets moving! All it takes is a few minutes a few times a day. A short walk around the block. Throwing the ball in the yard. A trip to the dog park. With elderly or ill pets, it’s important to introduce exercise gradually, but it’s up to you to get creative. One blogger started out by throwing her cats favorite toy up the stairs, so they’d have to burn extra calories to get it. We played a lot of “chase me” and tug-of-war in the living room. Five minutes of play twice a day gets sedentary pets moving, and you can increase from there.
It turns out that Lyger and Tahlula actually liked being on the challenge. The higher quality food meant that they could eat less, and stay satisfied longer. No one was bothering me for dinner at lunch time. Both of my dogs have lost several pounds each. Most noticeably, Tahlula is down from about 85 to 77 Lbs-an ideal weight! Her vet told me yesterday that her joint issues are under control, her coat looks great, and he’d “never guess she was 9 years old”. What a great thing for a pet parent to hear!
If you’re ready to make the commitment to your pet’s weight wellness, Nulo has also setup free trackers for your pet’s weight loss, exercise, and BMI much like MyFitnessPal.com or Weight Watchers online tools.
But, the most important thing - stay committed. Get your family involved in feeding your pets properly, and exercising them regularly. Feed a quality food—it might cost just a little bit more (less than you might think), but aren’t extra years with your pet worth it?
Related Posts:
January is Wellness Month at Embrace Pet Insurance
Guest post: cat wellness care or why cats are not little dogs
Claim Example: Spay (aka OVH/OVE in veterinary speak)
Claim Example: Neuter
Guest Post by Lea: This is your Weight-Loss Wakeup Call
Why Are Pet Veterinarian Visits Going Down?
The Embrace Wellness Rewards Plan
Guest Post: why wellness checkups are so important to me
The Embrace Wellness Rewards Plan
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Lea is one of Embrace's longest serving Embracers, being one of the first two employees hired at the company. She does a wonderful job looking after policy renewals at Embrace, as well as blogging on the Embrace Pet Community blog. And of course, she looks pretty darn good on TV don't you think!
