Clients can trim pounds from pets

Weight loss is tough for anyone—two-legged or four-legged. However, weight loss can not only add years to a pet's life, it can also make those years more enjoyable. Helping your clients trim a few pounds off of their cuddly companions may be easier than you think. They just need to understand the process, pay attention to detail, and call on your assistance and that of your healthcare team.

Emphasize why weight is important

Clients need to know that even an extra five pounds can put a dog at risk for developing serious medical conditions. For cats, even two pounds can make the difference. Unfortunately, if a pet is overweight or obese, it's not a question of whether it develops a secondary health problem, but how many and how soon. Inform clients that common disorders associated with excess weight include:

• Type 2 diabetes (obese cats in particular are at risk)

• Heart disease

• Osteoarthritis

• High blood pressure

• Cancer, especially intra-abdominal forms.

Furthermore, overweight pets often live shorter lives than their fitter, normal-weight counterparts. Heavy pets tend to interact less with their families; they're less energetic and playful. It's easy for clients to overlook illness in these pets since they attribute lethargy to "normal laziness." It's a veterinarian's job to alert clients to the seriousness of even a few extra pounds.

Rule out other problems

Once a client accepts that Sophie's curves are a little too sinuous, work with pet and owner to rule out an underlying condition. Hypothyroidism, hyperadrenocorticism, Cushing's disease, or another disease may be causing the weight problem. Too many problems go undetected, clients become demoralized, and pets experience deteriorating health when a weight loss plan fails simply because the diet wasn't the problem—a disease was.

Figure out calories

Once you've ruled out a medical problem, it's on to apportioning calories. The formula for weight loss seems simple enough: fewer calories in plus more calories out equals weight loss. But, as anyone who's tried to shed that extra 10 knows, it's rarely that simple. This is as true for pets on a diet as it is for people. Use the form pictured above to help clients figure out what their pets need to eat to lose weight at a healthy rate. For a downloadable PDF of this form as well as other weight-loss-related client handouts , see Related Links below.