Diets for dumpy dogs

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 5, Issue 28, 8 December 1987, Page 17

Diets for dumpy dogs

Should your dog go on a diet? It's not as silly as it sounds - based on British research, more than a third of New Zealand's pet dogs could be overweight. Obese, fat, call it what you will, plenty of Pugs, Pekes and Pomeranians have stacked on surplus weight and few breeds are exempt. Dog owners seem either oblivious to the fact, or are reluctant to do anything about it. According to the small animal spokesperson for the 410-member national Vetmark group, Dr Tedi Busch, it's no laughing matter. The senior small animal

veterinarian with a large Auckland practice, Dr Busch says overweight dogs face serious health problems, including lethargy and irritability, arthritis and locomotion problems, congestive heart disease, respiratory distress, liver disease, diabetes, heat stroke, constipation and flatulence, dermatitis, lowered resistance to infection, difficult whelping and increased surgical and anaesthetic risk. Dogs pack on most weight at either end of adulthood. Puppies need two times more nourishment than adult dogs but many owners feed out at the higher level long after this need is abated. At the other end of the

scale, older dogs slow down their activity rate, but this is not recognised by the owners and again, too much food is given. In most cases, overfeeding is compounded by a lack of exercise. Dr Busch says this comes about because most pet dogs spend their days in front of the telly. So how do you tell if your dog is overweight? Some owners have been so conditioned by the appearance of others of their dog's breed that they accept their animal's condition as being normal. This is particularly true of Labradors - it's only when owners see show Labs they realise just how plump their own dog has become. Dr Busch says all short hair dogs should have a rib or two just showing, and they should have a distinct waistline. She also says few dogs are overweight because of other health problems, but owners shouldn't necessarily presume this is the case. It's a sensible precaution to have your pet's general health checked out by a vet before making any diet decisions. Most breed societies have "weight for age" tables that give ideal weights for dogs, or your vet can help decide the target weight if you need to put your pooch on a diet. It's now possible to buy special weight-reducing dogfood that has been developed by Vetmark to assist pets fight the "battle of the bulge".