So How Did She Reach 34 1/2 Pounds?

Olivia was adopted from a shelter in October 2009 when my father-in-law was still fairly able-bodied.  She was found as a stray, so there was no previous history on her.  At the time she weighed 17.5 lbs, which I considered slightly overweight.  In the first 8 months, she only gained 1 1/4 lbs., but over the next six months, her owner's health and mobility declined. The less mobile he became, the fatter she became and she gained an astounding 13 lbs in that six month period.  At this point she had nearly doubled her body weight! And in the next few months, she would more than double her ideal body weight.  To get an idea of the kind of strain this puts on her body, say your ideal weight is 140 lbs, strap on a back pack or body suit that raises your weight to 280 lbs and wear it around day and night.  How do you think your knees, hips, and back would feel?

Meet Olivia!

Olivia joined our family permanently in September 2011.  She was best friend and companion to my my father-in-law who passed away September 21st.  Unfortunately, one way he showed Olivia love and affection was to feed, feed, feed table food.  And as his faithful sidekick, Olivia ate, ate, ate the table food.  She reached a peak weight of 34.5 lbs, with her ideal weight being around 16 lbs.  At 20 lbs she would be considered obese, but at 34.5 lbs she is morbidly obese, meaning her life expectancy will be shortened due to complications from obesity.  Also known as killing her one bite at a time.  As a veterinarian, I see many over weight pets and reducing their weight is a challenge for their owners.  Few dogs reach this level of obesity, and returning them to a healthy weight is a slow and challenging process.  I thought blogging about Olivia's weight loss would help keep us inspired and might encourage others with overweight pets to stay the course.  

So let the journey begin!!