The bad news. On her physical exam, Olivia is very lame on her right front leg. She has shoulder pain due to the joint strain caused by her obesity. She is has mild to moderate airway obstruction due to the fat deposits around her neck. Her heart rate elevates with very minimal stress. She can't sit normally and it is difficult for her stand. She is unable to trot; she can walk and sort of fling herself forward in a gallop. She is very heat intolerant.
The good news. She is negative for heartworms & we don't find any intestinal parasites. Her blood work is fairly normal. She's not diabetic (yet) and her kidney & liver values are still normal.
So, how do we get started? Slowly. And how long will it take? I'm guessing at least 6 months.
First is to choose a diet. I chose Hill's R/D because it's readily available for me (since I'm a vet), it's well balanced & it has a proven track record. The down side is dogs who've been stuffing themselves with table food don't find it very tasty. I decided to feed her both canned and dry, because I'm sure she will not like the dry food alone. Then I calculated the amount to feed based on Hill's recommendation for a reducing diet for a 15 lb. dog.
Now to change lifestyle. This isn't a problem, since we don't feed our dogs table food and we give our dogs at least an hour of exercise per day. I simply do not have "the need to feed." You can stare at me with your big puppy eyes and do all sorts of cute tricks, but it doesn't cause me to fix you a bowl of ice cream. But lifestyle change is the biggest hurdle for most pet owners. There has to be big changes in diet and exercise to reduce weight in a dog this obese. The great thing is the changes are healthy for us as well.
Next time, we'll tackle exercise.....
No comments:
Post a Comment