Keeping pets healthy is our aim and one way we help you is by offering Weight Watchers clinics. These are run by our highly skilled nursing team*.
As with managing our weight for our own health, there are many benefits to managing your pet’s weight too. Maintaining an ideal weight helps with keeping joints healthy and reduces the risks of associated diseases such as diabetes mellitus.
Sadly, for many reasons, weight gain amongst pets is common and is probably the biggest welfare issue that we face in this country with our pets. You can come to our nurse clinics either to help you keep your pet at an optimum weight, or, if your pet is already overweight, we can help you with managing safe and controlled weight loss.
Pet weight gain after neutering
Certain factors will increase the risk of weight gain in your pet and neutering is one such factor. A change in hormone balances following neutering changes your pet’s metabolism, which makes them more prone to weight gain. Our nurses will advise you on reducing the portion of food your pet receives after neutering, along with giving you other tips.
Pet exercise factors
Seasonal risks are the same with pets as they are with us. During the longer days and nicer weather, we are out and about more and this often includes extra walks with our dogs. Cats also tend to spend more time outside during this time of year but the dark, wet and cold nights are not so inviting, leading to reduced exercise for all of us. If you would like to talk to our qualified and understanding nurses about how manage your pet’s exercise and weight around the year, our nurse clinics are there for you.
What will the nurse do in a weight clinic?
- First, we will weigh your pet and use body condition scoring to determine if they are overweight and if they are, by how much.
- The nurse will talk to you about their routine and give you tips on how you can help increase their exercise while at the same time, possibly recommending a change of diet to help facilitate a safe, controlled weight loss program.
- Changing diets is not always required so this will be discussed on an individual basis. If a special weight loss diet is advised, we will usually recommend Hills Metabolic, Hills r/d or Waltham’s Obesity diet as we have found these to suit most patients.
- The nurse will monitor your pet and we will keep a record of their progress until they reach their target weight. We may also ask to take a photo to share on our Facebook and Twitter pages!
A veterinary nurse weight consult is FREE if a bag of pet food is purchased at the same time as the consultation.