Pets nearly always become overweight from eating more food than they need, often coupled with a lack of exercise. The calories that are not used for daily activities are then stored as fat.

Feeding the odd left overs, frequent snacks or treats, often contributes to excess weight problems. Remember what is a small snack for a person is a large number of calories for a pet. Feeding treats may also encourage your pet to beg at the table and pets are often very skilled at teaching their owners to feed them treats.

A quick and easy check to see if your animal is overweight is to feel it's ribs with the flat of your hand, if you can only feel the ribs with difficulty, weight loss is probably needed.

Why should my pet lose weight, he/she seems happy enough?

Overweight pets live shorter, less active, less healthy lives. Carrying extra weight puts extra burden on limbs, joints and the heart and can make alot of existing problems worse. Overweight pets could also be less able to cope with infections and are a greater risk for problems during anaesthesia and surgery.

How can I help my pet to lose weight?

Weight loss essentially involves increase of energy consumption and decrease of energy intake by feeding food with fewer calories.

Dieting and joining our dieting programme

Dieting is equally as hard for pets as it is for people and sometimes a little extra help is required.

Simply make an appointment either over the phone or call into reception.

The programme will be individual to you and your pet; this will involve regular fortnightly checks with the practice pet health counsellor who will ensure that you and your pet are on the right tracks. At the initial consultation you will be issued with a diet plan along with your diet diary.

Pet Health Counsellor