|
|
|
|
|
HSIAsia >>
Dr. Putu Listriani
Dr. Putu Listriani is a native of Bali, Indonesia where she operates her own veterinary practice. In addition, she is a Co-Founder and Director of Veterinary Medicine for the Bali Street Dog Foundation.
Dr. Listriani is graduate of the School of Veterinary Medicine at Udyana University in Bali. In addition she did a field internship in equine medicine and at the University of California at Davis, in the United States.
-------------------------
Tips: Overweight Dog
Wei Ling of Hong Kong asks: "My dog is very fat and I try to feed it less but, it still is over weight."
Dr. Listriani, "Many dogs suffer from weight
problems. This is especially so for neutered and older dogs since they
require less calories per day.
Any excess calories will simply lead to an ever increasing weight problem.
While exercise helps a little, it is dietary management which is essential
if a dog's weight is to be lowered to a normal level.
I suggest you use a high fibre, low calorie complete diet. Get your dog
weighed, and ask your vet's nurses for a target weight, and a suggested
amount of daily food to eat. You mustn't feed anything else at all (water
excepted of course). It is likely to take several months for the weight to
come under control.
Weighing every fortnight is essential to ensure that you are making progress
and do keep a record of this – plotting a graph is really helpful, and you
can see the progress (or lack of it!) at a glance. If you find the dog won't
eat the diet, don't worry. And DON'T give anything else as a tastier
alternative – the dog doesn't need it. A fat dog which eats its diet loses
weight. And a fat dog, which doesn't eat its diet, loses even more weight!!
Stick with it. And when the normal weight has been achieved, you'll both be
thrilled.
Do get the help of your vet's practice in this. Have the dog's health
checked first to ensure everything is OK, and then use the services of the
practice to keep monitoring your dog's progress. Just occasionally an
overweight dog may be suffering from an underlying medical problem, so it is
important for your vet to oversee the diet.
Good luck"
|
|
|
|
|
|
