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January 07, 2007

Doggie Diet Pills


My sweet boyfriend forwarded an interesting article to me about the government approving diet pills for overweight dogs and I started writing about this when I found a great post on Doggie musing and animalosities about the same thing that Carina found at BBC News. Good post, Carina, thanks for letting me use it.

And from Give Us A Home:
"An overweight dog is nearly always the fault of the owner, except in certain circumstances, when the dog has a medical condition. One such condition is called hypothyroidism, which is caused by an under active thyroid and is usually more common in an older dog. Some of the symptom to look for are:
- Poor coat and skin conditions
- Increase in appetite
- Thirst
- Muscle pain
- Stiff joints and limbs
- Becoming slightly lame
If you notice any of these symptoms take him to the vet as this problem can be easily treated

· Arthritis, heart problems and respiratory problems are a major concern in overweight dogs, they sleep more and are less resistant to infection and their life expectancy will be shorter

· To check that your dog is not overweight:
- Check that his ribs are not visually noticeable but are easily felt
- Feel the dog's hips, more than a light fleshiness indicates that your dog is overweight
- Check that your dog has a trim abdomen
"

We have a two year old Papillon. A few months ago she was eating so little that she was losing weight. Being so small, a few ounces made a difference. There had been no changes in her diet, just the amount she would eat. My sweet boyfriend crunched the dry food and mixed with a little wet food and the dog immediately ate it, so that is the way we feed her twice a day. We have reached the place now to cut back a little on the amount and keep her at the desired weight.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sweet. Isn't it funny how a lot of us pamper our pets? In the old days, pet owners would throw a bowl of Alpo at the dog and that was it. Tough luck if the dog didn't like it.

Tisha! said...

Aw precious...

It's so difficult to care for another living creature who cannot express hunger and pain. Our darling cat was once shot with a pellet gun and it took us weeks before we noticed how much pain the poor thing was in...made me so sad and upset that we didn't sense anything.

Anonymous said...

Are they suggesting that the dog should have a six pack or just a smooth abdomen.
Do dogs do crunches..

Anonymous said...

Picture of the dog please :)

Anonymous said...

Rhea, I noticed you said a "lot of us", so does that mean you have a pet too? You are right, in the past the family dog got scraps and then it became good for the dog to have the Alpo, and now they have pet spas. Yikes. Is that advancement or regression.

Tisha, our pets are trying to please us and it is so hard for them to let us know when they are hurt, how can they show us where it hurts, but I know you must have felt so badly to find that injury,

Happy and blue 2, you are so funny. That is a good idea for a new pet ad though. I have to tell you our dog is in better shape than we are. Woof.

Causalien, I will post a photo soon, I will take one with my cell and post it just for you in the next couple days. Watch out, this little dog might take your eyes off that model on your blog!! Who by the way should definitely be a professional model.