Obesity is increasingly common in our let dogs. But just as in humans, simple diets are difficult to stick to, and often fail to keep the weight off. In this blog, we’ll be having a look at specialised weight loss diets, and how they can help.
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How do we control weight?
Weight control in animals is very similar to weight control in humans. It is in theory a simple balance of calories. The equation we focus on is, calories in = calories out to maintain a body weight. If calories within their diet exceed the number of calories that are being used for energy, your dog will end up gaining weight. If the calories within the diet are less than the amount being used for energy, your dog will lose weight.
Fat has the highest number of calories per gram and protein has the lowest number of calories per gram. It is incredibly important that you know how many calories your pet is consuming daily as this is the only way to control the diet.
In principle, once you know how many calories they must consume in order to maintain weight, you can reduce this amount by a set value to ensure your pet is in a calorie deficit if they need to lose weight. Or you can increase their intake to provide a calorie surplus if they need to gain weight.
The complications
There are some conditions and scenarios that may affect this equation, that is, your dog’s breed, thyroid health status, oral health status, and current fat level, amongst other things. These things will affect your pets’ basal metabolic rate, which is the rate at which they burn calories.
To make life more complex, as an animal loses weight, they may reduce their expenditure of energy on other things, so as to reduce the weight loss. This is why weight management programmes need constant monitoring to ensure that the dog is still losing weight and hasn’t plateaued off too soon.
This is why the amount you need to change their calories by will vary. And why you should speak to your veterinary professional for this advice. Remember, many vet practices will offer free or reduced price nurse obesity or weight control clinics to help!
How can we alter what goes into our pet’s body?
The volume of food given to your dog is important
The more food, the more calories, regardless of which food! You could try feeding your dog smaller, frequent meals, while ensuring the total amount of food is less than the total amount of food you were giving previously if your aim is for your pet to lose weight. You need to be aware, though, of who else is feeding your pet; especially if multiple people look after your pet.
The type of food you feed your dog can be vital
We need to be aware of which foods are higher in calories. Human foods are normally more nutritionally dense; this means they have a lot of calories for a small amount of food. Vegetables are often lower in calories. We should be careful feeding a diet high in fat, as this delays gastric outflow reducing the rate of your pet’s metabolism.
Be careful when giving your pet treats, especially human foods. These very, very quickly add up in the number of calories consumed per day. If there are daily situations which require a treat, choose healthy treats or opt to take food from their total food allowance to give as the treat, ensuring the total volume of food consumed does not exceed the desired amount.
The advantages of specialised weight control diets
Whilst your dog is on a controlled diet, any ‘complete’ dog food with known nutritional value can be consumed. Complete diets, of course, include all the essential micronutrients and macronutrients needed for your specific pet.
However, you may find that feeding less of your dog’s normal food leaves them feeling hungry and dissatisfied. And one of the main reasons for failure of a weight loss programme is the “sad face” our dogs are expert at producing to persuade us to feed them more!
With substantial diet programmes where a lot of weight has to be lost, over a long period, there can also be problems in the medium term with micronutrient deficiencies – while you want your dog to lose weight, they still need the right amount of vitamins and minerals, even though they are consuming fewer calories.
This is what weight-loss diets are designed to help with
These foods are specially designed to contain less calories per gram. This means your dog can eat the normal amount of food, but will obtain a little less energy from it. but because they’ve filled their tummy, they don’t still feel empty after a meal. In addition, the micronutrients are all balanced and in proportion.
Some diets go even further
Some manufacturers also incorporate additional nutritionals science into these diets. For example, they may be designed to move more slowly through the digestive system, leaving your dog feeling fuller for longer. Or they may have slow-release nutrients (essentially a low glycaemic index) to reduce the risk that your dog feels hungry again before their next meal.
However, they aren’t a miracle cure for obesity
You still need to make sure not to overfeed even these diets – as some greedy dogs will keep eating even when in theory they should be completely full!
You also need to make sure that, conversely, your dog isn’t losing weight too fast (1-2% per week is the maximum, and always make sure your dog’s diet is under veterinary professional supervision if they have a lot of weight to shed).
So ongoing monitoring is essential for any weight control programme.
How do we know if these weight control diets are working?
You must set specific goals for weight change, and you must be consistent. Ensuring you track your pet’s progress is important as it will help to keep you motivated – we all know how hard dieting is! Tracking should include their starting weight and measurements, the calories they are consuming daily, the amount of exercise they have daily, plus weigh-ins and measurements at set periods throughout. I recommend waiting at least 4 weeks after starting a diet to recheck your pet’s statistics.
To conclude, to achieve optimal results on a controlled diet, you must be strict and consistent. Results do not come overnight, and we must give our pets the best chance of having a healthy lifestyle. If you feel you are struggling with your pet’s diet, book a consult with your local veterinary nurse, ensuring they know what you want to discuss before booking in. This will allow them to do any further research they may need to before discussion.
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