Obesity is a big problem in UK companion animals, and owners are often unaware. Despite clinical studies which have found that up to 65% of dogs are obese or overweight, in the PDSA PAWS Report the majority (82%) of dog owners told us that their dog was the ideal weight. So, our nation’s dogs are overweight, but owners just aren’t seeing it!

Obesity carries severe welfare risks for dogs including a shortened life span, reduced quality of life and higher frequencies of some important conditions including arthritis, breathing problems, heart disease, diabetes and certain types of cancer.

So, initially it may come as a surprise that you have been told your dog is overweight. And we know that weight loss can have many positive benefits on your dog. So, perhaps when you start looking for weight management diets or your veterinary team suggests it, should you consider a ‘metabolic’ diet for your dog?

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What are metabolic diets?

One metabolic diet stated that it is specially formulated to help dogs lose weight and keep the lost weight off. Metabolic diets are therefore aimed at dogs who are overweight to help them reduce their weight to achieve a healthy body condition score.

The formulation in this diet is designed to work with your dog’s metabolism for easy and effective weight loss. It also claims to stimulate your dogs’ natural ability to burn fat.

The manufacturers also recognise that dogs who are overweight often have begging behaviours which doesn’t help with compliance; as owners regularly admit to giving treats or human food scraps. The food’s fibre blend aims to help keep dogs feeling full and satisfied. In the PAWS Report, 60% of owners told the PDSA that they regularly give their pet human food in some form; such as leftovers, cheese and bread or toast. Human food can be high in fats and sugar and can contribute to obesity and weight problems as well as potentially leading to an unbalanced diet for our pets. So ensuring that our dogs’ complete diet fills them up enough to prevent a huge amount of begging can help avoid these little slips!

So basically, it is a weight loss food, what else?

As well as being formulated to help our dogs lose weight, maintain good lean body mass and stay fuller for longer; metabolic gets its name because there have been investigations into its gene expression and weight loss.

Changes in gene expression after weight loss and weight maintenance in overweight cats and dogs fed Hill’s Prescription Diet Metabolic Advanced Weight Solution has been investigated. What they ultimately found was that by feeding Canine Metabolic Advanced Weight Solution, it helped the dogs on the trial (a very small number of 20 participants) achieve a healthy gene expression profile. And that biochemical changes resulting from feeding this diet were maximised at the end of weight loss; but are consistent during weight maintenance. This suggests that feeding it may result in promotion of healthy bodyweight going forward. 

Does it work?

In one study, 96% of dogs lost weight at home in 2 months when fed the nutrition of Metabolic. In the diet formulation above, obese dogs lost 1.4% body weight per week during the first four months. And in two studies, overweight dogs lost an average of 13% of their body weight over 60 days. Furthermore, compared to the start of the study, after four months of maintenance feeding, lean body mass increased by 2.6%. This is really important during weight loss. Because of course we want to lose fat, but we don’t want to lose good musculature too! Our aim should be to achieve a good BCS of 4-5/9 and have really good muscle present too. The more our dogs lose, the more they move and the more they can get from good quality physical exercise and stimulation too!

So, if you think your pet could be overweight, or your veterinary team have told you to aim for weight loss, a metabolic diet may certainly be something you investigate. 

The research is summarised here.

However other important top tips are:

  • Always weigh out the grams needed to avoid over feeding
  • Don’t constantly give treats and extras on top of the complete weight management diet
  • Diet is usually a bigger factor in weight management than exercise, but you may find you pet gets more active as they lose weight which will help
  • You don’t need to feed the designated daily grams in bowls – use enrichment feeding to slow down your dog’s eating and keep them entertained for longer
  • Use the designated daily food for training and treats
  • If available, use your local vet’s weight management service to support you

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