Fat dogs may look cute to some people but being overweight can reduce your dog’s life expectancy and increase their risk of other diseases. As a result, managing your dog’s weight through regular exercise and good nutrition is very important in helping them have a long and healthy life.
Stating what should be an “ideal” weight for a dog is difficult because of the large number of different breeds, and within each breed, all the different shapes they can come in. Because of this we use a system of body condition scoring to determine if your dog should be put on a diet, or have their food increased.
A weight consultation, or even better a regular trip to our nurses regarding weight and diet, is an excellent way to learn what you need to keep your dog healthy. Understanding how to body condition score your dog will help you understand exactly how much to feed your dog, and give you confidence to increase, or reduce, their diet according to their actual condition, not an “ideal” weight.
In addition to learning how to body condition score your own dog, you will also learn what specific conditions keeping your dog slim and healthy can prevent. Such conditions include;
A single 15 minute assessment can teach you some skills but regular check-ups will track your progress and keep you focused on what is important.
We recommend 6 visits throughout the year to track weight progress. If more support is needed then we can see you more regularly. Our nurse advice package is perfect for weight related goals.
Weight clinics are included in our Silver and Gold Wellenss Subscriptions. Otherwise you may choose to pay the nurse consultation fee each visit.
You can get an appointment at our practice by calling us or visiting our clinic.
James Horner Vets
Unit 4 Morrisons Supermarket
Coventry Road
Sheldon
B26 3PD
Monday to Friday: 09:00 - 19:00
Saturday: 08:30 - 12:30
Sunday: Closed
Emergency Out of Hours
0121 712 7070
