TTPLC: How do I know if my dog is overweight?
Dre Maud Clavel (MC): To find out if your dog is overweight, the first thing to do is to weigh him. But the weight is not the reflection of the silhouette of the dog because muscle and fat do not have the same volume for equal weight!
Assessing a dog's overweight is not just based on the number given by the scale!
What is especially important in the evaluation of overweight is not so much the numerical value given by balance, but what is called the nutritional evaluation.
It allows you to evaluate both:
- the importance of fat mass by means of a body score scale, which can only be done by clinical examination and palpation of different areas of the body to find out where the excess fatty tissue is . The scale is very visual and not just for the veterinarian. It can also be used by the owner of the animal to realize the overweight state of the animal.
- assessment of lean body mass. When you have a very muscular dog, he can weigh the same as a less muscular and fatter dog.
TTPLC: Which dogs are most at risk of being overweight? And for what reasons?
MC: There are breeds that are genetically predisposed to being overweight. This is particularly the case of Retrievers, Australian Shepherds, Cavaliers King Charles, Beagles or even brachycephalic breeds (French bulldogs, American bulldog).
For certain races, overweight is considered a criterion of beauty. Please note that overweight and obesity are diseases. However, this is not inevitable: not overfeeding your dog and having an active dog protects him from obesity, even in a breed prone to overweight.
But there is also an “owner profile” effect.
When you have a Border Collie, it's rare for the owners to be 85-year-olds who live on the 17th floor of a building. The owners are generally more athletic and younger people who will take the dog out more, which makes the dog less prone to being overweight.
The bond that the owner has with his animal also plays a big role. When the dog is considered a member of the family, their owners want to please him: food plays an important role in the affective.However, an excess of food and sweets can also lead to obesity.
Sterilization also reduces a dog's energy needs by 20%, so sterilized dogs are also more prone to overweight. But beware, sterilization only reduces energy needs but not other nutritional needs.
A dog at risk can also be a dog recovering from cruciate ligament surgery and unable to move for 1 to 2 months, a hunting dog during the months when he is not hunting, retired working dogs, the dog whose owner is ill and no longer goes out in a nutshell, all of the factors that can reduce the dog's activity level - related to the dog itself or its working environment. life - are also risk factors for overweight.
TTPLC: My dog is overweight: what is the risk?
MC: Being overweight reduces the dog's life expectancy by up to 2 years.
It also has an impact on the dog's quality of life. He can:
- aggravate cardio-respiratory and locomotor disorders,
- promote the onset of diabetes,
- increase the anesthetic risks since the more overweight the animal, the greater the doses of anesthetics and the longer the animal takes to wake up,
- increase the risk of tumor pathologies,
- predispose to all inflammatory diseases,
- aggravate infectious diseases (permanent state of inflammation),
- further increase the risk of occurrence of conditions for which a breed is already predisposed. This is the case, for example, of herniated discs in predisposed dogs such as the French Bulldog by applying additional mechanical stresses to the spine, heart disease in the Cavalier King Charles, snoring in the French Bulldog, osteoarthritis in Labrador etc.
TTPLC: How to make your dog lose weight?
MC: Overweight results from an energy balance with, on the one hand, energy intake (energy intake through food) and on the other hand, energy expenditure. When an animal ingests too much energy compared to what it expends, the balance is positive and it gains weight.
To act on overweight, it is therefore necessary to act on both sides of the scale: nutritional support and increased energy expenditure.
Nutritional care consists of reducing the animal's energy intake. For these dogs, it is not enough to reduce the amount of kibble. If this does reduce caloric intake, it also reduces the volume of the ration and the intake of proteins, essential fatty acids, vitamins and trace elements! It is therefore necessary to change food to have the same amount of nutrients without having the calories that go with it!
As soon as the amount of kibble has to be reduced, it is necessary to change the food if the dose that the dog received at the start was the right one.
You also have to think about all the other food sources that the dog can receive outside of its ration. This can be cat food from the house, treats, table scraps, trash, vacations at Grandma's, chews that are often not considered treats but oral hygiene products. and which are nevertheless a significant source of calories, especially in small animals. Sometimes the part of the food that constitutes the dog's meal is not the most important. If we only manage this part and do not take the rest into account, we are bound to fail in the management of overweight.
Coaching and follow-up of owners by the veterinarian are therefore very important for success! If you buy Weight Watchers meals and eat M&M's on your sofa next door, you won't lose weight! It's the same for the dog.Management must be comprehensive and not just focused on the dog's meal.
In terms of energy expenditure, the animal must be motivated to move more on a daily basis (taking the stairs with it, fetching bread with its dog) and reintroducing physical exercise (walking , running, biking with your dog). The veterinarian will assess the physical activity of the dog at the start and give recommendations to increase it gradually. The key is to find solutions that are compatible with the daily life and the capabilities of the animal owner.
Eating less, moving more works for dogs too!
TTPLC: How quickly can you expect your dog to lose weight?
MC: In dogs, we can expect 1 to 3% weight loss per week. Based on 1%, this means that it will take 30 weeks for a dog that is 30% overweight to return to its normal weight.Weight loss is quite long, hence the importance of monitoring by a veterinarian over this period. Its role is to maintain the motivation of the owner, to answer his questions, to his problems, to explain his failures during this long journey.
TTPLC: By reducing the dog's caloric intake, isn't he at risk of being hungry? What to do if necessary?
MC: Reducing the animal's energy intake does not mean reducing the volume of food! It is for this reason that it is necessary to switch to a food which has a lower energy density (that is to say which contains fewer calories per 100g), which makes it possible to give more or at least as much. than before! To preserve or increase the volume of the ration, you can also add zucchini or green beans. They provide fiber which, in addition to the "volume" effect, reduces the digestibility of the food.
Satiety comes with stomach distention. A large amount of food or fiber will therefore provide a feeling of satiety, but we must not forget that it also involves covering protein needs, which have a satietogenic role in dogs.
It has been said for a long time that to make a dog lose weight, you have to give him less kibble. In doing so, we will give him fewer calories but the only concern is that there is also less intake of other nutrients and in particular proteins which are satietogenic in dogs. As a result, as the dog does not meet its protein needs, it is always hungry. If he is given other foods that do not meet this protein requirement, he will continue to seek food constantly without ever being satisfied.
You must also be aware that each time the animal asks for an interaction with its owner, it is not necessarily hungry! Some people have a misunderstanding of animal behavior. The dog can come into contact with its owner in the kitchen to have a cuddle or to play, but not necessarily to eat. However, often the owners respond by giving him something to eat.If the dog is greedy, he will accept this food and will start asking his owner to respond to his request. The feeling of hunger is often misinterpreted!
TTPLC: What are the best kibbles to make your dog lose weight? What are their particularities?
MC: Good diet croquettes are low-calorie croquettes. To be low calorie, they must have a moderate fat content and be low in carbohydrates. Indeed, we cannot give “zero fat” to the dog at the risk of deficiency in essential fatty acids. They must also be rich in protein because proteins are satietogenic and help preserve the muscle mass of the animal. Their high fiber content will depend on the profile of the animal. The more the kibbles are rich in fibre, the lower their energy density will be and the greater the quantities that can be distributed to your animal, which will allow it to satisfy its satiety with a greater volume of food.
The other solution is to give wet food with the same nutritional characteristics because these foods contain 80% water and we therefore have a much larger volume of food.
TTPLC: We have seen that support from a veterinarian is important in the context of a diet to determine the new food and its new dose of food, but is that the only reason?
MC: Accompaniment by a veterinarian is also important to keep the owners motivated, to monitor the weight of the animal, to ask the right questions in order to best guide the owners, to accompany them on the choice of the most suitable treats from a nutritional point of view, giving advice on physical exercise according to the season, giving tips applicable to everyday life, to highlight he alth improvements in dogs, etc.
For example, for a dog that must be kept at "papy-grandma's" , we can recommend preparing one Tupperware a day in advance with the right daily dose of kibble to avoid dosage errors and a candy box per day that you can pick from without making a mistake.
TTPLC: Tell us about the Virbac he althy weight challenge. How can it help pet owners?
MC: The Virbac he althy weight challenge is happening both at the vet and on Facebook.
In the office, it allows you to program the follow-up of the animal and above all to maintain the motivation of the owner. It is he alone who is the guarantor of the success of the weight loss of his dog. It is he who must be vigilant about the doses of food, the nutritional value of treats and the fact of going out and moving the dog.
The Facebook group that I will lead allows you to give advice to all owners who wish to engage in a weight loss process for their animal and to keep in touch with a veterinarian throughout this time. Members of the group will be able to post before and after photos, discuss the problems they encounter and tips for making low-fat treats, maintaining physical activity, etc.
The objective is to listen to the problems that owners may encounter and to provide them with solutions adapted to their environment and their daily lives. It will allow all dog owners "on a diet" to feel less alone in this long process.
Join the community!
Ask your questions to Maud Clavel, on the Virbac He althy Weight Challenge Facebook Group.
- Interview by Guylaine Vandekerkhove -