Posted on 12/20/2007 7:48:56 AM PST by DancesWithCats
A diet for obese dogs has been developed by veterinary scientists working in the UK and France.
Researchers have found that a high protein, high fibre diet is more successful in weight loss programmes for dogs because it helps to create a feeling of fullness.
The study, published in the latest issue of the Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, was carried out by vets at the University of Liverpool's Small Animal Teaching Hospital, working with the Royal Canine Research Centre in France, and has led to the development of a new diet food for dogs.
Most owners who place their pets on diets say the dogs overcome the effects by scavenging, but the new diet, called Satiety Control, aims to combat that problem.
Dr Alex German, head of the weight management clinic at the Small Animal Hospital, said: "Obesity is common in dogs and can lead to a range of illnesses and diseases, even premature death.
"Although treatment for weight loss has been in existence for some time it has not been without its problems. Simply reducing a dog's food intake and increasing exercise can lead to begging and scavenging.
"The new formula is a breakthrough for diet-based weight loss plans for dogs; if satiety is better, then improved compliance is likely to lead to greater success. This work may also be relevant for people as well as dogs. Increasing both dietary fibre and protein may help people on a dietary weight loss plan to control their appetite."
During the study, vets tested three different diets: one high in protein with moderate fibre content, one high in fibre with moderate protein content and one high in both protein and fibre.
(Excerpt) Read more at channel4.com ...
Doggie Ping!
My problem is two dogs with opposite feeding habits. One is a nibbler that eats a few bites every twenty minutes and the other is a gobbler that eats till it’s gone.
I need to leave foood for the nibbler but the gobbler eats it all when she waddles her fat butt to the kitchen.
“Vets develop diet for obese dogs”
To bad it can’t help Hitlery. She’s a pig.
www.drbeihl.com
You’ll find some very good, and healthy, home made dog foods at this website.
(She’s our vet)
It’s not the food. He’s given plenty of food. He will just NEVER turn down a meal that is either offered, or merely left unsecured. He’ll break in to the feed bin and eat himself sick and still beg for dinner.
What dog owners should do is take their dogs on frequent walks. I walk my dog 3 times a day for a total of 5-7 miles daily. On weekend mornings, I take it out to the woods and let it run around loose for hours, chasing squirrels and such. It has no weight issue whatsoever and I feed it whatever it wants to eat.
I wasn’t addressing the specifics in the article or the thread, just noting that website has some very good home made dog food receipes.
They came in handy during the Chinese dog poisoning stuff earlier this year.
My 2 are both overweight and no matter how many times I tell my mom DON’T give them leftovers, she gives them all the leftovers and has cut down on their doggie nibbles instead! I think she’s got that backwards.
Good for folks who have time to do that. I’m sure it’s better for them. We almost went that way, seriously considered making our own food when we thought it was food allergies making our other dog so itchy. We no longer think that’s what he’s allergic to. It’s something else.
We deal with our ‘lucy’s’ allegies a couple of times each year. NOt much you can do.
I have 4 Dachshunds. You never know if they have eaten or not. They always act starved!
My in-laws have a yellow lab who had itchy skin and had gained alot of weight. They fed him people-food leftovers constantly. The vet’s report contained a lengthy list of likely food allergens, including beef. Once their dog stopped eating those foods, the skin problems went away almost immediately. The weight gain has been less tractable ...
I’ll bet THAT costs! (is it a scratch test like they do for people?)
The diagnostic to really determine allergies is just like they would do with people... shaving the dog and putting several likely test samples on his skin and leaving them there. It’s a hassle and very expensive. - like a thousand dollars expensive.
There’s lots of potential food allergens, but we’ve switched through foods that are supposed to be for all kinds of allergies and there was no change. I think it’s something else in our house.
I don’t know how much the test costs, but I think it was a blood test rather than a skin test.
Mine does also, it is so difficult to enjoy my own dinner when he is sitting there like he is starved to death. Amazing how much that little fellow can eat and still want more.
Sleeping and eating, his life’s work. Now 15 years old and vet says let him eat it is his only enjoyment.
PeeWee now has stud tail, he also has dry eye and heart murmur.
my 4 yo cavalier used to be a nibbler, until we brought home another cavalier last december, then he decided he needed to gobble his food as well as her’s, because he is the alphadog and she isn’t allowed to have anything. Now i have to feed him, and put him outside while she eats. and she has to look lively and eat her’s up or else i will pick it up and she needs to wait til the next day. if i left it there, mr. porkrind would come in and snarf it in a nanosecond. cavaliers are prone to heart problems and he was a bit overweight, so i have to make sure he doesn’t gorge himself.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.