[ SHOWGSD-L ] vets and obesity
- From: Katie Halfen <kthalfen@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: gsd list <showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 10 Aug 2010 20:46:12 -0400
We see obesity as frequently in our hospital as human doctors see it in the
human hospitals. It is a major health problem for both animals and people. We
see all the same issues in animals as in people, but luckily your tax dollars
aren't used to pay for the obese cat/dog with diabetes, arthritis pain, torn
ACLs, heart disease, high blood pressure, hypothyroid disease, etc. We are
actually taught a lot about obesity in veterinary school and also a lot about
nutrition and how to balance a diet and make homemade balanced diets. In the
last 10 years a lot has been learned about fat and now doctors know it isn't an
inert substance in the body that simply "stores energy", but it affects
metabolism, secretes hormones and has a feed back inhibition on several systems
in the body.
I talk to probably 3 out of every 4 appointments EVERYDAY about the obesity I
see in their animals-some need to lose a few pounds, but others need to lose
1/3 of their body mass. Some vets don't feel as comfortable bringing up the
topic because most of the time when you see an obese animal and look up at the
owners you see an obese owner as well. I've talked to several vets about this
who feel they are saying "YOU and YOUR animal are OBESE and need to lose
weight". I think of it as just telling them all the health benefits of losing
weight with their pet, saving money on dog food (who doesn't want to save money
now), and research shows a dog at a healthy weight its whole life lives 2 years
longer than the obese dog. Its even a bigger gap in years for cats. Now who
doesn't want to have a longer living, healthier pet-you save money at the vet
too :-). Diabetes is usually the biggest deterent for owners-its an expensive
disease ($50-90 per bottle of insulin), visits to the vet to get them regulated
(around $200-500), and twice a day injections for the rest of their lives-I'd
call that a big loss of quality of life for the pet and the owner. My idea is
if they listen to me about their pet, maybe they'll take the same advice for
themselves, or at least talk to their own doctor about it.
Katie Halfen DVM
Casamoko Shepherds
www.casamoko.com
We have Puppies!!
> >
> Our family Vet, that we started with about 20 years ago, had different ideas
> about
> weight in dogs. She admitted that when she first met our dogs, she thought we
> kept
> them "too thin". She now agrees that the weight we keep them in is a more
> atheletic
> weight and healthier. Most of the dogs I see in her waiting room are
> overweight....
> I guess most dogs have a more sedentary life style these days...and more
> treats for
> being a "good doggie".
>
> -Kay Reamensnyder and Betty Doerpinghaus
> -Home of Bedkar German Shepherds
> -bedkar@xxxxx
> -Visit our Website: www.bedkargsd.com
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > To: Showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > Subject: [ SHOWGSD-L ] vets and obesity
> > Date: Tue, 10 Aug 2010 14:22:26 -0400
> > From: grnram415@xxxxxxx
> >
> > Speaking of vets, good, bad and ignorant................
> >
> > There is an employee at a pet store who brings her GSD to work. This girl
> > is obese, so is her dog, LOL! The dog is also not trained and territorial
> > and should not be in that store at all, especially off lead. That is
> > another story. Anyway, I made the big mistake of mentioning that she could
> > use a diet. I was tactful, I thought. But, the owner got all offended. She
> > told me that her dog was a BIG girl and not fat. She also said her vet
> > didn't think she was overweight either. Then she told me what she was
> > feeding her. While both foods are quality foods, combining them is overkill
> > and overweight for this dog. She again said her vet told her the dog was
> > not overweight. This dog has no waist and fat rolls over her shoulders and
> > neck. How is that not overweight? When I mentioned that most vets get
> > minimal nutrition classes in vet school and depend on dog food
> > manufacturers to tell them what to sell in their clinics, like Science
> > Diet, she sort of agreed.
> >
> > Now, I know we like our dogs lean, but obese is obese. How does a vet not
> > see obese? Vets, vet techs out there, what do you think?
> >
> > Laura
> >
> >
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