Question:
Dear Julie,
My corgi is 7kg overweight. Could you prescribe a diet for her to lose weight?
John Gardner, via e-mail.
Answer:
Dear John,
I’d be interested in whether you are comparing your corgi’s weight to an average chart weight, or whether someone has told you this. Either way, you are definitely on the right track by getting her on a diet now. For overweight dogs, arthritis and joint pain, as well as heart and breathing problems, are much more common. Diabetes is also a worry when animals are obese.
If you haven’t already done so, taking her for a check up with your vet would be a sensible way to start. Although excessive weight is usually due to eating too many calories and not burning them off, there can be medical causes to consider, such as an under active thyroid. Your vet will also give her a body score and determine her ideal weight.
Once she’s been given a clean bill of health, you can start her on a calorie-reduced diet and exercise program. Slow and steady definitely wins the race — get your vet to give you a target weight to aim for over 12 weeks, which is attainable and reasonable. You can take her in every few weeks to see what she weighs and adjust things accordingly.
The diet must be complete and balanced. You can, with the help of your vet, formulate a homemade diet that is low in fat and energy, but it must contain all the nutrients she needs to remain healthy. There are plenty of good quality, commercial weight-reducing foods available (dry and tinned), which will provide her with a balanced diet while restricting the calories. Each food will have its own feeding guide to follow, depending on her ideal weight.
The other main issue is consistency in the family — everyone has to agree to no sneaky tidbits (no matter how cute she looks!) or they come out of her daily allowance of diet food! Also get her walking once to twice a day to help shed that fat.
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