Congratulations to Tia!

Well done Tia for winning the pet Doctors Pet Slimmer of the Year 2012!

We started Tia on 70g of the Hills Vet Essentials adult twice a day. She does have a habit of swallowing the biscuits whole and not chewing her food. She also got a small Pedigree dentastix for her lunch. Her treats would consist of 1-3 milky bones per day and as a bed time treat she would also get a rawhide thin twist, she would take this and start chewing but never get more than half way through as her sister would then finish it for her.

 Unfortunately Tia has always had a passion for food. This shows when she is out on a walk in the park and she sidles up to people who are having a picnic and tries to tempt them into giving her some of their lunch with her big brown eyes. She would scavenge anything too, like the bread from around the local lake that was meant for the ducks!

 She got one walk a day, off the lead, of about one hour in the afternoon. Occasionally she would play with her sister, Tess, in the garden. When mum goes away on holiday or business they go and stay with the dog sitter who looks after other dogs too so Tia gets more playing time.

 Her diet was started by reducing the amount of her food just slightly and giving her half of a Pedigree dentastix rather than a whole one.  The milky bones were also reduced but some carrot added and we allowed her the half a rawhide chew at night.

 We didn’t want to change her regime totally.

Tia’s mum also increased her walks as much as possible.  Even an extra 20 minutes a day can help to make a difference.

Over time we gradually reduced her daily food intake a little more but to avoid her feeling more hungry we increased her treats but made all the treats carrots!  Mum increased her exercise and to encourage her to eat slower, we advised Mum to put a cricket ball in her food bowl so that she had to move this around her bowl to get to the food thus taking her longer to eat her food.

We also suggested making Tia work harder for her food, like putting the food in egg boxes or paper bags, or rolling it one biscuit at a time across the floor. The idea is to give her brain time to register she is getting food, therefore making her feel less hungry.

Over time, Mum reported that Tia was indeed taking longer to eat her food and by separating her from her sister at mealtimes, this also helped.  Tia also fell in love with her carrots and has stopped begging for food so much.

We agreed with Mum that should Tia find anything to eat when out on her walks then this would need to be taken into account when next feeding her.

As a result of the diet, Tia is more slender now and in much better body condition than before and more active.

Mum knows even with the end of the competition that we need to carry on with this diet and that this is now a way of life for all of them.

Tia won a year's supply of food to help her keep up her dietand a voucher for £30 to spend in the clinic. Mum was awarded a hamper of fruit with some wine and chocolates!

Our photo shows Tia proudly sitting in front of her prize of food and from left to right, Sally Maynard, our veterinary nurse who advised on Tia's diet, Miss Bresnihan and Vicki Horne, Area Manager, presenting Tia's certificates.

Well done Tia!

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