Weight is the one number that changes how long a pet lives
Carrying an extra fifteen per cent shortens a dog's life and brings arthritis forward by years. The arithmetic that gets a pet there is small: one daily treat can be a fifth of what a cat should eat in a day.
9point body condition scale, where 5 is the target
What happens
Scoring, by hand
Body condition is scored by feel over the ribs, the spine and the waist, on a nine-point scale. Two nurses score the same animal within half a point of each other, and the scales alone tell you none of this.
The daily calorie figure
We calculate what your pet should eat from its lean weight and its actual activity, then convert it into cups or grams of the food you already buy.
Treats counted in
Treats come out of the daily figure rather than sitting on top of it. This is the step that makes a plan work at home, and it is the one most often skipped.
Monthly weigh-ins with a nurse
Free, five minutes, no appointment, at any hospital. The trend line is the thing being managed, and a fortnight of no change is normal.
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What a treat costs a 4.5 kg cat
A cat that size needs roughly 200 calories a day. Everything below is measured against that figure, which is why small changes at home move the scales so quickly.
| What it is | Calories | Share of the daily total |
|---|---|---|
| A 10 g dental treat | 35 | 18 per cent |
| A tablespoon of full-cream milk | 9 | 5 per cent |
| One small dental chew | 22 | 11 per cent |
| A 20 g piece of cheddar | 80 | 40 per cent |
| Half a tin of tuna in oil | 94 | 47 per cent |
| A level 60 g cup of dry food | 230 | 115 per cent |
The last line is the common one. A cup that looks like a sensible portion is a full day's food for a cat this size, and most households give two.
Where you can get this
6 of our six hospitals, because the equipment and the people it needs live in those buildings.
What it costs
No chargenurse weigh-in
Weigh-ins are free at every hospital. A full nutrition consult with a vet is $75.
All consult feesQuestions we get asked
My dog acts starving all the time. Am I underfeeding?
Labradors, beagles and pugs behave that way at any weight. Score the ribs rather than reading the behaviour, and bring the dog in when the two disagree.
Is raw feeding a good idea?
It can be balanced and it often is not, and the bacterial risk to the household is real. If you want to feed raw, book a nutrition consult so the diet can be checked against requirements.
How fast should weight come off?
One to two per cent of body weight a week. Faster than that in cats risks hepatic lipidosis, which is far more dangerous than the extra weight.
Do prescription diets work?
For weight loss, yes, because the calorie density is controlled and the fibre keeps the animal full. They cost more per bag and less per kilogram lost.
Book nutrition and weight
Available at Fremantle, Subiaco, Joondalup, Midland, Canning Vale, Rockingham.