You should seek the advice of your veterinarian if your pet is ill as only he or she can correctly advise on the diagnosis and recommend the treatment that is most appropriate for your pet.

he Problem

A large number of dogs are overweight - which is known to be detrimental to health. The usual cause is too much food, and so excessive energy intake and/or inadequate exercise. Toys can help to increase energy use and decrease weight gain

If a dog eats more food than it needs excessive nutrients are converted  in to tissue energy stores - usually as body fat. Weight gain can be avoided in all but a few dogs with medical problems by :

• Controlling food and energy intake

• Increasing exercise

Managing the problem

Obesity can be avoided by :

• The optimum body weight for a dog should be determined (a veterinarian can help advise on this) and maintained by controlling food intake so that only enough energy is supplied to meet the animals daily requirements

• The type of pet food given should not be very high in calories for dogs prone to overeat and develop obesity

• The amount of food given should be carefully measured out every day by the owner

• Free feeding or ad lib feeding - when food is left out all day and the dog can help itself - should be avoided as this encourages overeating

• Giving snacks, leftovers and treats should be avoided

• Regular exercise should be encouraged - walks, runs, playing with toys

• Some toys, such as the Buster Cube, are beneficial because they increase exercise as the dog has to work to turn the toy over to gain access to the dry food inside. These toys can also be used to control the amount of food that the dog gets to eat.

Availability of toys

Toys can help in the management of dogs prone to overeat and develop obesity, because they can  :

·        Encourage exercise when the dog would otherwise be resting eg when the owner goes out. This helps the dog to burn off unnecessary energy

·        They can be used to control the amount of food (and energy) intake

•  Chew-toys can help reduce appetite for food

Examples of toys that can be used to increase exercise and or control food intake :

The Buster Cube – play cube with food treat

The Boomer Ball – play ball

The Kong chew-enrichment toy with food treat

The King Kong

Cool Kong

The Dental Kong

These are all available at discounted prices from the manufacturers UK list price from Provet’s web site : www.provet.co.uk. Go to the General Store on Provet’s on-line Shopping High Street and search for the products.

Updated October 2013