The sun was shining at our annual Pet Slimmer Awards, which took place on Wednesday 20^th April in the gardens at Beech House Veterinary Centre, Hersham. Each year the practice invites animals who have been watching their weight to attend the afternoon ceremony to congratulate pets for conquering their obesity problem.

There were strong contenders for winner in both the dog and cat categories, with each pet entered for the competition having done extremely well and on target to reach their ideal weights. The afternoon unfolded with head vet Charlie, weighing each animal and assessing their body condition-an objective way of deciding if an individual animal is overweight. Charlie went on to announce the Dog Slimmer of the Year as ‘Alfie’ a 12 year old Beagle who has lost a total of 4.6kg in 18months a huge 24% of his body weight.

Cat Slimmer of the Year was awarded to ‘Smudge’ an 11 year old domestic shorthaired cat who has lost 1.6kg in 12 months. Smudge’s owners Mr and Mrs Skitrall are all too aware of the importance of weight loss for Smudge as he has recently been diagnosed with diabetes.

The winners each received a year’s membership to the National Trust and a bag of Hills prescription r/d (reduction diet) food, to help support their continued weight loss.

Pet obesity rates are rising to an all time high, with the United Kingdom having among the fattest pets in Europe. Vets are increasingly worried about the health implications as a result of pets being overweight, which include diabetes, heart and lung disease, osteoarthritis and cancer, ultimately leading to a reduced lifespan and poorer quality of life for the pet. Pets become overweight because they eat more calories than they burn on a daily basis, with poor diet, lack of exercise and fatty treats being contributing factors.

As a practice Beech House Veterinary Centre are keen to help educate and motivate owners to keep their pets at a healthy weight, and offer free nurse clinics to discuss the best diet and exercise regime for pets to achieve this. If you are interested in speaking to one of the team about an overweight pet please contact the practice on 01932220768, or click here for simple checks you can do to help prevent your pet becoming obese.