Canine Weight Check

I’m always amazed at the bill when I take my dog Jake in for his yearly check-up. I know veterinarians are by no means the highest paid doctors, but my animal hospital is working hard to close the gap!

As we waited for our turn and Jake checked out every dog that walked by, my eye caught a colorful glossy brochure for “Pawsitively Fit!” This program, which is advertized as a “one-of-a-kind” canine weight management program, is the equivalent of doggy Weight-Watchers! For a mere $100 membership fee, you get:

– Five (5) weigh-ins with a licensed Technician (one each month)
– Access to technician/veterinarian advice on weight-loss
– Monthly goal assessment
– Monthly caloric calculations and
– Monthly Slentrol calculations, if your dog is placed on this medication.

I reaffirmed that I am living in a society with way too much expendable money when programs like this are taking off!

I love my vet. We talked about all the various tests and injections they were suggesting and settled on only those that were really necessary. We decided to put off cleaning his teeth for a while longer, since they are not really too full of tartar and he will need to be sedated (at a considerable expense). He found Jake to be slightly overweight (about 5 pounds) and fortunately did not mention Pawsitively Fit, but instead suggested decreasing the amount of food he gets each day. He did suggest that Jake come in every 6 months now since he is becoming an “older dog.” To me that seems a bit excessive if he shows no sign of being sick!

I paid the bill which was still staggering despite the things I had declined. I feel really fortunate that Jake is a relatively well dog. Except for his seasonal allergies which emerge the same week of August every year and for which he takes steroids for 3 weeks, he has no health problems.

I’ll bet the incidence of canine obesity is on the same curve as human obesity in this country. Next thing you know, they will be offering gym memberships for dogs!

For those of you who haven't met Jake, here he is -- he was too embarrassed to sit on the scales, so that's a stand-in!