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WATCH “SHEBA” LOSE WEIGHT ON SLENTROL
“Sheba” is a 5 year old Siberian Husky belonging to Leann, one of our receptionists. She was a rescue dog, and came to Leann’s house with a few behavioral issues. She was obsessed with food, most likely because it wasn’t always available to her. She guarded her food. When Leann’s other two dogs walked in the room, “Sheba” would growl, and even attack if they got too close. When “Sheba” was done with her food, she would go to the other dogs’ bowls and growl at them until they allowed her to eat their food too. Even Leann's cats weren't safe. "Jeff" the cat had to be rescued from her jaws one day when he walked too close to her food bowl. “Sheba” is normally a sweet and gentle girl, but her food aggressiveness was taking a toll on the whole family!
Needless to say, a combination of too much food and too little exercise made “Sheba” gain weight. Obesity in dogs is a growing problem and decreases their quality of life. It’s hard on their joints, and they just don’t feel as energetic as they could. New research has shown that obese dogs don’t live as long as normal weight dogs.
When Jennifer, our Pfizer representative, came to our hospital to do a lunch-and-learn program on SLENTROL, Leann eagerly volunteered “Sheba” to be our poster dog for this break-through drug.
Follow “Sheba’s” story as she loses weight. And remember, even if your own dog doesn’t have a major behavioral problem like “Sheba”, if he or she is overweight, you owe it to them to make them slim and trim again.
FAQs:
Q: How can I tell if my dog is overweight?
A: Go to the SLENTROL sliding weight scale to see.
Q: Which dogs can go on Slentrol?
A: Any basically healthy overweight dog can go on it.
Q: Do I need an appointment with a doctor if I want to put my dog on SLENTROL?
A: Unless they've been seen by one of our veterinarians in the past couple of months, it's best to make an appointment. The doctor can make dietary suggestions, determine your dog's optimal weight, and also give you behavior modification techniques. All monthly weigh-in appointments are done by one of our technicians at no charge (except for medication).
Go to www.SLENTROL.com for more information.
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9/29/2008
Starting weight: 96 lbs. Goal weight? We're guessing around 70 Lbs. This goal weight will be revised as needed as she gets closer to her ideal weight.
Within the first 2 weeks of being on SLENTROL, Leann noticed some major behavioral changes. The food guarding stopped: no more growling and attacking “Kodi” and “Friday” over food. She actually began to turn her nose up at treats! Leann has “Sheba” on 3 cups of Beneful Weight Loss dry food per day. “Sheba” seems happy with this amount of food, and isn’t begging for more. |
10/29/2008
Weight: 89.9 lbs. Total weight loss in first month: 6 lbs.
Leann says that “Sheba” is eating her 3 cups of food every day, but not begging for more. To avoid muscle loss, it is desirable for dogs to lose weight slowly. The dose of SLENTROL is controlled by a computer program. The program makes sure our patients don’t lose weight too quickly, so “Sheba’s” dose was actually lowered a little bit. Leann hasn’t noticed any undesirable side effects, and thinks that “Sheba” is becoming more active.
11/26/08
Weight: 83.4 lbs. Total weight loss so far: 12.6 lbs. (4.2 lbs./month)
Sheba continues to do well and Leann says she's more active. Her weight loss has exceeded the goal of 3 lbs. / month, but she feels great. In a few more months, when she's met her total weight loss goal, we'll keep Sheba on the Slentrol for a couple of extra months as a behavioral training period. This training period is as much for the owners as the dog. As responsible pet owners, we must learn not to give our dogs tidbits to eat in between meals! Begging is a learned behavior.
12/31/2008
Weight: 80 lbs. Total weight loss so far: 16 lbs. (5.3 lbs./month)
Leann is amazed because Sheba is chasing one of the other dogs for the first time in years. Before, she would only run when she was the chasee, but now, she's the chaser! Her dose of Slentrol has remained the same, because her weight loss is actually exceeding the predicted amount (about 3%/month is the model). Her energy level is obviously only improving. We're still not sure of her goal weight, the Leann thinks she needs to lose at least another 10 lbs.
2/8/2009
Weight: 78 lbs. Total weight loss so far: 18 lbs. (4.5 lbs./month)
LeAnn was a little late with Sheba's weigh-in this month, which may slightly slow down her weight loss. The computer model increased her Slentrol dose to get her weight loss back on track. She continues to feel great!
3/9/2009
Weight: 75.4 lbs. Total weight loss so far: 20.6 lbs. (4 lbs./month)
Sheba continues to lose weight slowly, which is what Pfizer recommends. Leann says that she occasionally will steal food from the pantry, but won't actually eat the food. One day, the tell-tale sign was a trail of food leading to an opened bag of dried beans!
4/8/2009
Weight: 70 lbs. Total weight loss so far: 26 lbs. (4.3 lbs./month)
She finally reached her goal weight! After Dr. McCullough took a look at her, she determined that she still needs to lose more weight. Her new goal weight is 62 lbs. The computer model adjusted her dose for the new goal for continued weight loss.
April 21, 2009
Here is an updated photo of Sheba. Although you can't tell from this picture, if you see her from above and feel her, you can tell that she still needs to lose weight. However, she still looks and feels great!
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