Coral Springs Animal Hospital's Pawfessional Spring 2017 | Page 16

management utilizing medications
and massage as needed.
being fed (with a goal of few to
none in the future) while switching
to healthier snacks. Healthier
options include: baby carrots,
broccoli, watermelon, apple slices,
ice cubes (you’d be surprised),
green beans, etc. Remind your
clients: dogs count quantity, not
quality! Breaking one snack into
many small pieces will go a long
way with pups.
Exercise: This is key. Chances are
the obese patients are not being
walked more than once a week if at
all. They are probably in and out to
do their business then back on the
couch, and for some older arthritic
patients, I get it. But ultimately, we
need to get these guys moving.
Encourage an increase in frequency
and duration of walks. If there is
arthritis to consider, make sure to
educate your owners on pain
Puppy Fat Camp: this comes in the
form of physical therapy utilizing
underwater treadmill, obstacle
courses and laser for joint
inflammation
secondary
to
increased motion (Coral Springs
Animal Hospital offers amazing
weight loss therapy through our
Sports Medicine department run by
Dr Carolina Medina). If this is not
financially feasible, encourage your
owners to take their dog to a
shallow pool or body of water
where he can walk with water to
the chest or lower. Swimming is not
necessary. Water allows for less
joint stress during exercise and the
buoyancy allows the patients to
move more and longer, thus