Oscar & Mr. Goo's Weight Loss Diary - Part One

It seems that not only us humans struggle with the never-ending battle of the bulge. Our pets are dealing with this issue everyday too.

Pet obesity is a major health concern. Overweight pets suffer more physical ailments and do not live as long as animals of recommended weight. Obesity often reduces a pet's enjoyment of life. An estimated 25-40% of dogs in the United States are obese. Pet obesity is not an issue involving dogs alone, cats and all domestic pets are at risk from this potentially fatal condition. I wasn't able to find a decent statistic for Canada but I think we can safely assume our overweight pet population is roughly the same as in the States.

Being in the pet industry I get to know a lot of different people with a lot of different opinions. Vets have a completely different view of what a pet should eat compared to dog food reps setting up displays in your local , large pet store chain.

I am very fortunate to have come across an excellent source of information on what a pet should consume to be healthy and to maintain a proper weight. I met Holly Montgomery after becoming involved with Poooh Busters. Holly owns and operates Tail Blazers in Copperfield, SE Calgary. Tail Blazers, "Health Food Store For Pets", is a store where pet guardians can find only wholesome, healthy food and treats, a wide variety of supplements, accessories, knowledgeable staff and lots more!

This store, especially Holly's store has an extremely welcoming and warm atmosphere. It's almost like walking into a store in the middle a very small town. It's casual, fun and very personal. Holly knows many of her customers and their pets by name. She knows what they are there to buy and offers up her expert advice on all things related to raising a well fed, healthy dog or cat.

Mrs. Big Nate and I own four pets. Two dogs and two cats. One dog, Oscar is overweight and one cat, Mr. Goo is what I would call obese! The other two animals are of a healthy weight, which in itself is weird. How can two animals be fat and the other two be fine? They all eat the same things and pretty much the same amounts.

Well, I thought it was about time to use Holly's knowledge and products as a resource to resolve the overweight issues Oscar and Goo are experiencing.

So what is Holly's suggestion to get a fat pet on its way to a lean body?

A Raw Food Diet!

I've heard about raw food from several different sources and even did some research on it over the internet. As always there are arguments for and against the feeding of raw food. So what better way to test this science than by performing my own little experiment. Subjects? Oscar the Japanese Chin dog and Mr. Goo the Long Haired, Blue-eyed Burmese cat!

So the over the next few months I will be blogging our progress and experience. Please be sure to follow along, and you might learn a little something along the way. I sure hope to!

On my next blog, I will weigh in both pets and talk about our first few days of transistioning our pets to their new diet. Stay tuned, it should be interesting to say the least!