October is Pet Obesity Month! Orange Grove Vet is excited to announce that Ella, an 8 year old Boerboel is one of Hill’s Pet Slimmer Finalists for 2018! Ella lost an amazing 9.3kg or 20.5% of her body weight!
Not only is Ella a wonderful natured dog but she has an incredible story to go with her amazing weight loss feat! Ella was rescued by her owner, Liesel approximately 3 years ago from a farm where she was used as a breeding female. She was then given away to the neighbouring farm but when they found out that she was pregnant once again, the farmer decided he couldn’t keep her or her puppies. Soon after that Ella rescued by the dog trainer from Pretoria who made contact with Liesel, who was looking for a companion for male Boerboel, Jeff.
Sadly after a year of Ella and Jeff being together it was clear that they were not such a good match as they would often fight. Jeff went to live with Liesl’s mother, where he is very happy and Ella has settled into a life as an only dog.
Just over a year ago Liesel noticed Ella was much less active and struggling to get around. She began gaining weight and it became apparent she was in some discomfort as a result of osteo-arthritis.
On visiting Orange Grove Vet for a check up Ella was prescribed pain relief medication and assessed by practice manager, Nicola Booth for Hill’s Pet Slimmer Programme. Due to her arthritis, she was put onto Hill’s Metabolic & Mobility diet where was initially weighed in at over 45kg (she is a small sized Boerboel) with her her target weight was 36kg.
Thanks to the perseverance of Liesel sticking with the programme, Ella achieved her target weight in less than a year! Liesel reports back that since losing the weight Ella is much happier and more active. Ella often used to limp and over the past few months Liesel hasn’t seen her limping any more!
On Friday 28 September 2018, in celebration of Ella qualifying as a finalist for the Hills Pet Slimmer competition, Orange Grove Vet and Hills Pet Nutrition hosted a party in honour of Ella and her achievement! As a finalist, Ella has won 3 months worth of Metabolic Mobility, plus her owner Liesel & Nicola received a bottle of Moet Brut Champagne! We are crossing our fingers that Ella makes it into the top 3 finalists or possibly even winning the competition which will be announced in the upcoming months.
As part of Obesity Month, Orange Grove Vet invites pet owners (both dog and cat), to bring their pet into Orange Grove Vet for a FREE body condition assessment. For more information email nicolab@ogvh.co.za or call us on 0117281371.
