This is a shout-out to Levi, the not-so-chubby-anymore Pug in South Dakota, who is the lucky newest member of the Halo Healthy Weight Challenge Club.
Levi needed to drop some pounds before his vet would consider doing the sight-saving eye surgery he needed, and his mom Kimberly jumped at the chance to join our weight loss challenge on The Expert Vet pet-talk radio show I co-host on the Radio Pet Lady Network with Halo’s own Dr. Donna Spector.
Kimberly received a complimentary three-month supply of Halo Healthy Weight kibble along with Halo’s Spot’s Stew in a can and Dr. Donna’s precise instructions of exactly how much of each to give at two daily meals, along with green beans for snacks.
It was easy for Kimberly to do Levi’s regular Monday morning weigh-in at home because she has her own precise scale (to weigh food, from a diet she was on herself!) and slowly but surely he lost several ounces every week.
That may not sound like a lot, but Dr. Donna calculates exactly how many calories a dog needs to consume to lose 1-2% of his body weight a week – the slow and steady loss being the healthiest and most long-lasting way for weight loss to take place.
This past week – after a brief plateau of no weight loss – Levi dropped another .6 lbs! He got another round of applause from Dr. Donna, who cheerleads our participants all the way through what can be a frustrating or not wildly dramatic road to a slimmer waistline.
In fact, Kimberly even included a new a bird-s eye view of Levi and documented he had lost an entire inch around the middle. I told her she was a star and she replied, “Nah, Levi’s the star! I just control the food scoop! ;)”
As Levi approaches his target weight- and will finally be able to get the surgery he needs to save his eyesight – Dr. Donna and I are on the lookout once again for another tubby pooch who wants our help in melting off those pounds. Please get in touch via my Facebook page or RadioPetLady@gmail.com to see if you’ll be our next contestant!
Tracie Hotchner is the author of THE DOG BIBLE: Everything Your Dog Wants You to Know and THE CAT BIBLE: Everything Your Cat Expects You to Know.
She is also a renowned pet radio host and producer, having spent 7 years on the Martha Stewart Channel of Sirius/XM with CAT CHAT® and even longer with her award-winning NPR radio show DOG TALK® (and Kitties, Too!) that continues to broadcast in the Hamptons and the Berkshires. Her most recent accomplishment is the pet talk radio network she has created on the Internet called The Radio Pet Lady Network.