I'm often asked as a consulting nurse how I deal with owners of overweight pets that are also overweight themselves. Some veterinary nurses struggle with discussing obesity with owners that are overweight, and initially I struggled myself, but as an overweight person, I soon realised that being in that position meant that I could really sympathise and empathise with that client on how difficult it is to lose weight. Discussing the pet's obesity with an overweight owner is actually quite easy as they do understand how it makes you feel. There are difficulties with mobility, exercise intolerance and feeling hungry (even when you might not need food). Just because they might not have been able to lose weight themselves, does not mean that they won't achieve it in their pet.
There have been numerous studies looking into the behaviour of pet owners as a caregiver to the animal and comparison to childhood obesity. Obesity is a very complex condition; it is not just about what you eat. There are so many overlapping elements of food, exercise, emotions, social economics, and learned feeding behaviours.
The One Health Initiative seeks to promote and improve the collaboration of practitioners across all disciplines to improve the lives of all species. Obesity is an important element of One Health. Pet ownership influences obesity rates in humans, the gut biome in humans and in turn dermatological conditions, and even owners' own healthcare. Owning a pet can be a positive influence on your own health and wellbeing. Pet owner risk factors for canine and feline obesity include owner household income and exercise habits. Owners of overweight or obese dogs have been found to have a lower net income than owners of normal weight dogs, and are less likely to participate in regular exercise.
One Health is a term that we regularly hear, but what is our role in promoting it? What does this actually mean for RVNs in veterinary practice, especially in terms of obesity. Our role is not to instigate obesity clinics for our clients, but we do need to be mindful that owner education regarding the prevention and management of obesity can have a positive effect on the pet owner's health and wellbeing. Don't be afraid to discuss these elements. Using human weight loss digital aids to monitor the pet can be helpful. The use of exercise trackers or food diaries can be very helpful to track the amount of exercise that dogs have undertaken. Some owners will start using these for themselves when they start seeing the advantages. Taking elements from human weight loss medicine can benefit veterinary medicine. We know from human behavioural studies that motivation and support from others is a vital aspect in the success of weight loss programmes. Having a structured nutritional plan with meal schedules is also beneficial, alongside monitoring of exercise levels. Learning from human medicine will benefit our furry patients in obesity clinics.
Personalised nutrition has been used in human nutritional plans and has been shown to be of benefit. Food is delivered to the person's door and they have to cook the food and stick to the plan given to them. No trips to the supermarket where naughty foods can be purchased. There is also a financial aspect as only the food to be cooked is paid for, no extras and no wastage. Learning from this, how can this be adapted to the veterinary market? There are personalised nutrition internet-based pet food companies that do offer this service already. Adapting this slightly to include the involvement of veterinary professionals (already being trialled) will give a big boost to veterinary nurses' arsenal to help in the prevention and management of obesity in pets.