Post-diet Monitoring

4. Post-diet Monitoring

Once weight loss has been achieved, it is vital to monitor the dog's weight regularly and provide the owner with advice on the selection of a maintenance food and the quantity of rations. In dogs, ideally checkups should be scheduled every month until the dog's weight has stabilized over a period of three to four visits; fluctuations in weight must be limited to around 5% (Burkholder & Bauer, 1998).

There have not been any studies published on the long-term development of body weight of companion dogs that have followed a low-calorie diet. (© M. Weber).

Generally speaking, at the end of the diet a gradual dietary transition is preferred, in terms of both quantities and type of food. The veterinarian has two options:

• Continuing with the same (low-calorie) type of food and gradually increasing the quantities to maintain the weight.
• Selecting a food with a little higher energy density while maintaining the same quantity as at the end of the diet. This will increase the energy intake. So if the energy density of a low-calorie food is 2800 kcal/kg for example, the same quantity of food with an energy density of 3200 kcal/kg will automatically lead to increased daily energy intake of 14%. This is a relatively simple option; it consists in changing the food without changing the quantities. It will be appropriate for the transition of a food that is a little energy-denser, but it is not recommended if the food selected is much richer in energy.

A rebound effect is generally observed in dogs in the absence of strict measures (Kimura et al., 1991; Laflamme & Kuhlman, 1995). There are no precise figures relating to the scale of this rebound effect. In humans, long-term studies appear to show that the weight put back on in the twelve months following the end of the diet is between around 33% and 50% of the weight lost during a low-calorie diet. It is therefore advisable to consider obesity as a chronic disease that requires permanent monitoring (Wadden, 1993).

From a practical perspective, the quantity of energy needed to maintain a constant weight must be known and, all things being equal (the dog's activity level and lifestyle, etc.), it must be adjusted when the food is changed. It is important to warn owners not to change the food without verifying the energy intake. This point is particularly important, because obese dogs are often older individuals and as a consequence it is highly likely that their food has been changed to respond to different physiological (aging) or pathological conditions. Lastly, it should be noted that there is a flagrant lack of data on weight monitoring after a diet.

After making huge efforts to achieve the targets set at the start of the process, at the end of the diet owners may lapse into old habits, in spite of their contentment at how their dog looks.