From obese to normal; a great weight loss story

Meet Chloe – In late August 2008, Chloe came in to the hospital where I worked, for a nutrition consultation. She was the fattest dog I had ever seen, weighing in at 42 pounds. She also had a urinary tract infection from her overweight condition, and she showed lameness on her right front leg. Her liver was not functioning well and she had a heart murmur. We guessed that there might be a Jack Russell Terrier in there under all of that fat. She was not a friendly girl either.

Chloe was over 9 years old. She had never eaten dog food. I don’t have a picture of her at 42 pounds, but here is one from a cell phone when Chloe was received into her second home at 4 years of age. She probably weighed about 35 pounds in this photo.

Fast forward. Chloe could not walk far without her tongue turning blue. Under water treadmill therapy did not work as she was allergic to the water treatment. She did some dry treadmill work and stayed in the hospital for about 30 days. Due to some unfortunate family dynamics, and after much convincing, I adopted Chloe, her fifth home, at the end of September. Some progress had been made and she was eating dog food, and was being fed a veterinary diet food. The nickname Weezie came about, so now she known as Weezie and only Chloe when she is in trouble.

Weight loss photos:

This is Chloe on 10/22/08. This is the first evidence that she had a tail. When she came, she could not defecate cleanly because she could not lift her tail. Fat had completely covered her tail area and was infected from the fecal material. As the weight came off, Chloe walked around the yard more and began enjoying herself.

‘Weezie’, Thanksgiving, 2008, at a friend’s house. She is now narrower in the rear than in the front. Chloe (aka Weezie) gets green beans and other fresh vegetables to fill her up, in addition to her diet food.

This is Chloe, late December 2008. Some tuck up is seen in the abdomen (she isn’t so tubular), and more of her tail is showing.

Ta Dah! This is the new Chloe, 12 pounds and 10 ½ years young. It took her one year to lose 30 pounds. This equates to Weezie losing 71% of her original weight and 2 ½ times her ideal weight. Squirrels beware, as she is as fast as lightening, and little muscles are appearing in her hind legs. She seems happy, loves everyone, and I am lucky to have her in my life. Oh, and she doesn’t bite people any more. She used to be grumpy. I think she is happy now.

From Susan Lauten and Pet Nutrition Consulting. 1/10

These awesome “after” pictures were taken by Greg Hirshoren.