Pets need help with losing weight too, and the Ontario Veterinary College can help

There’s a new resource for pet owners looking to get their beloved furry friends from hefty to healthy.

Sometimes pets need help with their weight too.

It’s exactly why the Ontario Veterinary College (OVC) at the University of Guelph has a weight care program that allows pets to shed some pounds in a healthy way.

Leo, a seven-year-old golden retriever, is one dog that’s making good use of the program.

“He started having kidney issues,” explained Leo’s owner Christina Motyka. “We had to be very specific with his diet. That kind of started his journey when it came to weight care. Then he got hit with multicentric lymphoma.”

Leo went through radiation and chemotherapy, leading to reduced activity. After a while his owners realized he had packed on some pounds.

“He was at 100 pounds,” said Motyka. “People around us were saying, ‘Oh he’s gained a lot of weight.’”

So it was time for Leo to buckle down and start eating cleaner and even hitting the gym. It may sound silly for a dog, but the OVC was able to help.

“The more weight they bear on their joints, the more stress that causes their joints,” said Adronie Verbrugghe, a professor at the Ontario Veterinary College and Royal Canin Veterinary Diets Endowed Chair in Canine and Feline Clinical Nutrition. “And in a case like a dog with osteoarthritis, we don’t want them to be in pain for the rest of their life.”

Extra weight can also lead to bigger problems like diabetes, urinary disorders and skin diseases. Not only did the college offer Leo a tailored diet plan, they laid out a workout plan too.

“If we combine our nutrition with exercise, we can aim to lose body fat mass, while trying to maintain muscle mass as much as possible,” said Verbrugghe.

It’s something Leo has been a big fan of.

“Every time we drop him off for his workout, he pulls us to the pool and just cannot wait to jump in and does not want to ever get out,” said Motyka.

It seems to have paid off with major improvements in Leo’s arthritis and mobility.

“I’ll look at his acupuncture appointments in the pool and I’m like, ‘I wish I focused this much on myself,’” said Motyka, jokingly.

His hard work is showing up on the scale. When CTV News stopped by the veterinary college on Friday, Leo weighed in at 82 pounds. His family and the staff who have been working with him say that is considered a big success.

While Leo is getting closer to his goal weight of 75 pounds, maybe the most rewarding part of it all is he has an energy level that his family hasn’t seen in years.