Lake Area Animal Hospital / Meet Our Contestants

**Hill's Get A Better Life & Lake Area's Biggest Losers Challenge**
Meet The Contestants: Odie Perry weight now 23.5 lbs weight loss 18%- Hooray for Odie! Ricky Henry weight now 13.8 lbs weight loss 6.8% Jasmine Domalik target weight 80 lbs weight now: 92.5 lbs 8% weight loss-Good girl Jasmine! Pokie Nessmith Feb. 16- 19.8 lbs Baily Smith Feb. 16- 33.9 lbs April 29 lbs Total wl= 4.9lb or 15% weight now 27 lbs weight loss 20%- Wow! Good dog Baily! Baily has met her first weight loss goal; we will be reevaluating to see if Baily needs to lose more or if it is time to switch to a maintenance diet. Nikki Tracey target weight 21.2 lbs weight now 20.3lbs 15% weight loss-Go Nikki! Hootie Staples target weight 70.2 lbs (Hootie lost 10 lbs before entering contest-Go Hootie!) weight now 76 lbs weight loss 2.6% Gator Nelson Mar. 19- 35.1 lbs Larry Christofferson target weight 75.6 lbs weight now 80.9 lbs 15% weight loss-Good boy Larry! Dixie Gilliam target weight 8.9 lbs weight now 10.2 lbs 6% weight loss-Hooray Dixie! We knew you could do it. Jazz Armitage target weight 79 lbs weight now 81.7 lbs 8.2% weight loss Sophie Belcher target weight 88.6 lbs current weight 93.5 lbs 10% weight loss-Woo hoo! Go Sophie! Sophie's story is one good example of why your pet's weight loss should be undertaken with veterinary approval and supervision. Sometimes your dog might be sticking to their diet and still not lose weight, or even worse, actually gain weight. While it may just be that the diet (food portions or total calories) needs to be adjusted, sometimes it can be the result of a medical condition. After testing in May, Sophie was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. Hypothyroidism is a common canine condition in middle-aged and senior dogs, as well as certain breeds of dogs, in which there is a deficiency in thyroid gland activity and hormone production. Many hypothyroid dogs may be obese and lethargic; diet and exercise then are not enough to effect a change in such a dog. Sophie has started thyroid medication and we hope she will start feeling less lethargic and see a reduction in pounds as she continues her diet. Thank you to Sophie and her parents (owners) for sharing her medical information here. We hope it will help people realize the importance of not tackling your pet's weight loss on your own. If you want to help your pet safely lose weight, you can call and schedule an appointment for a free weight check & consultation with one of our weight management specialists-Lynda in Melrose 475-2326 or Lynn in Hawthorne 481-4333. [Great care also needs to be exercised in weight loss programs for cats as they can develop a condition called hepatic lipidosis (Fatty Liver) if they lose weight too fast. For more pet health articles please see our Pet Library page, available from the menu tab on the left or by clicking here.] Ranger Henry 100 lbs Dusty Coats target weight 95.7 lbs weight now 94.4 lbs 11% weight loss Dusty is our first participant to reach his weight loss goal. He did this in 8 short weeks and has been switched over to a maintenance diet. Way to go Coats family!! Cici Armitage target weight 69.4 lbs weight now 81.6 lbs 5.9% weight loss Bandit Armitage target weight 66 lbs weight now 76 lbs 8.2% weight loss Daisy Ferguson target weight 12.2 lbs starting weight 14.2 lbs KD Kruce target weight 109 lbs starting weight 121 lbs May 5: 115 lbs 5% loss Rogue Zazo target weight 36.5 lbs starting weight 45.7 lbs Roy Rider target weight 15.1 lbs starting weight 20.6 lbs Tina Parrish target weight 15.1 lbs starting weight 17.7 lbs Camo Roberts target weight 16 lbs weight now 22 lbs (Camo experienced a weight gain but his family is working very hard to help Camo get healthy. We're rooting for Camo too!) Barkley Addington 113.7 lbs Kelly Henry 13 lbs Garfield Catanese 6/16 starting weight 23.6 lbs This Garfield says no lasagna for him; he'll leave that and being chubby to the cartoon cat. Good luck Garfield, we're rooting for you! Lady Green 6/26 starting weight 64.7 lbs See Your Pet Here! Click here for details.