communication issues

Re: communication issues

Sal the 1st — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 10:42:17 GMT

[quote user="Bouncyfi"]

Hit them with the Animal Welfare Act - tell them they could get reported (not by you obviously cos you know how hard they're working at the weight loss!). After being reported, their pet could be taken off them and rehomed permenantly, as obesity is a form of abuse, in the eyes of the law now!

[/quote]

I would use AWA as an absolute last resort - at least if they are coming into the practice it is possible to keep an eye on things. mention AWA and there is a good chance you will scare them off and you dont see that animal again - sometimes its a real fine line

Re: communication issues

Fiona Leathers — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 00:08:09 GMT

Re: communication issues

Mac Feather — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 16:49:11 GMT

[quote user="Sarah "Rainbow" Nicholas RVN"]I bet yu wish you had a waist that small darlin!!!" So offended (I'm size 12!) [/quote]

I had a charming client with a whale of a lab that said his dog was fat as its female and he went on to tell me that I probably stuffed my face with chocolate as thats what females do.............

He was an old sexist type- he also used to offer me cigarettes in the consult rm??! He said it would keep the weight off me!

We did get a couple of kilos off the dog but naturally the diet or anything I suggested hadnt contributed to the weight loss!

Re: communication issues

Saskia Quinn — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 16:21:39 GMT

thats fantastic news!! Keep up the good work

keep us posted from time to time as I would love to know if he reaches is target weight!! (I have never seen an 'overweight' greyhound before lol!!

Re: communication issues

Sarah Nicholas — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 15:59:33 GMT

saw them today, I am so chuffed! The gent has thrown himself wholeheartedly into getting his dog back to a normal weight. So far 2.6kg loss and looking so much brighter and happier. Scare tactics work!!!!!

Re: communication issues

Saskia Quinn — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 17:35:31 GMT

well, thats great news then!! Lets hope it continues

Re: communication issues

Sarah Nicholas — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 16:33:26 GMT

I nearly fell over when I weighed him and he'd lost a few kilos!!!!! Scare tactics work!

Re: communication issues

Saskia Quinn — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 12:19:08 GMT

Anything further on the greyhound Sarah?

Re: communication issues

Sarah Nicholas — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 10:52:25 GMT

It is definately scare tactic time i think i will emphasize this in my follow-up letter. Thanks for all the advice guys xxxxxxxxxxxx

Re: communication issues

Sal the 1st — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 23:04:03 GMT

my favourite scare tactic (this is really hard line for clients who consistently miss the point the ones that tell you the dog/cat is happy the way it is and would be miserable on a diet) just casually dropped into conversation

'how old is he/she now? do you Know I thought he /she was much older - but I suppose thats what the extra weight does to you? '(I am overweight myself BTW) Then I add the little jokey bit which always raises a smile ' I reckon I could have been Miss World myself if I wasnt carrying this lot around' (emphasizing my extra weight) and then hit them with it. ' the oldest one of these I have ever come across was .. years old - But as long as x is happy I suppose we dont need to worry too much about that, its a shame tho a bit of weight off and he/she will prob be around a lot longer'

message usually gets through!

Re: communication issues

Anonymous — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 22:25:46 GMT

With larger dogs, or those with existing joint problems scare tactics can work quite well.... for every kg your dog is overweight, there is an extra 5-8kg of force through it's knees when he/she runs.

Re: communication issues

Vicky RVN — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 21:57:39 GMT

[quote user="Jo Mackenzie"] The guy then admitted that the cat wouldn't eat the tinned om just the dry, so instead of wasting the tins he'd bought the guy was putting the tins in curry and eating them himself!!!! [/quote]

Sal, i like your methods!

Re: communication issues

Sal the 1st — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 21:54:35 GMT

My biggest loser was a cavalier that tipped the scales at over 18kgs and lost half of its bodyweight in 2 years (owner took a while to be convinced). It was originally reffered to nurses clinic after coming in collapsed, grade 2 heart murmur. She lasted a lot longer than everybody thought she would and had decent qual of life

Re: communication issues

Jo Mackenzie — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 21:53:19 GMT

[quote user="Rainbow"]when i measured his dog's waist he said "I bet yu wish you had a waist that small darlin!!!"[/quote]

I'd have slapped him!

Re: communication issues

Sarah Nicholas — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 21:50:51 GMT

lol site not ite - duh!

Re: communication issues

Sarah Nicholas — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 21:50:26 GMT

Wow thanks guys for responses - I'm glad it's not just me!!! Lot's of helpful stuff - I love this ite!!! <3 As with Lou and Luka I have a fat cat (I'm sure you've seen that rant lol) thing is we try with our cuddly boys!! Alot of my clinics are this problem one was feeding her diabetic cat 2 jam jars of md a day plus treats!!!

With this guy he is very overweight and kept telling me about his heart condition - i bet he ignores his own health advice too. I forgot to mention that when i measured his dog's waist he said "I bet yu wish you had a waist that small darlin!!!" So offended (I'm size 12!)

Re: communication issues

S-J — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 21:47:18 GMT

your Dog is fat

whats wrong with you stupid people

am i wasting my time or yours people

whats the point......

things that i would really like to say to people if only i wernt so polite and wanted to keep my job

Re: communication issues

Sandra Taylor RVN, MBVNA — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 21:43:37 GMT

ooooops just noticed I said dogestive...lol oh well I will leave it

Re: communication issues

Sandra Taylor RVN, MBVNA — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 21:42:59 GMT

Good Tips Sal I usually raise a few eyebrows when i tell them that a dogestive is equivelant to a hamburger and a couple per day adds up to 14 hamburgers a week... that usually gets a few... albeit only a few thinking. But I like the offering of blodds one and the biscuits one

Re: communication issues

Jo Mackenzie — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 21:42:15 GMT

That's a good idea sal, will use that one in future!

My favourite was a guy at my first ever practice with a 9kg cat that was on purina om. The guy insisted that all the cat got was the om, until I probed deeper and found that actually he had a slice of toast and butter each morning, and a bowl of full fat milk "because he needs the calcium"! The guy then admitted that the cat wouldn't eat the tinned om just the dry, so instead of wasting the tins he'd bought the guy was putting the tins in curry and eating them himself!!!! Didn't know what to say to him, was waiting for someone to jump out with a video camera and tell me it was a joke but sadly no such luck!

Re: communication issues

Sal the 1st — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 21:34:02 GMT

when i had clients that maintained they were feeding only the diet and nothing else - at the beginning after a month of no weight loss or weight gain or client adamant that it was the way the dog/cat was built, was normal for breed, had a slow metabolism etc etc i used to offer bloods to check the thyroid. of the many thyroid bloods i have tested through weight clinics over about 15years i have only found two animals that were genuinely hypothyroid. when confronted with hard facts a lot of these clients went on to have lighter animals. the other thing i used to do was put some biscuits in a cup ( the correct daily amount for the animal in front of you)and put another empty cup alongside then i used to say to client imagine you were giving just 2 or 3 extra biscuits a day and by adding 2 or 3 biscuits at a time to the empty cup until the original cup was empty we used to count 'in days' how long it took to be feeding their pet an extra meal it didnt need. and when we had done that i could tell them they should be getting xnumber of meals extra out of the bag and could be saving x amount of money.

Re: communication issues

S-J — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 21:15:15 GMT

i used to enjoy my weight clinics but like so many of us i feel like i hitting my head against a brick wall. i dont understand why they come in sometimes and buy the r/d cos they dont listen and thier wasting thier money cos they insist on feeding along side it.

raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

hmm should feel better after that but nope still wound up

Re: communication issues

Emma Purnell — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 21:02:22 GMT

My favourite was the client determined the dog was only getting the r/d but putting on weight. Took 20 minutes for them to admit he wouldn't eat it without the sausage, bacon and baked beans on top!!

Re: communication issues

Vicky RVN — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 20:55:04 GMT

No i haven't, but will def bear that in mind when i come to do a display at some point

Re: communication issues

loopylou711 — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 20:49:22 GMT

My Lukas fat but after all my tales of his weight loss everyone prob knows that!

I got a big scary lecture on feeding Luka crap when infact it was urinary diet that made him fat. It's ok we are getting skinny slowly but surely!!

Vicky, do you have sucess stories of pets losing weight could show people what their pet could be like.would be a good display!

My Luka for example was miserable before we started losing weight and now hes the happiest cat ever, with bags of energy!

Old ppl are stuborn and are never going to listen, they know best after all!