Roast dinner loving pooch is on a mission to battle the bulge!

20 February 2020

A Jack Russell from Darlington, whose love of roast dinners has seen her balloon in weight, is going on a diet to fight the flab.

Eight-year-old Jack Russell, Pippa, weighs a whopping 12.5kg (1st 7lbs), 6.5kg (12lb) over her ideal weight (6kg/9lbs), leaving her health at risk.

Owners Paul and Gillian Kane says Pippa loves nothing more than a roast dinner.

He says: “She has all the veg, meat, a bit of Yorkshire pudding and a splash of gravy. She occasionally has porridge for breakfast too, which she loves.

“Pippa is a rescue dog and when we first saw her in the kennels we just knew she should be part of the family. But I think it’s because she was a rescue dog that we spoil her so much. We don’t know what sort of life she had before we took her on so naturally we want to give her everything we can. Unfortunately, that’s been a lot of food too!”

“We’ve tried lots of different diets for her, and even tried cooking her steamed chicken with vegetables instead of normal dog food, which made no difference to her waistline.

“We’re the first to say that we spoil her rotten, but her weight is spiralling out of control so we want to help her lose weight and become happier and healthier.”

Owner Paul wants to help Pippa lose weight for the sake of her health. To help his podgy pooch get in shape, Paul has entered her into PDSA’s Pet Fit Club competition – a six-month diet and exercise challenge.

“She suffers from a number of health issues, including an injury to her hip and knee ligaments, which makes walking difficult for her, and the extra weight is putting lots of additional strain on her joints. We’re hoping that losing the weight will make her more comfortable, mobile and change her life for the better.”

At PDSA we’re appealing for the UK’s fattest pets to enrol in the contest. The call comes as stats reveal up to half of UK pets (46% of dogs, 34% of cats and 30% of rabbits)* are believed to be overweight or obese.