Snacking and Begging

Snacks & Begging

We know that you may want to reward your pet slimmer with a tasty treat but there are some things you need to keep in mind:

• Avoid feeding table scraps - they are inappropriate for because they are nutritionally unbalanced, have high salt and high fat levels and promote begging and fussy eating habits.
• Don’t leave any food lying around and watch out for sneaky tactics! A previous participant caught her dog stealing avocados straight off the tree. Another had to ‘child-proof’ her fridge and freezer when she discovered her Australian Cattle dog had learnt how to open them.
• Avoid giving carbohydrate snacks to a cat being fed Hill’s Prescription Diet m/d.
• Don’t forget Hill’s Prescription Diet Metabolic Stews that you can use occasionally to reward a milestone.
• Opt for healthy, low-calorie snacks if you would like to treat your pet to something extra. A limited amount of healthy snacks like these shown below will not compromise weight loss but use them occasionally.
• Low Calorie Snacks
  • ¼ cup of carrot
  • ¼ cup of green beans
  • ¼ apple
  • ¼ rice cake
  • ½ fat free wheat cracker
  • ½ medium cucumber
  • 1 stalk celery

Rewarding your pet

We all like to reward our pets, but all too often we think of food as the first option. There’s no reason why a pet on a weight loss programme can’t receive rewards but why not try some alternatives to food that your pet is sure to appreciate just as much.

• A brush or massage: A relaxing way for you to bond with your pet that warms up muscles, releases tension and stimulates blood circulation.
• Fun, games or exercise: Play a game of fetch, or hide a toy in a sand pit and encourage some digging, take them out for a short walk, or buy a chew toy or puzzle toy.

The idea is to provide some mental and physical stimulation and pile on the praise, attention and cuddles. If you think about it they’re almost sure to love that more than the quick unhealthy titbit that hardly touches their mouth before being gulped down.