As you may already know, I deferred my acceptance to veterinary school accepetance. I very much hope to reapply in the next few years. In the meantime, veterinary issues are still very important to me. As such, I was pretty excited when I found out about a contest being held by the New River Animal Hospital in West Virgina: The Biggest Loser.

Just like NBC's reality TV show, this contest is about contestants losing weight, except in this case the contestants are pets. In addition to learning about healthy lifestyles for their pets, owners will actually have the opportunity to be able to see the difference that "shedding" a few pounds makes. Of course there are some prizes as well.

The Register Herald quoted Dr. Connie Hyler-Both, who is the verterinarian who conceived of the contest. "'We wanted to do something that would promote better health for our pets,' said Hyler-Both, who has become concerned about the increase in the number of overweight and obese pets. 'About 40 percent of the animals in the United States are overweight, and about 25 percent are obese.'

"Carrying around an excess amount of weight has been shown to shorten the lives of cats and dogs as much as two years, she said.

“'Just as with humans, obesity contributes to diabetes, heart disease, arthritis and other joint problems, liver disease and other ailments.'”

E-Vet Clinic also covered the contest, stating "One of the biggest contributors to poor dog health is obesity. About 35 to 40% of dogs are overweight and almost 25% are obese and just as in people this really increase health problems such as joint issues, diabetes, liver disease, and other health issues...The contest will last three months and first prize is a basket full of items worth $200."

The contest started today for dogs and tomorrow for cats. It will last for 3 months.

I personally am a huge supporter of contests like this. A few years ago, the veterinarian's office of Gandalf, our golden retriever, ran a similar event, albeit on a much smaller scale and without any prizes. All of the particpants got their picture taken after they had lost weight. I hadn't realized how well Gandalf did, so you can imagine my surprise several months later when I saw a poster hanging on the veterinarian's wall with Gandalf's picture with the caption "Gandalf Elliot is the Biggest Loser". Remembering that caption makes me laugh even now. Fortunately he has managed to keep all the weight off. I know many humans who wish they did as well.