It seems like every week, there’s a different viral picture of an adorable overweight animal, just waddling through life. But sometimes these adorable chonks are not as happy as they seem. Similarly to humans, being extremely overweight can be detrimental to an animal’s health.
When Kai the dog was brought to the vet, he was in rough shape.
His previous owners brought him to the vet to put him down. He weighed 173 pounds, which is significantly over what a Golden Retriever should weigh. But when the vet saw Kai, and saw how happy and loving he was, they decided that it wasn’t right to put him down.
The vet contacted an animal rescue in their town of Edmonton, Alberta, called Misfits of Alberta. From there, Pam Heggie began to foster Kai.
It cannot be overstated how overweight this dog was.
When Kai started to be fostered by Pam Heggie, his weight was out of control. His vet stated that he was the heaviest pet she had ever seen.
Fortunately, his vet was on hand to offer guidance about regulating his weight loss. With the vet’s help, Heggie was able to get Kai down to a healthy weight, but it wasn’t an easy journey.
Heggie says that the first few weeks of owning Kai were tenuous.
Heggie describes her initial feelings to Good Morning America:
“I was worried about everything. I was worried that I would wake up and he wouldn’t be there anymore. But, he was a trooper. I always had to have someone around to help because he couldn’t get up and down the stairs by himself and we had to lift him for the first little while.”
Pam Heggie put the work into helping Kai lose weight.
Heggie credits their lifestyle choices with helping her dog drop his pounds. Year-round, they went outside every single day, to get important play and walking time in. It wasn’t always easy, and at the beginning, he wasn’t able to take more than a few steps before panting and lying down.
They also carefully monitored his food intake so that he wasn’t overeating. Now, one of Kai’s favorite things to do is run outside.
Here’s what people are saying about Kai’s incredible transformation.
One YouTube commenter says:
“Bless this woman – and the vet! – for helping him! What a beautiful story”
While over on Facebook, people are inspired by this story:
“Loved Pam‘s comment you can accomplish really big things; just one step at a time. I have written that down as a motto. you have many insightful comments people can use to help themselves. Love to you and Misfits.”
Given how important a healthy weight is to dogs, it could be argued that Heggie saved Kai’s life.
While Kai was initially saved by the vet who decided not to put him down, it’s Heggie who put in an incredible amount of work to turn Kai’s health around. Because of her dedication, Kai’s quality of life improved tremendously. He is now free to live like the happy, loving, boy he was always meant to be.
Watch the video below to learn more about Kai’s incredible story.
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