Weight management event is now available nationwide

The 12th Annual Fit Pets for Rescues (FPR) Ideal Weight Contest is being held virtually through the Healthy Pet Connect (HPC) telemonitoring platform. The 7-week fundraiser kicked off on March 30th, 2024, with 7 contest divisions, prizes, and donations to animal rescue organizations.¹

Healthy Pet Connect is a pet care platform that allows chronic care of cats and dogs, including obesity, remotely. It is a subscription-based telemonitoring platform that uses a pet owner app to transmit pet health data—weights, amounts fed, medications, pictures, and observations—to a veterinary dashboard, allowing a veterinary team to view it.¹

Photo: Andriy Blokhin/Adobe Stock

The FPR contest has raised more than $25,000 for rescue organizations over the past 11 years in Madison, Wisconsin. Using HPC and myBalto, which is handling donations, any pet, clinic and rescue can now participate.¹The contest runs through May 18, 2024,² and spots are still available for potential participants. The deadline to register is extended to April 15, according to an organizational email.

“After 11 years of holding our fundraiser in Madison and a 4-year break due to COVID, we are super excited to take our fundraiser nationwide partnering with HPC and myBalto,” said Ken Lambrecht, medical director of FPR, said in a news release.¹ “Pets lost 4 times faster in our study3 and led directly to the creation of HPC.The treatment and prevention of overweight pets is vital to allow them to live longer and healthier lives. Our contest/fundraiser has a strong track record getting 100’s of pets fitter safely following established guidelines and raising much needed funds for rescues.”

The goal of the contest is to ‘move the needle’ on the pet obesity epidemic. It is a proven concept, based on peer reviewed studies, according to HPC. The contest divisions are as follows¹:

• Biggest 4-Pawed Losers (pets 20% over ideal weight)
• Iron Dogs and Cats (up to 20% over)
• Cat Prides & Dog Packs
• Spudgie’s Big Cat Club (2 cats over 40 lbs and Harley, a 28 lb cat) “coached” by Spudgie who went from 37 lbs to 12 lbs in Bug’s Cat Gym using the HPC system.

This fundraiser is not only for overweight pets. It is for any pet owner who believes in fit pets and wants to help rescues, according to HPC.¹ “The first 50 pet parents signups are free so there are no costs to clinic or pet parent,” Lambrecht added, in the email.

Participants receive a discounted HPC subscription ($14.95), which is required to safe monitoring and for FPR prize point eligibility to win $5000 in prizes. Points are accumulated for donations, recruitment, HPC online marketplace purchases, and placement in the contest.¹

Vet clinics first assess pets to determine an ideal weight. Official starting weights are logged on the HPC app by pet owners, and clinics monitor these pets remotely using their free HPC dashboard. Clinics are encouraged to do their own weigh-in events, donation matches, etc. The contest is free for clinics, but participation is limited to the first 10 that have 3 HPC subscribers. Prizes are awarded to clinics for the most participants, rescue donations, etc.¹

Clinics are encouraged to do their own weigh-in events, donation matches, etc. All is free for clinics, but contest is limited to the first 10 that have 3 HPC subscribers. Prizes awarded to clinics for most participants, rescue donations, etc.¹

Contest sponsors include Purina, myBalto, Basepaws, EpiPaws, Waldo, Sylvester.ai, and DeziRoo.² Visit Healthy Pet Connect’s contest website for more information.

References

1. 12th Annual "Fit Pets for Rescues" Fundraiser/Contest: now powered by Healthy Pet Connect and myBalto. News release. Healthy Pet Connect.
2. Fit Pets for Rescue. Healthy Pet Connect. Accessed April 2, 2024. https://www.healthypetconnect.com/fit-pets-for-rescues.html
3. Hadar BN, Lambrecht KJ, Poljak Z, et al. Technology-enhanced weight-loss program in multiple-cat households: a randomized controlled study. J Feline Med Surg. 2022;24(8):726-738. doi:10.1177/1098612X211044412