How Ollie Helped Minnie Lose 20 Pounds and Regain Her Health

We know that feeding your dog a freshly cooked diet can help them reach a healthier weight, whether that’s losing or gaining pounds. But when we heard Minnie’s story, we had to bark about it as loud as possible!

When Jennifer Marra received a call in February, 2018 about a woman who couldn’t take care of her older dog anymore due to dementia, she knew she had to help. As someone who had worked with rescue dogs for years–and the owner of three senior dogs–she felt she had a responsibility to save the pup. Though she couldn’t predict what would transpire:

Minnie was a rat terrier/chihuahua mix who had been living in a basement and weighed a whopping thirtyfour pounds. She was barely able to waddle around at that weight–and she was covered in fleas and mites. "Her big eyes were pleading for help," says Marra. "So we whisked her away to our vet."

Minnie had ear mites, hookworm, tapeworm and roundworm, anemia from the fleas–and because of her weight–a torn ACL and congestive heart failure. Her lungs and heart were also filled with fluid. Unfortunately, she wasn’t a candidate for surgery because of her heart condition. So what did the vet suggest? "A good old fashioned diet."

Once she was home, Marra treated her with antibiotics and ointments, and gave her an orthopedic bed to sleep on. And they came up with a gameplan: to feed her Ollie. She had given it to one of her other senior dogs: "We were impressed with the quality of the food, packaging and thoughtfulness," she says. "With demanding schedules, we knew we didn’t have time to make Minnie’s food for ourselves. So Ollie was the only way to go."

After just a month, she saw a major difference: Minnie was able to get down to an ideal, healthy weight of 14 pounds without even exercising. And due to her weight loss, her ACL healed over time, she’s been taken off of two of her medications for heart and fluid retention. "She is a healthy, extremely happy senior gal living out her golden years as the princess that she is," says Marra.

"She loves to chase her brother around, jump off of furniture as she pleases–all the things she could never have done before. Her quality of life has changed drastically and we’re so grateful for that."