The Star: November 26, 2020

The Star Thursday November 26 2020
18
NEWS
Mike Pero
McMaster & Heap
Veterinary practice
Clios weight loss journey
exits real
estate business
Clio before weight loss
Always a tricky topic to discuss with a committed
pet owner as we all try to do the right thing by our
special friends. Lets face it we hate letting them
down! Plus we love seeing them enjoy their food and
we love rewarding them.
Weight management and nutrition should always
be a part of every consultation with a pet I believe.
There is an overload of nutritional information online,
a lot of it incorrect. It amazes me how people with
no veterinary or nutritional knowledge at all, claim to
know everything about what their dog should eat.
I blame Dr Google! Some diets do more harm than
good. We have seen puppies as young as 12 weeks of
age with Ricketts and severe gastrointestinal disease
( leading to lifelong inflammatory bowell disease) if
they are started on raw food diets exclusively. It is
now not recommended by vets to feed grain free
diets to puppies under 1 year of age due to links to
cardiomyopathy ( heart disease).
As veterinarians we need to be able to offer clients
clear honest advice before they decide what to feed
their pet. There are many great foods out there and
some pets do better on one brand over another. It
can be a bit of trial and error but you do want a food
your pet loves to eat.
As veterinarians
and nurses we are
always upskilling on
the different diets
bought out by the
food companies. We
can make the link
between weight gain
and disease states,
age appropriate diets
and try to prescribe
a diet in line with the
owners nutritional
beliefs ( if it doesn’t
harm the pet). Home
prepared diets for
a particular disease
can be formulated
through Massey
University as well.
There are many great
premium diets on the
market for the puppy,
adult and geriatric
pet. What we like to
concentrate on are
the prescription diets,
only sourced through
Veterinary clinics, which are an important part of a
medical treatment plan for pets with certain diseases
(ie kidney disease, diabetes, inflammatory bowel
disease, dental disease, joint disease, weight loss
diets etc)
Fortunately most pets we see now are not obese.
This is part due to better diets sourced and fed, dogs
getting more exercise generally, pets cementing
themselves in a family thus having more importance
and more awareness of obesity in pets. It’s not “cute”
anymore to be podgey and round. The resurgence of
puppy daycare centres and dog walking businesses
means dogs are socialising and playing more
therefore controlling metabolic rate. Balanced,
premium commercial foods are preferred over bones,
dog roll and feeding human scraps.
Obesity usually occurs due to gross overfeeding,
Chrisy checking Clio’s Bloods
Clio at 30 kg
excessive treat feeding, feeding high fat diets, and
lack of aerobic exercise where dogs especially run,
chase, play and fetch. Some breeds are predisposed
like the Labrador and Beagle due to their voracious
appetites and great nose for finding food.
Medical conditions like Hypothyroidism, Diabetes
or Cushings disease also can lead to obesity. This
is where the annual check becomes important as
your veterinarian should consider the pets weight
and body score, explore what foods are fed and
recommend blood and urine testing to determine
if certain disease states exist. A leaner pet will live a
happier, healthier and longer life? Not rocket science.
Clio, a delightful 7.5 year old Chocolate lab presented
to me 6 months ago excessively overweight at
40kg. She had lived with
elderly owners who fed
her household leftovers,
Tux and tinned food and
she was pretty exclusively
an inside dog with very
little exercise, although
lots of love and pats.
About a year ago she had
been heavier at 47kg!! At
this weight she could no
longer get into the car
herself, was slow to get up
from rest and generally
looked sore and stiff in her
hips. She had no energy
nor desire to play.
She was rehomed
within the family, her
new owners committed
to her weight loss and
improving her life. When
I first met Clio I checked
bloods and urine mainly
for thyroid disease and
diabetes. She had low
normal thyroid levels but
I decided to start with the
reduced calorie diet (Hills Science diet Metabolic dry)
first. Her intake was 245g per day ( approx 2 cups)
with NO treats whatsoever. Her new owners where
fanatical, feeding her only what was recommended.
Her weight loss success has been excellent, with Clio
now weighing 31.60kg. She still could be at risk of
becoming hypothyroid in the future, so 6 monthly
thyroid tests will continue. She plays with dogs now,
can easily walk for 30 minutes and wears a constant
smile. She just looks and feels amazing and now has
a waist. Even her coat is glossy.
A rule of thumb to determine if your pet is
overweight is that they should have a waist when
you look down on them and you should be able to
easily feel the last 3 ribs. If you are worried your cat or
dog may be at risk of becoming obese, book a visit
with us today. Your pet will thank us in the long run.
Dr Michele McMaster
MIKE PERO, the man,
has exited his ownership
of the real estate business
which still bears his name.
Companies Office
records show Pero
resigned as a director of
Mike Pero Real Estate
on October 20 and his
company MPZ One
ended its ownership of the
business on November 4.
His company had a 12
per cent stake as of June
30, which had already
reduced from 24 per cent
the year before.
In 2018 Pero reduced his
stake from 50 per cent to
24 per cent after reaching
a settlement agreement
with Mike Pero Mortgages
following a long-running
legal dispute.
The settlement was
reached during the final
stages of a High Court
case that saw Mike Pero
Mortgages attempting to
claw back $2.2m (or $2.4m
with interest) it says Mike
Pero overpaid himself.
As part of the deal, Pero
also agreed to take an
active role in promoting
the broader group until at
least 2027.
A spokeswoman
for Mike Pero Group
confirmed Pero still
worked with the company
as a brand ambassador
and would continue to
do so for the foreseeable
future.
The change in
ownership is likely to be
part of a tidy-up of the
business ahead of the IPO.
Meanwhile, Mike Pero
DEAL: Mike Pero has
resigned from the real
estate company that
bears his name.
Mortgages looks set return
to public ownership
through the listing of its
parent company, Liberty
Financial, on the ASX.
Mike Pero Mortgages
was delisted from the
NZX in 2006 after a
takeover by a joint venture
company owned by
New Zealand Finance
Holdings and Liberty – an
Australian lender.
The takeover was done
at $1.10 a share. Fourteen
years on, Liberty now
owns 100 per cent of
Mike Pero Group, which
includes its mortgage,
insurance, finance and
real estate businesses.
According to Australian
media reports, Liberty is
looking to undertake an
initial public offer that
would value the company
at A$1.8 billion.
It is expected to raise
A$363 million in an
IPO priced at 11 times
the lender’s forecast net
profit after tax, with new
investors owning 20 per
cent of the company on
listing, according to the
Australian Financial
Review.
Liberty was founded
by now US-based
Sherman Ma in 1997,
after he worked at Credit
Suisse and McKinsey &
Company. He remains an
executive director, with
the chief executive being
James Boyle.
The Australian reported
that Liberty’s cash net
profit in 2020-21 was
expected to be A$160m to
A$170m.
Its New Zealand
business is just a small
part of that.
Financial accounts for
Mike Pero Group show it
made an after-tax profit
of $6.533m for the year
to June 30, down from
$8.936m.
Its operating incoming
rose from $59.4m to
$65.6m but its expenses
also rose from $49m
to $57, after a jump in
its finance costs driven
largely by higher fees and
commissions.
Its provisions for
impairment also rose
from $1.7m to $2.48m
over the year.
Analysts are bound
to be looking closely at
impairment provisions
across the whole business
to see how it has fared
under Covid-19.
– NZ Herald
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McMaster & Heap
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