Pudgy Pets are a Problem

Not unto themselves, of course.  Our furry friends are pretty good at loving us unconditionally.  However, obesity and excess weight on pets can lead to a lot of health issues, shorten their life span, and lower their quality of life while they are with us.

As much fun and joy it brings to us to spoil our pets, it may be time to turn away from treats.  This is especially true because it turns out most of us aren't very good at spotting overweight pets, and a couple extra pounds means much more on a pooch than a person, since their frames aren't meant to support that excess weight.  There are factors that can't be controlled as far as propensity for weight gain - in particular Dr. Becker identifies the breed, gender, and age of the pet - but we can learn to adjust for those factors with diet and exercise.  Dogs and cats have recommended daily calorie intake, just like humans, and its important to track the nutrition labels on anything you feed your animal companion.

Some of the risks of overweight pets that petmd identifies are: "exercise intolerance, decreased stamina; respiratory compromise (breathing difficulty); heat intolerance, hypertension (high blood pressure); diabetes or insulin resistance, liver disease or dysfunction; osteoarthritis; increased surgical/anasthetic risk; lowered immune system function; and increased risk of developing malignant tumors (cancer)."

A few bits of advice that the vets give is to watch the calorie intake of your pets, give them regular exercise (hey, those first two things sound a bit familiar), swap treats for praise and play, and check the facts on the treats you do give them.

We want our pets to be as happy and healthy as they want us to be.  Let's help them out with that.  Your pets will live longer, have better quality of life, and no one wants to make frequent trips to the vet for something easily managed.