How Does Your Pet Measure Up?

Every year, as summer’s promise of warm weather creeps up on me, I inevitably take stock of my body’s accumulated winter padding. This padding is not a good thing when one shifts from sweatshirts to tank tops – so, I begrudgingly start my ever so gruesome aerobic work out routine. Because my furry children enjoy displaying their perfected lounging technique while I jump around in a sweaty frenzy, I typically have a rather curious audience.

Today, while finally making it through the entire abs portion without dying, I caught a ground level view of my cat Milow’s belly. He, apparently, has opted for continual padding no matter what season it is. I had always known him to be a big man – but really never noticed that his belly was getting quite so big. This stunning observation has left me little choice but to bust out the dreaded four letter word – DIET.

Obesity in our animals, just as in humans, is a serious matter. One of the most common medical concerns hospitals diagnose is obesity within our pets. I realize that there isn’t anything much cuter than a furry marshmallow of a cat or a chunky dog waddling over to say hello.

However, most pets that are allowed to become overweight will have a shorter life and quite possibly not even a good quality of life during that time. Animals that carry around a bunch of extra weight usually aren’t the happiest – they don’t play because it’s difficult to move with ease – they are hindered in being able to properly groom themselves which causes uncomfortable matting – they don’t enjoy being held and are usually not an active part of their families. This is sad.

Accompanying these lifestyle concerns are numerous medical issues that plague our obese animals. When a body is burdened by too much weight, it simply is forced to work harder. Thus, the heart, liver, kidneys, and joints (just to graze the top of the iceberg), are all victims of this extra stress on the body. Obesity will cause an increased propensity for your pet to develop certain medical conditions.

As in people, overweight dogs tend to experience elevated blood pressure. The heart suffers with an increased work load since it must pump additional blood to excess tissues. This can lead to congestive heart failure. Obesity is also associated with developing diabetes mellitus, a metabolic disorder in which the body’s ability to utilize glucose is lost due to inadequate production of insulin by the pancreas.

Your pet will die without constant treatment and monitoring by both you and your veterinarian. Another enormous factor to consider with an animal’s weight gain is the stress it will induce upon their joints. Many breeds are pre-disposed to developing difficulty in their hips of spines as they age.

The difference between keeping these concerns under control versus having the concern control your pet’s happiness is often maintaining their weight. Joint and spinal conditions are extremely de-habilitating – often erasing the carefree lifestyle a pet should enjoy. And, finally, to slam the nail firmly into place, any animal that is obese faces an increased surgical and anesthetic risk.

The effects of being overweight on the heart and lungs have serious ramifications while under anesthesia. Cardiac arrest and poor circulation of oxygenated blood to the body’s tissues can occur. Most pets during their lives will have at least 3 procedure where anesthesia is utilized, whether it’s a dental, neutering, or having radiographs taken.

While this may sound like quite a bit of information, I truly have only mentioned a handful of concerns correlating to obesity in our furry children. I do wish to mention that weight gain can sometimes be caused by certain medical conditions such as, Hypothyroidism or Cushing’s disease. So with that in mind, it is wise to discuss your pets present health with your veterinarian to ensure that all is well before altering your animal’s diet and exercise program.

Yes, I did just say DIET AND EXERCISE PROGRAM. It works for us – it definitely will reap the same exciting benefits for them too. The cause of obesity is relatively straightforward – Caloric intake exceeds caloric expenditure. Calories that are not used are stored as body fat, (or padding?).

Therefore, what your pet is being fed – including main diet, treats, and table scraps will need to change. Biscuits are really fattening, equaling a candy bar a day for us. A wonderful treat substitute can be baby carrots or apple wedges. What you change and how drastically you do so is an extremely individual course of action. Please remember to call your veterinarian and ask for guidance – not all diet foods are created equally.

Once the food battle plan is established, you can then introduce the exhilarating world of exercise. Our animals utterly adore spending time with us. So beginning a daily walk routine or a chase the stuffed mouse around the house time will be a much welcomed experience for your pet.

Start their exercise program off slowly, being careful not to over exert - taking into consideration your pet’s age and current medical health. A happy pet is a healthy pet. Health is a balance between spirit, mind and body. Our animal’s spirits often remind us of the pure joy of living.

Our animal’s minds are bountiful in understanding and curiosity – a quality I always admire. Our animals’ bodies sometimes need our care to ensure their wellbeing – they are our responsibility to nourish so that their minds and spirits shall always have the freedom to relish the happy existence of being a well loved pet.