National Pet Obesity Awareness Day
Published October 12, 2011
Today, Wednesday, October 12, is the fifth annual National Pet Obesity Awareness Day. In some circles being called a "fat cat" (a slang expression that describes a tycoon with great wealth and power) may be considered a good thing; however a “fat cat” or a chubby canine is definitely not! In fact, pet obesity has become one of the foremost concerns in veterinary practices. Revealed in the fourth National Pet Obesity Awareness Day study was the alarming statistic that over 50% of cats and dogs are overweight or obese.
Regretfully there are still folks that think overweight cats are cute. Realistically speaking, according to holistic veterinarian, Dr. Jean Hofve, internationally known for her expertise on pet food and nutrition, obesity can lead to several serious health problems, such as liver disease, heart failure, renal disease and arthritis. An ounce of prevention is always worth the cure, so carefully monitor your cat's weight to make sure your kitty is not overweight. We use an infant scale to weigh our two cats once a month.
Since the optimum weight for the average domestic cat is about 10 pounds, just two extra pounds is like adding 28 pounds to a woman weighing 140 pounds. And shockingly, if your cat is eight pounds overweight, it is like adding 112 pounds to a 140 pound woman.
The majority of dry foods are high in calories and carbohydrates. Cats require few carbohydrates, which are converted to fat instead of burned for energy. As obligate carnivores they require protein and fat for energy, so providing them with a “Catkins” type diet is the way to go. According to Dr. Hofve, "many commercial pet foods may contain fats that are poorer in quality than say the highest quality lean meat; this is especially true of dry food." The optimum diet for a cat contains 75% high quality grainless moist food, and for losing weight cats should receive 100% moist food. This said, any dietary changes should be made slowly.
While free feeding is more “convenient” for cat owners, it puts felines at risk of gaining those extra pounds. Instead, feeding kitties at regularly scheduled intervals to monitor their intake is far more effective in keeping weight in check. We feed our cats equally divided portions of moist food four times a day, supplemented with a small snack of grainless dry food at bedtime.
Overweight dogs are also subject to a host of serious medical conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, osteoarthritis, respiratory disorders and some forms of cancer. Of course it is crucial to consult with your veterinarian prior to starting weight reduction diets, or exercise programs.
For excellent articles on feline nutrition visit ThenSome.com and for articles on canine nutrition, visit BestFriends.org.
How do you keep your pets at an optimum weight? Share what works for your pets in a comment.
Shortly after retiring as a social worker and psychotherapist, I discovered my "writer's voice"…
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Comments (3)
It is so easy to overfeed our pets, and the extra weight is sometimes hard to control. We feed all of our dogs a weight control formula food. And we do give the recommended amount for them. They do not get a lot of exercise, so we really do have to be very careful about what food they get. Sometimes it seems like a losing battle.
We are caring for a total of 14 cats. Most of those are rescues and only 8 are permanent residents. Of all those cats only one is overweight. These are cats that are fed wet food twice a day at 12 hour intervals. They have high quality dry food, Blue Buffalo, available 24/7. The reason is not that it isconvenient but that some of the rescues are semi-feral. Mike was over sized when born and has been overweight his whole life. The other cats are sleek and healthy and weigh from 4 1/2 pounds (26 yrs old) to 8 to 14 pounds for most of the others. All are healthy. To deny Mike food is to deny others that need that 24/7 dry food. The vet is trying to help us come up with options to get his weight down but for now he remains heavy.
In an ideal world, everyone would have optimum health; and it's what we strive for. But in the real world, unfortunately, nobody's perfect. Learning to live with this and to stop the continual focus on perfectionism would, IMHO, result in a better world with less stress and more joy.
Yes, but this is referring to your pet...not your sister. You are responsible for the health and welfare of that animal. Dogs aren't self conscious about their weight and aren't going to suffer from eating disorders because someone said they've got a fat butt. Do not make them suffer because you are too lazy to properly care for your pet.