Pet Obesity: A Growing Epidemic
Published March 23, 2011
These days, we are bombarded with an overwhelming emphasis on health and fitness; we are constantly reminded to get plenty of exercise and to make sure we are eating wisely to shed those extra pounds and keep our weight down. This health craze, however, is mainly for humans. Although it is often lost in the mix, what really amazes me is the rather alarming number of pets that may be considered morbidly obese.
In an article recently published in the "Wall Street Journal" that I ran across while visiting the Cat Hospital of Orlando's Facebook the other day, data from a study released last week indicated that one-fifth of dogs and cats are 30% above their normal weight, putting them in the obese category. The study was done by the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention and the nation's largest general veterinary practice, Mars Inc.'s Banfield Pet Hospital.
According to Ernie Ward, author of Chow Hounds: Why Our Dogs Are Getting Fatter and founder of the Pet Obesity Association, the subject of "fat pets" was considered taboo by the veterinary community. She said, "There are sensitivities to an owner's own weight condition and to making them feel guilty for overfeeding their pet."
So what are some of the reasons that we are seeing an increasing number of plump pets? Obviously the first and foremost reason is owners over-feeding their pets, often offering them an abundance of table scraps as rewards. Many owners are unaware of the dangers associated with obesity and the serious health problems, such as diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, arthritis and cancer, to which overweight pets are at risk. In fact, according to what some research has suggested, pets fed less over their lifetime can live longer.
What is really alarming and contributing to the problem is that unless a pet food product claims to be a low calorie product, manufacturers are not required to list the caloric content on their labels. However there is a proposal now circulating to change this, according to the Food and Drug Administration.
To initiate an open discussion on the topic of weight, Banfield is in the process of providing software to its 770 hospitals which will require its veterinarians during routine office visits to assess a pet's Body Condition score on a scale ranging from 1 (too thin) to 5 (obese). A Banfield veterinarian and nutritionist said, "The power is in the fact that it will spark an important conversation with the owner."
Additionally, it is this writer's opinion that, due to lack of exercise and insufficient emotional and mental stimulation due to subsequent boredom and depression, dogs and cats have started ranking high up in the couch potato department, sleeping away the hours until their next meal.
In order to keep our cats' weight at an optimum level, besides monitoring the quantity and quality of the food we are feeding, our veterinarian suggests we weigh them on a weekly basis to ensure their weight is appropriate.
What other suggestions can you offer to keep our pets in peak condition? Share them in a comment.
Image Source: Flickr user ExperienceLA
Shortly after retiring as a social worker and psychotherapist, I discovered my "writer's voice"…
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Comments (7)
Hi, I work for a company (GotoCamera) that offers a free service which helps you use your webcam to monitor your home, business, family, etc. Turns out, a very significant number of our subscribers actually use the service to watch over their pets while they're at work (not very surprising... after all, our pets are our children too). Considering the fact that we have users in over 180 countries, it seems like we're doing a good job at providing a service that our customers love. With GoToCamera, you can check on your pets anytime you wish. This especially makes sense when you have an exotic pet back home and your heart bleeds when you have to leave your pet alone at home. All you need to set up this free service, is a webcam that comes along with your PC and you're good to go. You can try the service here at - http://www.gotocamera.com
We also have seven cats and only one (Boots, a Tuxedo) is overweight. She weighs about 10 lbs. I do keep dry food out all the time, and try to give them only high quality canned food from the feed store...I agree with Sue's comments! However, I think I will try to eliminate most of the dry food and just feed them twice a day with high quality wet food. Anyone have some recipes that can be home made and that the cats actually eat????
i think the major promblem is what we feed our animals. Most cat food is corn and what happen to corn it turns to sugar. plus all the by products which is not meat. cheap low grade cat food is mostly cheap ingreds. cats need meat protein not veg protein that they cant digest. people should really look at the ingred list on the food they feed their animals. don't fall for the pretty bags and label they are just a gimmick to get you to noticed they bag. purina, eukanuba, science diet,iams, all corn based food. first ingred should say example: chicken, chicken meal not corn, byproducts corn meal,chicken fat. resteraunt greese is sold to pet food make so the pet will eat the food and the greesed is kept in 55 gallon bucket in uncontrolled enviroment
Two of our eight are overweight; Sammi is 16 and Maine Coon, and Maryam is a calico shorthair rescued from the desert as an emaciated, pregnant teenager. With Sammi, his age and lineage may have a lot to do with his fondness for food; Maryam, on the other hand, probably remembers all too well a time when she had to think about her babies-to-be, and didn't know where her next sustenance was coming from. It's very difficult in a multi-cat household to slim two down while ensuring the other six have enough! ;(
I can identify with your problem. One of my kitties came from the streets last summer and she never knew where her next meal would come from so when Kitty Castaway moved in here, she snarfed everything and she is now FAT! The other 6 cats are at a healthy weight and don't always eat when I put the food out if I were to go on a twice or three times a day schedule. Besides, cats have a healthier metabolism if they "graze" throughout the day. So, I have resigned myself that K.C is just going to be fat. I do excersise her with toys and she has stopped goring herself since she knows that there will always be food available now. I hope that playing with her will get the weight off. Otherwise, she may have to be banished to the bathroom with reduced calorie food for awhile. :(
I have heard many people say that they can't get weight off of their overweight pets. A couple of years ago my vet told me that my black Lab, Scarlette, had to lose some weight. So we put her on a special food and let her get some excercise. She has managed to lose 14 pounds and is a lot more active now.
With our cats we have only one that is obese. Mikey Joe Bob Bubba is huge. I proved the theory a few years ago that it was his obsession with dry cat food. I slowly took away the dry and changed them over to all wet canned food and natural food that I cooked for them. Mikey's weight dropped and he was doing better. As our older cats aged they needed that supplemental food so we went back to dry also. Mikey's weight went back up. Now we have changed them over to Blue Buffalo. Mikey is eating less and enjoying life more and has even lost some weight. Now that spring is here and the cat enclosure is opened for the cats to play in I see that all the cats are more active and enjoying the sun and also playing in the snow. It is up to us to monitor their food and exercise and keep them healthy.