FAT OR FLUFFY? T
14 4 Legs & a Tail
he exploding number of obese humans in the US is mirrored by the exploding number of obese pets. We want to show our pets that we love them, but sometimes we are loving them into shorter and less fulfilling lives. Before we even talk about food and treats let’s establish if our pet is fat or fluffy. We see photos of clearly overweight animals and think…my pet is not that fat! So maybe your pet is not obese…but are they overweight? Dogs and cats with longer hair make it that much harder to detect if your pet is car r ying a bit too much weight. It can be a slight difference and in smaller pets it can be something as small as a pound. What should you look for? Here is a transition of a dog or cat from underweight to overweight. If your pet is furry then I would suggest you go by feel. If you feel your pet’s mid-section softly you should be able to feel their rib cage without fat covering them. Their ribs should feel like the back of your hand. Your pet should have visible a waist (which is most easily judged from looking down over them). This can be a delicate subject. In general people do tend to over feed their pets and it is more common than not that pets are slightly over-weight. Did you know that a pet that maintains a healthy weight averages 1.8 years longer life? The consideration of quality not just quantity of life is important too. Healthy weight will lower the risk that your dog will have pain in their joints etc., reduce risk of injury, but also research tells us they suffer lower amounts of anxiety and have more general well-being. Winter 2020