CHUBBY PETS: CUTE, CUDDLY AND COMPROMISED

By Jodie Gruenstern, DVM,CVA

In 2023, resolve to prevent and stop obesity-related diseases through common sense weight management for all members of your family. Your dog or cat is not immune from the ill effects associated with being overweight.

Obesity prevalence and ramifications

Most common feeding strategies do not promote healthy weight and only contribute to the development of chronic disease. Worldwide, more than one-half of our pet population is considered obese. Obesity is associated with or exacerbates many afflictions: diabetes, joint disorders, collapsing trachea, heart disease, liver, and gall bladder issues. Obesity exacerbates the episodes of honking cough associated with collapsing trachea, the lameness episodes associated with luxating patella in small dogs, and the mobility issues in large breed dogs with hip dysplasia. Fatty liver disease in obese cats who lose weight too rapidly can be deadly. Commonly fed processed dry kibble diets create obesity and contribute to many inflammatory disorders, irritability, and even fuels cancer.

Take action—change your pet’s diet

What can you begin today to prevent obesity and promote a healthy weight in your furry carnivore? Feed a fresh, species-appropriate diet. A prey-concept diet mimics what a dog or cat would eat in nature, if allowed. A mouse per day is the ideal diet for an average cat, and a rabbit or squirrel would be the ideal cuisine for a large dog. The four major components in a prey are flesh or meat, organs, bone or ground bone or adequate, absorbable calcium and warmed, churned vegetation, as is found in the stomach of the prey. If pet diet manufacturers would stick to these guidelines when preparing the foods they sell to pet parents, our pet obesity epidemic would resolve naturally. Thankfully, there are commercial diets