Dr. Abby Deuel, VeterinarianAccording to the Veterinary Information Network (VIN), 35% of pets are tipping the scales at such high numbers that they are considered obese. Unfortunately, an overweight pet puts them at risk for heart problems, diabetes, breathing difficulty, and mobility issues. It is a matter of life and death for some pets to lose the extra pounds. In fact, according to VIN, overweight pets live 2.5 years shorter than their normal weight counterparts.
Body Condition Score
While many breeds have ideal weight ranges, we are seeing more and more variation within a breed. Therefore, the actual number of pounds that your animal weighs is not a specific way to determine if they are overweight. The actual weight of the pet in pounds can help monitor progress when putting your pet on a diet. For overall health, however, we use body condition score (BCS). This is a 5 point scale, where 3 is ideal, 1 is vastly underweight, and 5 is obese. The parameters for determining the Royal Canin BCS include:
- Very thin - Ribs, spine, and pelvic bones easily visible; Loss of muscle mass; No palpable fat on chest
- Ideal - Ribs, spine, not visible but palpable; Obvious waist behind the ribs (seen as an hourglass figure from the top); Little abdominal fat (cats), little palpable rib fat (dogs)
- Markedly obese - Massive fat deposits on chest, spine, abdomen (cats), and base of tail (dogs); Obviously distended abdomen
Health Issues
Arthritis is the inflammation of the joints of an animal. It is painful and will decrease your pet's quality of life. It stands to reason that the more weight there is on a joint, the more it will hurt, the less they will be active, and the more weight they will gain. It becomes a vicious circle that is best prevented.
Respiratory compromise can result from the inability of an animal to take a long, deep breath. This can occur because fat tends to deposit in the chest and around the ribs, resulting in a competition between fat and space for the lungs and trachea.
The heart is a vital organ that can become overworked if it is trying to pump blood against the effects of obesity. This can lead to an enlarged heart, which can then lead to congestive heart failure.
Diabetes is a treatable but complicated disease that can alter your pet's life span and quality of life. It is the result of insulin resistance which means that the body's sugar levels can increase to dangerous levels.
Hepatic lipidosis is a disease that can occur in an obese animal that does not eat for several days to a week. The body starts to break down their energy store which causes the liver to shut down. The initial reason why the animal does not eat well can be any number of conditions unrelated to obesity.
Prevention
The best way to prevent and treat obesity includes good diet and exercise. Not all pet foods are created equal. Those that contain mainly grain are incredibly fattening. Corn is what the agricultural industry uses to put weight onto pigs and it works very well to do the same in dogs and cats. Inspect your pet's bag of food. If the first ingredient is corn, wheat, oats, or barley, it can easily make your pet gain weight. There are special foods that are specifically designed for weight loss or maintenance. Be sure to have a nutritional consult with your veterinarian.
The portion you feed your pet is important. The bag's recommendation is just that: a recommendation. The pet food company wants you to feed more so you will buy more food. If you're not sure how much to feed your pet, consult with your veterinarian.
There are some diseases like Cushing's and thyroid disorders which result in an animal's inability to lose weight. If you are trying to get your pet to lose weight and nothing seems to be changing, it may be time to have them checked out by a veterinarian.
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Dr. Abby Deuel, Veterinarian Deuel Veterinary Services, P.C. 2047 N Broadway Ave Salem, IL 62881 Phone: 618-548-6755 Fax : 618-548-6855 deuelveterinaryservices.com |
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This article originally appeared in the February 2013 Holistic Touch Therapy Newsletter.