HOW DO I KNOW IF MY PET IS OVERWEIGHT?

To determine if a pet is overweight we perform what is called a body condition score.  A body condition score is performed by feeling the dog’s or cat’s ribs, looking at the shape of the abdomen and at how much fat is stored in the fat pad of cats.  You then look for the description on a body condition chart that best describes the pet you are evaluating. The ideal body condition score is 4 or 5 for a dog and 5 for a cat.  Below those numbers, the pet is too skinny and above those the pet is too heavy.

Why is my pet fat? He/she doesn’t eat that much.

Obesity is caused by one simple fact; the pet is not burning as many calories as are being taken in.  This can be caused by medical issues such as hypothyroidism, but most pets become overweight because their activity and metabolism slows with age, yet their calorie consumption doesn’t.  Could you avoid gaining weight if you ate like you did in high school? 

Look at dry dog and cat food.  It is dehydrated.  Our pets “add water” to their food in their stomachs.  Think of how a handful of dry spaghetti looks before you soak it in water, then how it looks afterwards.  Remember the last time your pet vomited food after eating?  It looked like a lot more than you put into the bowl, didn’t it?  This fact makes people perceive the amount of food in the bowl to be less than is actually there.  Next time you put food into the bowl remember the spaghetti analogy.

Exercise

Exercise will help burn calories in our pets just like it does for us.  But just like it does for us, it has to be a significant amount of exercise to burn a significant amount of calories.  A walk around the block and then a treat when you get home isn’t going to help much.  For healthy animals, long walks, jogging, swimming and games of fetch can all help.  Check with your veterinarian before beginning strenuous activity your pet is not accustomed to performing.  Other health conditions like arthritis or heart disease could make strenuous exercise inappropriate.

You can just leave food out and they won’t overeat, right?

Some dogs and cats that are not very food motivated can be allowed to “free feed”.  But, most pets will overeat as they age. A better approach is to feed at specific meal times and monitor how much you’re putting in the bowl. (If you know how much your pet eats and you monitor their body condition score, you can adjust the amount of food as needed).

                                              I want to give my pet treats. Can he/she still lose weight?  YES!

Although high calorie treats can certainly make weight loss more difficult, low calorie treats can be used successfully. Below is a list of treats and how many calories they have.  If a family likes to give large numbers of treats we simply compensate with less food at meals and by using lower calorie foods.

       FOOD                                               CALORIES                FOOD                                         CALORIES