Obesity In Pets

We all love to spoil our pets! This can have unattended consequences if we give our loved ones too many treats or table food. This article will outline the importance of maintaining a healthy weight, how to tell if your pet is overweight and tips/tricks to keep your pet at a healthy weight.

Why is it important for our pets to be at a healthy weight?

Obesity is one of the common preventable diseases that affects our pets. Obesity in pets has association with heart disease, insulin resistance, arthritis, kidney disease, increased anesthetic risks, and overall shorter life span.

How can I tell if my pet is overweight?

There are visual and tactile clues we can use at home to assess our pet’s weight:

• When feeling the sides of the chest, the ribs should be easily felt. In overweight pets there is layer of fat covering the ribs making the ribs difficult to feel.
  • When standing and looking down at your pet they should have a discernable waist or “hourglass figure”.
  • When looking at your pet from the side they should have an abdominal tuck- where the belly tucks back toward the body does not hang out toward the ground.

Purina provides great charts to help assess your pet body condition score (BCS)!

What are changes I can make to help my pet lose weight?

• Please consult your veterinarian to assess your pet’s current body condition score. They can provide guidance on calculating calories for your pet, rule out medical conditions that may lead to obesity (e.g. hypothyroidism), etc. Your veterinarian can help create an individual weight loss plan for your furry loved one.
• The mainstays of weight loss are decreasing caloric intake and exercise!
  • Think about everything your pet eats on a daily basis- this includes food, treats, table scraps, etc.
    • The calories based off current feeding can be compared to our daily calorie goal. Using these numbers, the exact volume of food your pet needs can be calculated.
    • Alternatively, easy changes can include eliminating table scraps, reducing treats and reducing overall volume of meals.
      • If unsure where to start can decrease volume of food by about 25%.
      • If you frequently give treats try to break them up into smaller pieces or use kibble as treats to reduce calories.
  • Please use measuring cups to accurately and consistently measure food.
    • Using feeding guidelines provided by the pet food is a good starting point. However, those measurements do not consider your pet’s metabolism, if they are receiving additional treats, level of exercise, etc.
    • Please avoid free feeding dogs/cats. Instead provide them measured meals or measure the daily volume of food to allow for grazing. Measuring meals rather than free feeding limits overeating and further weight gain.
  • Foods lower in fat and higher in fiber/protein may help better promote satiety.
  • Exercise can take the form of play, walks, swimming, etc.
• Resources for Weight Loss
  • Pet Nutrition Alliance
  • Association or the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention

We hope that this article provided helpful tips to help your pet maintain or achieve a healthy weight!

Cynthia Rogers, DVM