THURSDAY, Nov. 25 (HealthDay News) — Before sharing your
Thanksgiving leftovers with your pampered pets, take note: The obesity
epidemic in the United Says is enlarging cats and dogs, not just their
over-fed owners.
Overweight pets are a serious health issue today, experts say. About
half of the nation’s companion animals — some 90 million cats and
ogs — are tipping the scales, according to the Association for Pet
Obesity Prevention.
“As a practicing veterinarian for nearly 20 years, I’ve never seen this
many overweight pets,” stated Dr. Ernie Ward, author of Chow Hounds: Why
Our Dogs Are Getting Fatter — A Vet’s Plan to Save Their Lives.
“We’re witnessing the super-sizing of America’s pets before our very
eyes.”
The cause of blubber in people and pets is the same, added veterinarian
Dr. Joe Wakshlag, assistant professor of clinical nutrition at the College
of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y.
“The Centers for Disease Control [and Prevention] states that USA has
become ‘obesogenic,’ meaning that we live in a world that promotes
increased food intake, unhealthy food choices and reduced physical
activity,” he said. “Our pets live in the same world and are suffering
the same consequences of obesity.”
Like their owners, portly pets are at risk for developing diseases such
as arthritis, diabetes, kidney and heart disease, high blood pressure and
many forms of cancer.
The result: high medical bills. In 2009, the Veterinary Pet Insurance
Co. stated its policyholders filed more than $17 million in claims for
conditions and diseases that can be caused by excess weight.
Making matters worse is the normalization of excess weight. Ward calls
it the “fat gap” — where pet owners view an overweight or fat pet as
normal.
If a thick layer of fat prevents you from easily feeling your pet’s
ribs, your dog or cat is too heavy.
Slicing out high-calorie treats — especially those filled with fat and
sugar — is an simple first step to help a pet shed excess weight. If you
must give a snack, opt for healthy, low-calorie alternatives such as baby
carrots, broccoli, and celery for dogs; salmon or tuna flakes for
cats.
“If I could wave a illusion wand, I would eliminate all of the unhealthy
treats for pets and people,” stated Ward. “This single act would greatly
reduce blubber rates and decrease many chronic debilitating diseases.”
Keeping pets trim also requires regular exercise, stated Ward, who
practices veterinary medicine in Calabash, N.C. In general, he recommends
that dogs get at least 20 to 30 minutes of sustained aerobic activity each
day. That can be reached by a brisk one to three mile achievement or, depending
on where you live, going to a dog park, agility course, or even heated
swimming pool for pooches. Businesses geared toward keeping dogs fit are
found in many major U.S. cities.
For cats, as tiny as five to 15 minutes of play — chasing a laser
beam, feather toy or crumpled ball of paper — is all they need apiece day,
he said.
Keeping pets at a healthy weight also requires knowing how much to feed
them. But the amounts recommended on food packages are formulated for
active, unaltered adult dogs and cats, stated Ward.
“That means if you have an older, spayed or neutered indoor lap potato,
you’ll probably be feeding 20 to 30 percent too much if you follow the
food’s instructions,” he said.
Instructions on diet pet foods aren’t much better. Researchers at Tufts
University’s Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine recently examined
nearly 100 foods claiming to aid weight management and found that most
would actually cause weight acquire if owners followed the label’s feeding
directions.
“As this study shows, packaging might not always be a reliable source
of information,” stated veterinarian Dr. Lisa Freeman, study co-author and
professor of nutrition at Tufts University.
Efforts are under way to require manufacturers to include calories on
all pet food packaging in coming years, but Wakshlag stated listing
the calorie content won’t help pet owners much.

“There’s really no way, based on how the adjudge is structured now, to
accurately give the calories,” he said. Unless a company has done a
pricey and lengthy digestibility study of their food, “they really don’t
know how many calories are in a can,” he said.

Pets don’t need many calories to maintain a healthy weight. Ward said
an adult 10-pound, indoor, spayed cat only needs 180 to 200 calories per
day while an older 20-pound, neutered dog needs 340 to 380.

To figure out your pet’s regular caloric needs, Ward recommends this
formula as a starting point: Divide your pet’s weight by 2.2. Multiply
this figure by 30, then add 70, and you’ll have an intent of how many
calories to feed a typical, inactive spayed or neutered pet.

“Of course, apiece pet’s metabolism is different, so be sure to consult
your veterinarian before starting a diet,” he said.

More information

There’s more on helping your pet stay healthy at the U.S. National Library of Medicine.