Did you know that just like humans, pets may develop obesity and excess body fat? Unfortunately, this can lead to significant health issues such as diabetes or degenerative joint disease. Follow these simple methods to avoid obesity in your pet if you want to give your furry best friend the best quality of life and extend their life.
Weight gain in pets is frequently caused by overfeeding and a lack of exercise. Maintain a healthy mix of food consumption and physical activity for your pet to maintain a healthy weight. An effective, long-term weight reduction and maintenance program typically necessitates the treatment of many, interconnected patient and client variables. Obesity prevention is far simpler than a reversal in companion animals, as it is in human medicine.
What is Obesity?
Obesity is a condition characterized by positive energy balance and excess adipose tissue buildup, which harms the quality and quantity of life. While variations exist, obesity is typically defined as a body weight that is 20% above optimum owing to the buildup of extra body fat. The typical body fat percentage of normal lean animals is 15–25 percent.
Tips for Preventing Obesity in Pets
1] Exercise
Exercise is necessary not only for your dog’s emotional health but also for his physical health! However, depending on your dog, exercise should be more than simply a quick stroll around the block. A stroll is wonderful, but if you want to lose weight and keep it off, you need to start power walking to ensure those calories are being burned. This is advantageous to both you and your dog!
2] Right Food and Equal Quantities
Pet food comes in a variety of forms, sizes, and formulations. The age, weight, breed, and activity level of the pet all play a role in selecting the proper pet food. Calorie content may also be controlled because each pet formula contains a varied number of calories per cup. The objective is to select a meal that has the finest qualities for your pet while containing the fewest calories per cup.
Puppies and kittens often require more calories per pound of body weight than adult animals. Pets that are naturally more active can eat more calories without getting overweight. Furthermore, it is critical to follow the feeding instructions on the bag or container of pet food.
3] Feed more often, in small quantities
It is far preferable to feed pets two or three times a day than to feed them their daily ration all at once. Feeding them more frequently during the day keeps their metabolism working harder and more frequently, which helps them burn more calories. Also, feeding pets late at night when they don’t have as much of a chance to burn off the calories is not a good idea.
4] Visit Your Vet
Weight reduction is significant, and your veterinarian is perhaps the best spot to begin. If your pet is seriously large, your vet can assist you with beginning without causing an excess of uneasiness for your pet. Your veterinarian can likewise assist you with precluding illnesses that can cause heftiness, like hypothyroidism.
Regardless of whether you don’t believe there’s anything medicinally off-base, it’s encouraged to consistently counsel your veterinarian in case you’re rolling out any radical improvements for your pet.