Pet Obesity

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

My Vet did a segment on pet obesity for our local news that I thought was interesting.  She's always been pretty big on keeping G & M's weight under control, but I had no idea that the percentage of obese dogs and cats would be so high.  Murph is going for his check up next week...I'm glad he's my "skinny boy".  I still have time to take a couple pounds off Guinness before it's his turn to see "Dr. Tanya".  Here's the link.

http://landing.newsinc.com/shared/video.html?freewheel=91060&sitesection=wtic_mrn_590&VID=24590691

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Dr. Tanya is a very cute vet as well as a very good vet, lol. And she gave great advice. I especially liked the part about food not being the only way to show love. Too many people do equate food with love for their kids as well as their pets.

As much as I rant about vets not knowing anything about dog food, I do think most of them are very good at assessing a dog's body mass and knowing whether they are at a healthy weight.

[Elizabeth, Bailey & Bruin]

Great story...thanks for sharing!

[ERIC A. NATER]

All Vets should be trained on the proper nutrition, and be required to give the Pet's Owners this Information.  You are lucky to have such a good Vet!

[Jennifer and Jack]

Great clip.!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I am always amazed at how many 'caring' pet owners have truly obese pets and don't even realize it.  It is easy for a fluffy dog or cat to gain a bit of weight without the owner being aware, but obese - it is so obvious.  It is nice if my dogs actually like the food I feed them, but frankly, I don't really care if it is the food I think is best for them.

[Sue & Lily Grace]

Thank you for sharing. I will have to watch Lily Grace because she was an early spay puppy.

[Camilla and Darwin]

Great clip! 

[Lynette Main]

All three of my Doodles are fed the same thing at the same time.Shea is the tallest and I feel is to thin,I can feel his back spin. The vet says hes perfect. Mya is smaller and a  little overweight.Shes 65lbs. Aja is our rescue and is the heavy one.She weighs 71lbs and is the shortest one. She is a chunk. This winter has been a bad one for long haired Doodles though. Mine are not out that long to play because they come in muddy.If I could I would cement the whole back yard,that would take care of the mud. It would also be great for keeping the toe nails filed.Haha...  I did watch the video...

[Pat and Traveler]

Amazing to hear how many pets are overweight.  But you see those chubby dogs out walking and have to wonder why their owners allow them to get so obese--it isn't kindness to feed them too much.

[Donna K & Quincy]

Jane your vet sounds really great. Interesting that this discussion comes with an ad for no surgery gastric bypass. :>) I have seen a few overweight dogs but only a few, I guess the too fat ones are at home not getting any exercise. 

[Stella]

I think part of the problem is that we are so used to seeing overweight dogs that it has become "normal".  I keep my dogs on the lean side and often get comments about how 'thin' they are.  We went to see some dog sledding the other weekend and my friend commented on how 'thin' all the dogs were.  I had to explain that those dogs, along with my own, are not 'thin' but actually how a dog should be.....

Ha ha, I just went and watched the video before finishing writing this, and realised that I pretty much just typed word for word what your vet said!

Although I dislike them as a pet food producer, Purina did a huge study (large sample size and carried out over the lifetime of the dogs) comparing free-fed vs control-fed dogs and concluded that control-fed dogs kept at an appropriate weight live up to two years longer and develop osteoarthritis up to three years later than those that are free-fed.  Purina also produce the Body Condition Score that most vets use to categorise your dogs weight.  Interestingly, most owners categorise their dog 1 - 2 points lower on the Score than vets do, ie: they perceive their dog to be thinner than he actualy is!  You can take a look at the Scoring chart here:

http://www.purinaveterinarydiets.com/resources/Files/dog_chart.pdf

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Interesting....thanks, Stella.