Trend of overweight pets weighs heavily on health

[bigdoglover]

The Cincinnati Post

By Linda Wilson Fuoco


In this era of pet resorts, doggie yoga, feng shui pet gardens and Retin-A acne treatments for cats, it was just a matter of time.

A weight-loss contest for your pet.

Your dog or cat can win money, a year's supply of pricey pet food and free airline tickets to stay at an "upscale pet-friendly hotel" by entering Hill's 2006 National PetFit Challenge (www.petfit.com). The contest started in April and ends Sept. 1.

As over-the-top as this marketing ploy may sound, controlling proper weight in your pet is a serious matter.

One of every four dogs and cats in the Western world is obese, according to a 2003 report from the National Academy of Sciences. "Like humans, dogs and cats that are obese run a higher risk of developing diabetes, heart disease or other problems," according to the report.

The report sets new dietary guidelines for dogs and cats.

"The overweight dog is over-loved," said Lawrence Gerson, a veterinarian in Point Breeze, Pa., who has started a regular weigh-in program to monitor some of his pudgy patients. Many owners don't recognize that their pets are larger than they should be.

One study done by a pet-food company, he noted, showed that dogs on reduced diets lived two years longer than "free-fed" dogs. The solution is to reduce the amount of food given to pets and to increase their exercise.

But that can be far simpler to control for a dog than a cat, as one Shadyside, Pa., cat owner attests.

Molly Youngling's 11-year-old indoor cat Zippy looks more like a Buddha than a cat, averaging 35 to 40 pounds. She also owns four slender cats. All are spayed or neutered, which reduces by 5 percent the total number of calories they need each day.

Like most cat owners, she keeps dry food out all the time, as cats tend to eat small meals all day. She's never been admonished by her vet for Zippy's girth. He seems fine, but he moves slower these days and snores.

Not surprisingly, the $35.9 billion pet-supplies-and-services industry is pumping out all sorts of low-fat/low-calorie chow.

Although a Pet Weight-Watchers program has yet to hit the market, Gerson is trying something similar in his vet practice.

He recommends that owners weigh or measure the daily food portions. If the dog or cat is not losing weight, gradually decrease the amount of food given each day, including treats.

A dizzying array of pet health, diet and fitness books are now on the market. The just-released "Fitness Unleashed! A Dog and Owners' Guide to Losing Weight and Gaining Health Together" estimates that close to 30 million dogs in the U.S. are obese.

Written by veterinarian Marty Becker of Bonners Ferry, Idaho, and medical doctor Robert Kushner, a professor of medicine at Northwestern University near Chicago, the book aims to help both dogs and their owners.

"Many of us have shared our generous (food) portions and inactive routines with our pets," writes Becker, who is a regular contributor to ABC's "Good Morning America."

[mulroony]

What scares me is that I know there are people out there that will starve their pets in a stupid attempt to win this, instead of actually doing the work to help the pet loose weight...

[bigdoglover]

I agree. Some folks don't understand the middle ground.

[elegy]

geez. a 35 pound cat is diabetes just waiting to happen.

we see maybe 15% of adult dogs at a good weight at our practice. it's really sad, especially when they're poorly bred large breed dogs who are likely going to be prone to arthritis anyway. carrying around all that extra weight just makes everything worse.

my coworker who adopted the 104 pound lab who should weigh 60-65 pounds brought her in this morning to weigh. she's down to 84 pounds! what's depressing is that she still is freaking fat. she's had her for four months now, has been through one cruciate repair which required six weeks of strict rest following it, and her other knee is going to be repaired this thursday.

[linnie]

You took the words right out of my mouth