Preventing Pet Obesity: 5 Proven Strategies for Healthier Cats & Dogs

Pet obesity is a common occurrence in pets. About 58% of cats and 54% of dogs have obesity in the US. Your furry pet can be obese if you don’t take proper care of it. Obesity in pets has similar effects on their health as humans. It predisposes them to vascular diseases, respiratory diseases, metabolic diseases, musculoskeletal diseases, and may reduce their alertness.

Fun fact: October 14 is celebrated yearly as National Pet Obesity Awareness Day!

It is crucial to prevent your special furry friend from getting obese. In this article, we are going to go through the ways you can prevent pet obesity thereby promoting the health of your furry friend and its vitality.

Obesity is defined as being extremely overweight as a result of excess fat in the body which can interfere with normal body functioning, health, and quality of life. Apart from predisposing your pet to the aforementioned health conditions, there are other effects of pet obesity which include dullness, laziness, labored respiration, easy fatigability, social withdraw, organ overload, and may increase the chances of pet mortality (death).

Pet obesity is a growing problem that needs to be looked into to save your furry friend from the effects cited above. Pet obesity is majorly caused by two things. Eating too much or not having enough physical exercise, or both at the same time. It can also result due to a metabolic problems like the inability to digest and absorb food well. If your pet eats moderately and exercises or eats little but is gaining a lot of weight, you should take it to the vet immediately to ascertain what is going on with it.

Let’s get on to how you can prevent pet obesity. We have summarized the 5 ways to prevent pet obesity into 5R’s you can keep at your fingertips.

RIGHT CALORIC NEEDS

You have to determine the right amount of calorie your special furry friend needs so you don’t overburden its system with more calories than needed. However, living it less calorie than required will result in underweight. Moderation is the key here. You can consult your vet about your pet’s caloric needs.

RIGHT DIET

As stated earlier, too much feeding is among the leading cause of pet obesity. You have to give your pet the right amount of food to prevent pet obesity. Avoid giving too much food at once and try to make the food a balanced diet. Vegetables are also recommended.

RIGHT EXERCISE

Your special furry friend needs daily exercise to prevent pet obesity. It is recommended that you take your dog for a walk every day or play with them to get them fit. You can also try dog yoga if you own a dog.

RIGHT TREATS

We all want to spoil our special furred friends with treats. We are guilty of that. However, giving too many treats to our pets does more harm than good. Let’s try to reward them with caution to avoid pet obesity.

RIGHT WEIGHT MONITORING

You probably check your weight on a weighing scale every morning, right? You should also use that method to monitor your pet’s weight. You will find out if your pet is gaining too much weight by monitoring its weight.

That concludes this article. 5R’s to help you prevent pet obesity. Is there something you think we missed? Let us know in the comments section below!