It is an Epidemic! Obesity in dogs is on the rise
In talking to pet owners, I have seen a lot of denial about their dog or cat’s weight problem. For some reason we make a lot of excuses or we just chose to ignore the signs that our beloved pet is overweight. Also, we tend to take this a bit personally. But actually, obesity in dogs is very common. There are many studies that estimate that 25 to 40% of all dogs are overweight. Why is this important? Well, on the human side there are many studies that show that there is a strong relationship between weight and arthritis. In 2006 a report released from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) showed that twice as many obese adults have arthritis compared to non-obese people (31% vs. 16%). http://origin.cdc.gov/arthritis/data_statistics.htm
It has also been shown that if you are obese at a young age it is very likely that you will develop arthritis when you are older. So what does all that mean for your dog? Well there have been some studies done in the dog, but logically if your dog is overweight they have a much higher risk of having osteoarthritis.
How do you tell if your dog is overweight? If you stand over your dog- do you see an indentation or waistline after the ribs? Can you see the ribs? Can you find them easily when you palpate them? Thank you to Dr Todd Towell and Hill’s Pet Nutrition for providing this picture to help illustrate how you can evaluate your dog body weight condition.
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James Said,
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jana Said,
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Bob Said,
The largest dog in the picture looks just like my aunts dog!
It is really an epidemic. I think the worst part is that many owner do not realize that their dog is overweight. Sadly, this applies particularly to the larger breeds, such are Rottweilers. People often believe that their dog is supposed to look that way.
We took in a 7 years old rescue male. He looked like a barrel. His previous owner had him mainly to show off how he can control such a large animal. I’m sure if he realized that his dog is overweight, he would have rather starve him than to have a bad representation. But he had no idea.
After he came to us, it took a while, but eventually he looked half as big than when he came, while actually being a bit heavier.
Jana
http://dawgbusiness.blogspot.com/2010/01/know-your-dogs-enemies-part-ii.html
Jana, thanks. It is very hard for all of us dog owners to resist treats and over-feeding our buddies. But keep them trim may be the single biggest favor we can give our pets, especially ones with sore joints. Please tell all your friends they can feed low-card and low-cal treats if they have to, but please let’s keep our buddies in good shape and presume those joints for running, jumping, and frisbee!
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