Cute Fat or Just Fat?
Did you know that almost 50% of the pet population is overweight? Unfortunately many owners are either unaware or chose to ignore this fact. Even a little extra weight on your pet can dramatically impact their quality of life.
Carrying extra weight can put unnecessary stress on your pets vital organs, making it harder for their heart, lungs and other organs to function effectively. Not only this, but the extra weight can impact mobility and affect the lifelong general health of your pet.
We understand that seeing your pet every day can make it difficult to tell if they have put on a little extra here and there. It can also be difficult to assess what your pet's ideal weight actually is given the variations in shape and size of the many different breeds.
To help us determine your pets ideal/healthy weight we use a body condition scoring chart like the one pictured below.
Here are our top tips for determining if your pet is carrying a few too many kilos:
When you look at your pet from above they will have lost definition of their waist. An ideal body condition will see a tuck between the back legs and the rib cage area.
You can no longer easily feel their ribs when you run your hands over their sides
If your pet is overweight we can help by creating a management plan involving choosing an appropriate diet, increasing exercise and managing any arthritis that may be present.
Often, just decreasing the amount of food the pet is eating is not enough to shift the weight and may even be detrimental if it means your pets nutritional requirement is not being met. Instead of reducing calories we generally recommend a metabolic diet which is designed to stimulate your pets metabolism, leading to greater success with weight loss and happier pets!
A metabolic diet helps to increase your pet's metabolic rate, which will automatically burn off calories. We regularly see pets starting the diet becoming more active and energetic.
If you would like more information on getting your pet on the right track, please give us a call!
