Over the past decade or so, we Americans have become more aware of what we eat. Remember the award-winning documentary film where the guy eats nothing but fast-food for 30 days; the no trans-fat frying oil movement, and so on. We are more informed of what's in our food nowadays. It seems the fast-food industry and snack food makers just keep finding ways to entice customers to eat their food. The triple, artery clogging, bacon and cheese burgers; man, I'm starting to feel fat just thinking about it. We know what their up to and we think twice about it now before ordering the triple-stack.But what about our pets, are they informed? Hmmm, well my 11 year old lab, Abby wouldn't hesitate to chow down on that big behemoth stack of burgers up there, I can tell you that. Our pet's just aren't equipped to deal with all that fat. Well, thankfully, most of us don't treat our pet's to fast-food. Most of us do, however, give them a few treats and occasionally a left-over table scrap or two. We know that sticking with our pet's diet is essential to their health. The informed pet owner only feeds pet food and pet treats. Most of the pet food out their is healthy, although some are definitely better than others, but that's a story for another day. What about the treats we give our pets; what's in those treats? Well........
You probably wouldn't believe me if I told ya. But I'm gonna tell you anyway. You guessed it, sugar! Dr. Ernie Ward, founder of the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention (APOP) and author of “Chow Hounds: Why Our Dogs Are Getting Fatter – A Vet’s Plan to Save Their Lives” (2010 HCI) says “When you have popular treats such as Snausages SnawSomes that list sugars as three of the first four ingredients, you know there’s a problem.” Dr. Ward founded APOP in 2005 to help promote pet obesity awareness and encourage pet owners to live a parallel healthy lifestyle with their pets. It's been well documented, and many sources agree that our pet population is becoming more obese. APOP estimates that roughly half of U.S. pets are overweight and with pet treat sales estimated to be nearly a $2 billion industry, its no wonder the pet food industry is capitalizing on the dog's sweet tooth. Dr. Ward sums it up, “Today we have some of the best pet foods and treats we’ve ever had. For that, I am grateful. At the same time, we’re seeing some of the unhealthiest products masquerading as wholesome and nutritious. It’s time we reveal the sugary secret that is contributing to obesity in pets.” This obesity epidemic in our pets is leading to more cases of arthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure, knee problems, and more. To see a list of popular pet treats that contain sugar or read more of Dr. Ward's article, click here or find it on the APOP website.What should our pets look like? I see many pets that come into our clinic that are overweight and many pet owners don't have a good understanding of what our pets should look like, weight-wise. I always tell my clients that a good rule-of-thumb on our pet's body condition is that you should be able to feel the ribs but not see them, they should have a defined waist, and no sagging belly. Here are two good charts displaying body conditioning for the dog and cat. A body condition score of 3 is ideal for our pets. Many pet owners, once informed of their pet's ideal weight and body condition make a conscience effort to help their pets trim down; and those pets that do get to a BCS of 3 obviously feel better, have more energy, and owners are often astonished how much healthier and happier their pets become.
A friend, colleague, and former Mississippi State clinician, Dr. Mark Stickney talks about ideal body condition in this news video on pet obesity.
Ask your veterinarian about ways to help your pet live a healthy and fit lifestyle today!
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