DEAR PET TALK: How can you help your pet lose weight? – Cat and Dog Lover
DEAR CAT AND DOG LOVER: As the holidays approach, pet owners get distracted, which means dogs may be walked less, and feedings be disrupted. Many agencies who monitor information from vets report that some 100 million cats and dogs (more than half in the nation) are considered obese.
A dog or cat who is heavy is at risk for health problems: osteo-arthritis and joint inflammation, cardiovascular and endocrine malfunction, and metabolic abnormalities. Smaller dogs are more likely to be obese, with pugs topping the list.
How can you help your pet lose weight? First, be a responsible pet owner from the day you adopt your pet. Know how much your pet weighs and read labels on food so you are not giving your pet more calories than they need.
The rule of thumb for dogs and cats is 25 to 30 calories per pound, per day. A 10-pound cat should have no more than 300 calories a day, including treats. Most treats are 1 to 2 calories each. Give these sparingly – not by the handful.
Your 50-pound dog should consume around 1400 calories per day. For families with a pet, figuring out portion sizes will help strengthen your children’s math skills! And remember that a spayed/neutered pet is a healthy pet, but could be sedentary.
Finally, do not substitute food and treats for attention and exercise. They’re not asking for a treat. They’re asking for you to pay attention to them. Give them vigorous petting and show some love.
We asked our Be PAWSitive community how they handled weight gain in pets. Mary Flibbert of Worcester helped her 18-pound cat reduce to 14 pounds by eliminating treats and dry food. “All I did was feed him all the canned food that he wanted,” Flibbert said.
TheraPAWS Pet Team member Cap Corduan has Keifer, a Bernese Mountain dog, a breed that can be very large. Last December, Keifer weighed 130 pounds, and Cap knew she “had to get the weight off him for his health as well as to get the weight off his joints.” By putting Keifer on weight management food and providing veggies as a snack he’s “now at the right weight of 115 pounds.”
Sally Cragin is the director of Be PAWSitive: Therapy Pets and Community Education. Text questions to 978-320-1335.
