{"id":636,"date":"2013-08-19T08:00:26","date_gmt":"2013-08-19T12:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.njveterinaryblog.com\/?p=636"},"modified":"2013-08-20T10:43:02","modified_gmt":"2013-08-20T14:43:02","slug":"the-obese-pet-dr-billy-danowitz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.njveterinaryblog.com\/index.php\/news\/the-obese-pet-dr-billy-danowitz","title":{"rendered":"The Obese Pet. (Dr. Billy Danowitz)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Has one of the veterinarians at OCVH, FVH or NPVH\u00a0said that your beloved pet is overweight?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Did you kno\"\"<\/a>w that 55% of dogs and 54% of cats in theUnited Statesare considered overweight or obese?\u00a0 That is a tremendous number!\u00a0 So while your veterinarian may make a passing comment about \u201cRex<\/p>\n

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eating a few less treats\u201d or \u201cwe need to get Fluffy a treadmill\u201d, there are real medical reasons why we are concerned for your furry family member!<\/p>\n

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PRIMARY RISKS OF EXCESS WEIGHT IN PETS:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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  1. Osteoarthritis<\/li>\n
  2. Diabetes\u00a0Mellitus<\/li>\n
  3. High\u00a0Blood Pressure<\/li>\n
  4. Heart and Respiratory Disease<\/li>\n
  5. Cranial\u00a0Cruciate Ligament Injury<\/li>\n
  6. Kidney\u00a0Disease<\/li>\n
  7. Decrease life expectancy (up to 2.5 years)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    These are very real medical problems that could potentially shorten an overweight pet\u2019s lifespan up to 912 days.\u00a0 That is a lot of quality time missed!\u00a0 No one wants to hear that their pet is \"\"<\/a>overweight, but we as veterinarians are responsible for making the patient our number one priority.\u00a0 With the exception of a few medical problems that can slow metabolism and some medications that enhance appetite, the most common cause of pet obesity is the owner<\/strong> themselves.\u00a0 Food is love, right??\u00a0 NO!\u00a0 Let\u2019s find another way to show it!<\/p>\n

    WHAT TO DO IF YOUR PET IS OVERWEIGHT<\/strong><\/p>\n

    The first step towards helping your furry friend battle a weight problem is to admit that there is a problem to begin with.\u00a0 Schedule an examination with your veterinarian, and ask them candidly about what \u201cCuddles\u2019 ideal weight should be\u201d.\u00a0 During the history part of the examination we will ask about any medications that the pet may be taking.\u00a0 Corticosteroid medications (such as prednisone, Vetalog, and Temaril-P) notoriously increase appetite and can have an influence on weight gain.\u00a0 If there has been unexpected weight gain, your veterinarian will likely recommend some baseline blood tests, to make sure that there is no medical cause for weight gain, such as hypothyroidism.<\/p>\n

    If blood work does not reveal any causes for weight gain, then it is time to examine the diet. To put it simply, an obese animal is taking markedly more calories than they are burning off, leading to the weight gain.\u00a0 There are two factors that we as the human owners have direct control over:<\/p>\n

    1)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 How many calories they eat<\/p>\n

    2)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Exercise<\/p>\n

    DIET (And I mean everything, not just the dog food)<\/strong><\/p>\n

    When I ask an owner what their pet is eating, I often hear \u201cScience Diet Healthy Weight\u201d, or something of the like.\u00a0 I usually follow that up with \u201c\u2026is that all?\u201d More often than not is followed up with a list of \u201csmall amounts of daily treats and food off of the table.\u201d I would say that the great majority of overweight dogs we treat at our hospitals are fed table food supplementing their dog food.\u00a0 Pet owners do not realize that these small amounts of treats and table food are adding a surprising number of calories!\u00a0 Another problem with diet is portion size.\u00a0 The average pet owner puts food in the bowl without measuring exactly how much is going in.\u00a0 When I ask how much of a particular food someone is feeding, I often hear \u201c2 cups\u201d or something similar.\u00a0 Often this is not a measuring cup that is being used, but some other sized-cup that can frequently be at least 2-3 cups on its own.\u00a0 Our hospitals are equipped with FREE pet food measuring cups to assist you in providing the correct am\"\"ount of food to your dog or cat, pick one up next time you come to visit!<\/p>\n

    Cats often have a different type of problem leading to obesity.\u00a0 Unlike dogs, who can typically be trained to become \u201cmeal feeders\u201d (eating their meal in one sitting), cats are often \u201cfree feeders\u201d or \u201cgrazers\u201d that pick and choose as they please.\u00a0 In multiple cat households it often becomes virtually impossible to provide a certain amount of calories to any one particular cat, since the community food bowl is never empty.\u00a0 This is a challenge as veterinarians that we encounter often.<\/p>\n

    The bottom line with pet food, treats and table food is that often changes need to be made.\u00a0 The hardest change is often changing the perception as an owner that you are \u201cdepriving\u201d your beloved friend from a well-deserved treat.\u00a0 As a caretaker you must take the approach of \u201cI want to have you around and healthy as long as I can, so your doctor thinks we need to make some changes\u201d.\u00a0 Speak to your veterinarian about some healthy treat ideas, such as baby carrots or frozen green beans, or some management changes that may prevent Bella from begging at the table while your family is eating.<\/p>\n

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    TREATMENT AIDS FOR OBESITY:<\/p>\n

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    1. Stop table food and excessive treats<\/strong>.\u00a0 Make sure you are not over-feeding your pet.<\/li>\n
    2. Therapeutic Diets.<\/strong>\u00a0 There are several prescription diets that are designed for weight loss.\u00a0Unlike commercial \u201clight\u201d or \u201chealthy weight\u201d formulas, the \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 prescription foods have an even greater calorie restriction, or in the\u00a0case of one\"\"food can up-regulate the gene for metabolism, which in turn \u201cburns more calories\u201d.\u00a0 Hills \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Prescription Diet R\/D<\/em><\/strong> and W\/D<\/em><\/strong> are both calorie-restricted\u00a0and can be used to promote weight loss while inducing satiety.\u00a0 Hills Prescription Metabolic Diet<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0is a relatively new food that up-regulates the gene for metabolism. Higher metabolism means weight is accomplished by burning more calories.\u00a0 Please contact your veterinarian for more information about these diets and which one would be best for your pet.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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      1. Slentrol.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0Prescription medication that makes a dog to be \u201cless hungry,\u201d allowing the\u00a0owners to feed less calories without the pet seeming hungry all the time.<\/li>\n
      2. More exercise!<\/strong>\u00a0 You can look into dog parks, of course, but even more frequent or longer walks could make a big difference.\u00a0 Not only are you improving the medical state of your beloved companion, but you can also increase your bond with them. Of course, you will get the added health affect of exercise\u00a0too!\u00a0 Don\u2019t forget about swimming\u00a0for dogs, as well. With cats, try using a laser-pointer to get them to\u00a0chase around the house.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

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        \u00a0\"\"<\/p>\n

        William Danowitz DVM<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                    Has one of the veterinarians at OCVH, FVH or NPVH\u00a0said that your beloved pet is overweight? Did you know that 55% of dogs and 54% of cats in theUnited Statesare considered overweight or obese?\u00a0 That is a tremendous number!\u00a0 So while your veterinarian may make a passing comment about \u201cRex eating a few less treats\u201d or \u201cwe need to get Fluffy a treadmill\u201d, there are real medical reasons why we are concerned for your furry family member!   PRIMARY RISKS OF EXCESS WEIGHT IN PETS: Osteoarthritis Diabetes\u00a0Mellitus High\u00a0Blood Pressure Heart and Respiratory Disease Cranial\u00a0Cruciate Ligament Injury Kidney\u00a0Disease Decrease life expectancy (up to 2.5 years) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,17,5],"tags":[107,13,105,95,92,51,98,100,99,106,94,91,101,103,102,89,90,87,7,96,109,110,108,112,111,21,88,104,46,93,32,35,255,11,97],"class_list":["post-636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-ocvh-specific","category-pet-health","tag-canina-disease","tag-canine-health","tag-cat-disease","tag-cat-exercise","tag-cat-food","tag-cat-health","tag-cat-metabolism","tag-cat-thyroid","tag-cat-thyrois","tag-dog-disease","tag-dog-exercise","tag-dog-food","tag-dog-metabolism","tag-dog-thyroid","tag-dog-thyrois","tag-fat-cat","tag-fat-dog","tag-fat-pet","tag-feline-health","tag-hills-matabolic","tag-my-cat-eats-too-much","tag-my-cat-is-fat","tag-my-dog-eats-too-much","tag-my-dog-is-fat","tag-my-pet-is-fat","tag-nj-veterinary","tag-obese-pet","tag-pet-diease","tag-pet-diet","tag-pet-exercise","tag-pet-family","tag-pet-food","tag-pet-health","tag-pet-medicine","tag-pet-metabolism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.njveterinaryblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.njveterinaryblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.njveterinaryblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.njveterinaryblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.njveterinaryblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=636"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.njveterinaryblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/636\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":663,"href":"https:\/\/www.njveterinaryblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/636\/revisions\/663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.njveterinaryblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.njveterinaryblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.njveterinaryblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}