# Obesity



## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

Why is it that people just don't grasp this concept when applied to their animals?

I would say that most animals that come into my work, that I see day to day, that I know personally are overweight, some grossly overweight.

All that their parents say is that "Oh, I just can't help but feel sad when he/she whines for food! I don't want to starve them!"

Or they are just plain unwilling to cut back on food/treats. When I ask the owners of a fat animal what and how much they feed...they always say..."Oh, only one cup!" But then I have to ask, "Is that one measuring cup?" They say "Um no...its more of a scoop really" 

More often then not I think that those scoops are delivering like 2-3 cups of food, which is 2 to 3 times what their daily intake should be. 

Not to mention when I ask if they give treats...I'm amazed at how much dogs/cats get in treats. The amount of calories in some animals daily treat allotment can add up to a meal or two. Gross.

It is also frustrating when I hear people with fat animals complain about money. LESS FOOD = LESS MONEY!!! DUH!!!

Again, why is it that people don't see the common sense/logic in any of this?!?! Its getting super frustrating trying to push super simple ideals on people...

So, what are your thoughts? I know that this is a very health conscious community...


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

The ONLY excuse for obesity in pet animals is owner ignorance. It is soooo easy to keep animals at a proper weight.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

Ignorance? Yes...but its more than that. Its more owner stubbornness. Unless its just them wanting to fulfill their own needs to overfeed and over treat their pets. I honestly think that people overfeed/overtreat their pets for their own selfish reasons, totally putting aside the knowledge of their pets being overweight and how to overcome that.


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## jenh22 (Sep 22, 2009)

I have 4 pets (well, 11 if you count the hermit crabs, fish and foster cats) One cat (Cuervo) is overweight. When he was the only pet he was perfect weight. After we took in other animals he slowly started gaining weight. We finally realized that meals need to be fed separate or supervised and leftovers removed immediately. He's slowly losing weight now.

The dog and overweight cat are fed twice a day. The kitten 3 times a day. I have another adult cat that is currently sick, he needs to eat every few hours. I also have two foster cats but they are separate from the rest, they only eat twice a day. It's almost a part time job lol.

Right now our goal is for Cuervo to lose 2 oz. a week, it's going good so far.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

Dang! You have a zoo! But I can't speak...4 dogs and a kitten...

Unfortunately when you overfeed a cat and they get fat, its basically impossible to get them to lose their "jungle pouch" LOL


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

I personally think it's the kind of food you feed! I switched my cats over to a grainfree cat food 1 1/2 yrs ago, they were fed Avoderm before that. My elderly cat who had been weighing in at 11lbs for the last 2 wellness visits to the vet just recenly weighed in at 9 1/4 lbs. You take away all the fillers and give them real food, they will lose some weight.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

Just think about what a raw diet would do for them...but switching an older cat is super iffy...

The average house cat should weigh 7-8 pounds. The ones that come in at 12-25 pounds are just out of control overweight. 

You would be surprised by the number of people who use the excuse of "That's the way God made them" or "That's the way he/she is supposed to be" which is nothing more than an excuse to hide the truth.


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## jenh22 (Sep 22, 2009)

I've had some luck switching Cuervo to raw. He likes to examine it, lick it and move it around. Sometimes he'll actually eat some. I leave it out for him for about 30 minutes, unless he's still showing interest in it, then I leave it out until he's done. Raw feedings are at night. If he doesn't eat I feed him TOTW a little later. If he eats some but not much, I feed him a little extra TOTW in the morning since I don't like to feed kibble and raw together. As long as he's eaten something he won't starve over night. He's our only animal that eats kibble (except the fosters)

I plan to just keep giving him raw every night until he gets used to it.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

Good. Try going to an asian market (if you have one nearby) and getting small, whole fish. They are usually really cheap, and cats love them. Our little kitty eats an entire one whole on a regular basis. I am going to make sure she is never overweight.


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## Guest (Oct 21, 2009)

I'm thinking that dog owners just don't exercise their dogs enough. If the dogs aren't being exercised then they need to eat less, not just the same amount of food whether getting sufficient exercise or not. And treats are not necessary unless for training purposes only.


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## Unosmom (May 3, 2009)

I've done quite a bit of petsitting when I was younger and theres definitely a trend of owners giving too many treats a day, I mean with Uno he gets like 1 treat a week if that, but most people would tell me to give them a couple milkbones, 2-3 of those awful red-dyed fake meat things in blue baggies and a pupperoni in addition to the regular food, which looking back I think they were giving too much of it( but then again , its all filler, so I guess they had to eat a ton to get the nutrients). I think it also ties in with the post I made previously that people dont walk their dogs anymore so it seems, at least around here, there are 2 people in my neighborhood besides me that I see walk their dogs daily, but other then that, its a rarity, most of them are cooped up in the backyard or garage all day.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

Definitely exercise plays a huge role in obesity too, but to truly exercise a dog they need to run. Taking them for a walk really isn't too much of a strain on them, unless they are older or injured.

The only treats we give are super tiny and used for training only. Its not about the size of the treat, its the fact that you are giving them something. And since we feed raw...every meal time is treat time for our dogs. They get just as excited about their food as they do when we pull treats out.


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## wags (Jan 31, 2009)

Sad to say I don't think anyone intentionally tries to over feed their pups! They give you that sweet look~ I know my labs ~well now only one is overweight! But what I use to do is free feed. So darn easy to just keep an endless bowl of food just sitting there! Well low and behold I figured it out by watching my lab actually lay there just eating and eating and eating! I never intentionally did this I just went~ this is easy and my goodness they are hungry they are always eating! Learning things is a very easy process which when your nieve to the feeding routine some of us just don't do it intentionally! Now she gets her weight management food and has lost over 15 lbs. sad that it had to be this way ( my mistake) but I am so happy with her progress. and of course walks is a must gee for all of us haha! 
Sometimes we humoms just think we are codiling (sp?) our little furballs when we actually don't realize we are actually harming them! But we do learn. And dogs are so forgiving thank goodness! I learned the hard way and I feel bad for my dogs the two labs I never meant to overfeed them, but heck we are getting so good at the feeding now, I am actually proud of how we have gotten back on the correct track now! 
But I do know where people are coming from ~we just have this tendency to look at those sweet faces and think awww treat, but I have learned maybe walk versus treat (and low fat treats yessss) and wow you do get that same cute face! A bit tired but still that smiley doggy after a walk face! So hopefuly I have learned and am prolonging a good thing!:wink:


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