Obesity is a national problem not just amongst humans but also their furry counterparts. Much like pet parents our dogs and cats are more sedentary than ever. How does your furry friend stack up? The charts here indicate what you call a Body Condition Score for both cats and dogs. The charts explain to you how you can determine if you have an over ideal or an under ideal or ideal weight pet. The chart explains how to determine where your cat or dog falls. How do your pets stack up?

Getting the weight off your pet is easier than you think. As with anything it’s calories in and calories out. What is the amount of exercise your pet gets? Exercise should be a big part of your pet’s well-being it’s something that should be embarked upon slowly if your pet is overweight but adding a few minutes of exercise daily and growing the time spent will lead to weight loss, perhaps for both you and your pet. Exercise doesn’t need to be work, enjoy a nice walk to the park, visit a neighbor down the street  - work up the amount of time and soon you’ll both be in great shape, and getting out and being social is good for both of you mentally as well as physically. How much are you feeding? Do they free feed or are they on a feeding schedule and do you measure their food? There are so many healthy foods on the market, look at what you’re feeding them in terms of ingredients. If you can’t identify an ingredient perhaps we don’t want to feed it to our furry friends. So much research has gone into pet foods recently we should definitely be doing our homework and identifying what ingredients are beneficial and what are merely carb-dense fillers.

What are you giving them for treats and what kind of food are you feeding them? All of these have a big impact on how your dog or cat looks.

The good news is that because they cannot feed themselves, we control how our pets look and feel. It is up to us the pet parent and with the help of their veterinarian to make sure our pets lead a healthy, happy life.

Here is a useful article that dives deeper into this problem many pet parents face. You will read about obesity facing both dogs and cats. It also goes into the, “What”. What can you as pet parents do if you find that your pet may fall into the over-ideal category?

Why is obesity such an issue in our pets? Many diseases develop as the result of too much weight and dangerously high levels of inflammation, these include osteoarthritis, cancer, diabetes, hypothyroidism, and cruciate ligament injuries just to name a few.

Please take the time and read the article here. It is very useful for you the pet parent to talk to your veterinarian about the concerns you may have regarding the overall condition of your pet.