Have you ever experience Obesity in a pet? Well, you are definitely in the right place and hopefully, in return, it helps you to understand why your pet may be overweight and how can you help your pet to reduce weight. The common myth why pets are overweight is most likely it has been taking in more calories than it should and not been exercising.
In the pet industry, the misconception is when a healthy pet should eat every day with delight but as a pet owner, you should not offer your pet food if it is not hungry. let’s go through the few reasons why your pet might be overweight.
Small Bites
There might have been food standby and your pet may take small bites at times even when they are not hungry. When dinner arrives, your pet will then have a mouthful bite and leave the rest behind. (Simonsezit) It may seem as though it has not been eating much but did you know that your pet may have actually taken in more than its calorie intake and hence, gaining weight even though it seems as if they may not have been eating much. How isn’t tricky it?
Noisy ones
Have you ever realize why your pet won’t stop whining? or what on earth are they complaining about? Your pet refuses to leave the house for walk or sleep without its treat and yet with all these, you still don’t understand what they really want. What can enlighten us about pets are that they are smart and once they learn that by making noise would make you give in to demands, and that is where they will continue to do to get what they want where your pet may suffer from obesity as a result.
Affections
As pet owners, it is the truth where we have the tendency of showing affection by giving more treats since we do not spend much time with our pets. However, it may not necessarily be a good thing as you may be overfeeding your pet an excessive intake of calories and as a result, your pet may have obesity.
Pampering
“What have you been constantly feeding your pet instead of pet food?”. You may not realize that you have been feeding your pet other food such as meat, dairy products or too many treats. For instance, if you have been eating meat and you are given vegetables all of a sudden, you would have picked the meat instead of the vegetables and that goes the same for your pets! They would be picky and tend to overeat which does not give them a proper nutritional balance in their body.
Reasons stated above are few factors which may lead to your pet being overweight. However, before jumping to any conclusion, it is important to pay a visit to the vet to rule out before starting the weight loss methods solely on your own. Have a veterinarian to check if your pet is overweight or obese through its thyroid gland.
What is thyroid gland?
It’s a gland which is responsible for secreting hormones regulating growth and development through the rate of metabolism. Your pet may be overweight or obese due to thyroid problems. When the thyroid gland is not secreting enough hormones, this causes your pet to be overweight/obese as the rate of metabolism is low. As pet owners, do provide your pet with sufficient water and balanced nutritional diet. Additional vitamins, mineral or fatty acid products are the bonus but let’s avoid overfeeding them too.
How can I help my pet to lose weight?
You may reduce your pet’s meal by one-third which includes all kinds of food and monitor it before weighing your pet in half a month time. After 2 weeks and if your pet has lost weight, you’re on the right track! However, if there are no evident changes in its weight, it is time to reduce its meal portion by one-third again before weighing in half a month time.
You may also consider bringing your pet for exercising such as running, walking or out to have fun with other dogs as well! The more the interaction with the outside world, the more active your pet would be! exercising does help to burn their calories within them as well as keeping them healthy throughout the long run. Please do ensure that they stay hydrated after exercising and overweight/obese pets actually have a slower metabolism compared to fit ones and they do not burn calories off fast and due to the slow metabolism, they require time to notice a big difference in their weight.
Last but not least, always consult a veterinarian before executing your own ways to help your dog to lose weight for health purpose!
