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Article #1- Have an overweight pet?

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Published: Jan 13, 2014

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_{So, the holidays have now gone and past. Most people vow to lose weight, quit junk food or join a gym for the New Year, to better their own bodies. Yet, we often overlook our feline friends, especially if they are indoor cats. I’m going to confess that my cats are a little chunky. I rescued all three of them and I think the “I need to eat as much as I can because I don’t know when I’ll get more” mentality never changed from the shelter life.

Now that I’ve made some changes, all three of my cats are now an acceptable size. Below, I am going to inform you of the ways to lessen the pocket of fat sticking to your pets belly and this goes for cats and dogs. Considering 53% of dogs and 55% of cats alone in the U.S. are chunky, many of you should listen up!

1. What are the causes? Now, since I have cats, I am going to focus this article on the felines, but like I said above, these principles can be used the same way for dogs.

• Leaving the food out every day? That is a big no-no! Believe me, I understand. It is so much easier to just leave the food out all day and yes, your animals might whine the first week, but like anything, they will get used to it. Giving them constant access to food causes rapid eating which leads to weight gain.

• Treats- I won’t lie and say treats should be banned at all costs because heck, I give all my cats’ 2-4 small kibbles of treats when I get home from work. Yet, when you are handing out more than ten pieces of treats in a day that is where the problem lies. Try to limit the amount of treats you give your animals to just a couple pieces, otherwise those too, will add up and give your cat extra calories that it doesn’t really need, since its inside for the whole day.

• Inactivity- Since most animals that are overweight tend to be indoor pets only, it is apparent that they get some form of exercise. When you think of a cat or a dog for that matter, they are constantly outside hunting for food, or playing chase with different insects or animals. Their body is in constant motion which means they burn more calories, thus it allows the animal to be lean and muscular, so that they can use those muscles to propel themselves forward to hunt. Now that they are indoor animals, they lose that drive to hunt, thus losing that activity, which leads to weight gain. A toy that works best for my cats is the laser toys. Not only do they get their physical needs met by this toy, they also get mentally stimulated, which helps keep their brain sharp and personality thriving. Other honorable mentions are remote control toys (even helicopter toys!) and feather teasers.

2. So what if that doesn’t work? The problem may lie in the food that they are eating. Contrary to popular belief, the type of food you feed to your animals is just as important as your own. Tell me this: Do you know the first three ingredients in your animal’s food? Have you even looked? A lot of you might have answered no, because you didn’t think it mattered. No! It means everything. So, go look at the ingredients that are on your pet’s bag of food right now, or the next time you’re in the store, take a gander.

Below I will list the ingredients to stay away from and some that your animal should be consuming.
*Healthy Ingredients Unhealthy Ingredients
*Deboned Chicken *Ground whole corn (any corn)
*Chicken, salmon or venison meal. *By-product meal
*Oatmeal *Corn gluten meal
*Whole ground brown rice *Whole wheat flour
*Fish oil *Soy flour

Now, whenever you change your animal’s food, never completely swap it out. One week you should put a handful of the new food into the bowl with their old food. Then by the weeks, gradually keep going until there is only healthy food left—this method will reduce the runs and sickness your animal might show.

So, my hope is, next time that you go into the pet store, request for help and ask where the healthy food is located. Not only will this help you with vet bills down the road when your animal gets old, it also will help with yours animal’s weight issues, skin and coat ailments.}