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Is your pet a tad too plump? Obesity can have significant health consequences for animals. So if your furry friends are putting on the pounds, here are some helpful tips from Petcurean on how to manage your pet’s weight. Thanks to Petcurean for sponsoring this post.
Did you know that 22-44% of pets weigh more than their ideal body weight?
Yes, we humans aren’t the only ones putting our health at risk with belly bulge. Obesity is a huge issue for pets too — bringing problems such as diabetes in cats and decreasing the lifespan of your dog.
It doesn’t take much time before the negative side effects of being overweight take their toll. In fact, effects can start to appear within just a few weeks of the onset of obesity.
We may have a hard enough time being strict with our own healthy eating and lifestyle habits, but as pet parents, we must also be honest with ourselves about our pets’ weight and do our job to keep them healthy and at their best.
How to Help Manage Your Pet’s Weight
If it were up to my dog, AJ, he would eat all day long. He is obsessed with food and has the most pitiful (and effective) begging expressions.
It is heartbreaking to refuse him. But I know that giving into his unending appetite for all things yummy isn’t what is best for him.
If you also struggle with how to help manage your pet’s weight, here are some tips from the experts at Petcurean:
Evaluate Your Pet’s Current Weight
Weigh your pet at the vet’s office or with your home bathroom scale and check it against this Body Score chart to help you determine the current status of your pet’s weight.
Diet
An important rule you should keep in mind when managing your pet’s weight is restricting treats and resisting the urge to give them table scraps.
These items make it hard for you to regulate what your pet is eating.
For dogs, you can feed them a weight loss recipe with reduced calories. This option allows your pup to eat the same volume of food they’re used to eating, but with less calories. Petcurean’s GO! Fit + Free makes a great diet feeding option with a protein-rich, lower carb recipe.
Alternatively, you can simply cut back on the amount of food you’re currently feeding. To ensure your dog still feels full after these smaller meals, you can add canned pumpkin or green beans as a fiber-rich and healthy topper.
Cats do the best on low carb canned recipes since the wet food not only promotes weight reduction, but also helps cats feel fuller. GO! Fit + Free also offers canned recipes for cats.
Physical activity
Decreased food intake should be accompanied by increased physical activity.
Track your pet’s weight through weekly weigh ins. A rapid decline in weight can be harmful to your pet.
As you monitor their progress, continue to check them against the body score chart. That will tell you when your pet’s weight goals have been reached!
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Disclosure: This post is sponsored, so extra thanks for reading and sharing.
Written by Janice Croze, co-founder of 5 Minutes for Mom
Talk with me: @5minutesformom and Facebook.com/5minutesformom
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It is really important that we make the right choices to keep our pets healthy. These are great tips to managing our pets weight.
These are really great tips for managing your pet’s weight! It is really important that we keep our pets healthy.
Great source of info I can’t use it now, but it will come in handy soon.
I am happy and thankful that my pup is not overweight. However, it’s something all pet owners should keep an eye on. You have some great tips!
Aww these are great tips, as people sometimes seem to love when pets get “plump” it isn’t good for them.
Great tips for pet owners. It’s important to keep our pets healthy too.
This is really helpful for pet owners like me! Thanks for sharing this valuable information!
Excess weight in pets is dangerous and oftentimes people don’t realize how bad it can be for their pets. These are great tips for pet owners
You are so right pet obesity is totally a thing. Luckily our dog has always been active but growing up I had an obese dog.
As fun as it can be to spoil our pets with extra treats, it’s just not healthy for them. I know I want my cat to live the longest and healthiest life possible.
My dog is a little too plump … we need to exercise her more than we do.
These are all great tips. It’s sad that animals can get obese as well. Luckily all my cats are healthy and at their normal weight.
Great tips! Our dog is at the right weight for her right now, but I know that dogs can get over weight very easily. I will keep these in mind if she does get over weight.
Awwww 🙁 this made me sad! My sister has a dog that she gives treats to constantly and never takes for a walk. She’s really heavy and barely moves now. I’m going to send her this! Thanks!
When we had a dog, he was under-weight…which I always found really hard to believe because that is all he did was eat.
Pet obesity or weight gain is a real problem and the owner is the one to blame. I have a dog that is overweight and i have to be careful to minimize treats and maintain portion control.
These are awesome tips! It’s so important to keep our pets at their ideal weight. Overweight pets are more prone to joint and tendon problems AND cancer and diabetes.
Pet Obesity is a serious Problem, just like us humain overweight causes a lot of health problems, make us lazy and feel tired after normal activities and especially Dog obesity is one of the fastest growing health problems for dogs today, so sad that some owners are not even aware that their pet is overweight!
Thank you so much for all that you put out here for us Janice. I share your FB page and podcasts all the time on all my Pet friens FB groups up here!