Pet Obesity

Too many American pets suffer from obesity every year. While your pets may seem happy when you're giving them human food, you are actually making them feel worse. Pets should be exercised regularly and fed only designated meals and treats.

A recent report by the National Academy of Sciences' National Research Council indicates that 25 percent of dogs and cats in US are obese. Obesity is the number one nutritional disorder among dogs and cats, making them susceptible to many health problems, including:

• Reduced life span
• Impaired heart, liver, breathing functions
• Digestive disturbances
• Increased surgical risk
• Skin problems
• Heat stress
• Increased diabetes risk

The most common cause of obesity are diet, heredity, or hormonal disorders. Diet, or over-consumption, is the most common. If it is necessary to change a pet's diet to a lower calorie food, its important to make the change gradually over 7 to 10 days, adding small amounts of the lower calorie food to the existing diet.

Information provided by "Pet Insights" Fall 2003 by Nestle Purina PetCare.