SiriusDog.com - Your Dog On A Diet

Your Dog On A Diet

by Matt Papa

Copyright November, 2009 -

It might never have occurred to you that you could or should be counting your dog's calories. But did you know that obesity is just as serious a health risk for dogs as it is for people? And it's becoming almost as prevalent. The Association for Pet Obesity Prevention (APOP) estimates that fully 44 percent of all dogs in the U.S. are overweight or obese--that's 33 million dogs!

The risks of obesity

Given how much publicity the human obesity epidemic has received, you might expect to find a similar awareness about overweight in pets. But in 2006, when researchers questioned 1,104 pet owners about their pets' health, only 6 percent of the owners (67 individuals) believed that their pet was obese, and only 3 out of 1,104 owners knew that obesity in pets is a health problem. Clearly, a lot of work remains to be done to get the word out to pet owners.

Even veterinarians do not always emphasize the importance of the problem. In a review of the veterinary records of more 30,000 dogs, it turned out that the vets rated only 5 percent as obese based on their body condition, and they actually listed obesity as a disorder for fewer than half of those animals.

For both people and dogs, obesity is known to be a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, certain types of cancer, and type 2 diabetes. Other health problems in dogs that are linked to obesity include osteoarthritis, lung and respiratory problems, and crippling hip displasia. Specifically, researchers have documented that the amount of calories a dog consumes is a determining factor in whether a dog that is genetically prone to hip dysplasia will develop the disease.

For all these reasons and more, if your pet is not overweight already, it's well worth taking care to prevent it from happening. As veterinarian Shawn Messonnier notes, "It's much easier to prevent obesity than to get pets to lose weight.

Warning signs to look for

Your pet likes to eat--that's yet another way dogs are like people. And just in case your own experience does not convince you, research has actually demonstrated that for dogs "overeating is pleasurable but also leads to obesity" and that "animal caregivers must use judgment in feeding." In other words, it's up to us to manage our pets' lifestyles to ensure that they don't happily eat themselves to death.

The first sign of trouble might come from your vet, since that's where your dog is most likely to get weighed. It's not possible to establish an exact ideal weight for any dog, since there is variation in size and bone structure even within breeds. But there are some standard recommended weight ranges that you and your vet should use as a guide in assessing your dog's target weight. A little Yorkie should top out around 8 pounds, whereas a German shepherd should weigh from 70 to 95 pounds. Labs and golden retrievers should fall between 55 and 75 or 80, but that Dachshund had best stay under 16 pounds.

You don't have to wait for a visit to the vet to know if your pet is getting a bit too chubby, however. You can and should learn a few things to look for on your own. Your eyes and hands can give you a pretty good sense of whether your dog's weight and condition are not where they should be. The belly should not be sagging down or bulging from side to side so that the animal's back is broad and flat. Dogs should have a visible waist that narrows toward the hind legs. You should not be able to see the ribs, but you should be able to feel them without difficulty.

Counting calories for your dog

Dr. Susan Nelson of the Kansas State University School of Veterinary Medicine recently released some helpful information and guidelines for keeping an eye on your pet's nutrition and caloric intake. "Generally, I tell people that unless your pet is overweight, go with the guidelines on the food bag...If the pet is a little overweight, you should feed it for its ideal weight and not for its current weight." She also notes that if the pet is very overweight, special diet food may be needed that has lower calories with extra fiber and is still nutritionally balanced. Just cutting down significantly on the total amount of your pet’s regular food can lead to nutritional problems.

If you and/or your vet do conclude that your dog needs to be watching her calories, it's a good idea to get the vet’s advice on a specific diet and exercise program. There are some possible underlying illnesses that can cause overweight and should be checked for before a diet begins.

Once you and the vet do decide that a calorie-reduction diet is needed, the vet can calculate the right calorie target, taking into consideration your dog's age, size, activity, general condition and metabolism, and also what kind of food you generally choose to feed.

Dog foods are not created equal

The last point is crucial, because there are significant variations in the content, calories and nutritional makeup of different forms and brands of pet food. Dr. Nelson stresses that you cannot assume that a cup of one type of food is equal to a cup of a different type. To compare the nutritional information for different brands, it’s important to analyze the dry matter content: “What most bags list is the nutritional analysis that is formulated on an as-fed basis…To truly compare the nutrient content of foods, you have to look at the dry matter basis, which takes out water content.” If you are trying to count calories, the information you need may not be included on the package. Your vet should have that data, and it is also available online for most brands, either at the manufacturers' websites or in a helpful brochure from APOP.

Finally, Dr. Nelson and other pet nutrition experts are united in cautioning pet owners to pay particular attention to the little extra bites that can quickly add up--dog treats and table scraps have calories, too.

For Dr. Susan Nelson's guidelines on counting calories for obese pets, see:
http://eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-10/ksu-osc100809.php
APOP's guide to the calorie content of many pet foods can be found here:
http://www.petobesityprevention.com/food_calories.htm

Matt Papa is a postdoctoral fellow and medical researcher at Washington University School of Medicine, and also the proud owner of a German Shepherd named Hera. As both a scientist and a dog lover he is deeply concerned about the obesity epidemic in humans and dogs and fascinated by a number of new studies that explore how animals and their humans can lose weight together.

Matt’s website is devoted to discussing the latest scientific findings on obesity as well as reviewing the best weight loss plans.