What is obesity?
Today, obesity is considered the number one pet disease. This disease is nothing other than the accumulation of excess body fat, which increases the fat mass of the dog as well as its body weight.
Although obesity is an increasingly common disorder in dogs, it should not be taken lightly. It can be the cause of the appearance of other pathologies in your pet, affect its daily well-being and seriously reduce its lifespan.
What are the risks associated with my dog's obesity?
Obesity is a disease that can shorten a dog's life by up to 2 years and makes it more likely to develop other pathologies.
Previously, adipose tissue - the "scientific" name for fat - was considered a relatively inactive tissue. It was thought to only serve to store excess energy calories and increase body mass. However, scientific evidence reveals that adipose tissue is indeed biologically active. It secretes inflammatory hormones and creates oxidative stress on other body tissues, two factors that contribute to the development of various diseases.
We now know that dogs suffering from obesity have a greater risk of developing:
- many types of cancers,
- diabetes mellitus,
- heart disease,
- osteoarthritis and faster degeneration of affected joints,
- anesthetic complications,
- among other disorders and illnesses
How do I know if my dog is obese?
The very first step in obesity management is recognizing and admitting that your dog is obese. But, very often, by dint of seeing their animal every day, pet owners have a somewhat distorted view of their silhouette and tend to minimize their overweight.
The first step in this awareness is to feel your pet's ribs. You should be able to feel them by running your fingers without pressing. If you cannot feel your pet's ribs, it is not at its ideal weight and is probably overweight or even obese.
To carry out this assessment, we can also base ourselves on the body condition index of the dog. This is a dog fitness scoring system on a scale of 1 to 9.This scoring system is based on the results of palpation of the dog and observation of its silhouette, seen from above and from the side. This notation system is explained in detail in the following document:
What causes obesity in dogs?
Obesity is most often the result of an imbalance between the energy intake provided by the dog's diet and its energy expenditure.
It can also be favored by:
- genetic predispositions linked to the dog breed,
- sterilization of the animal which reduces the dog's energy needs by 20%,
- endocrine disorders from which the dog suffers such as hypothyroidism or Cushing's syndrome.
Obesity is a disease that progresses and tends to get worse over time, if nothing is done to stop it. It must be detected at its initial stage to start treating it as soon as possible.
How can I help my dog lose weight?
To treat obesity and help your dog lose weight, it is essential to introduce changes and/or improvements in their diet, combined with a more active lifestyle including exercise daily.
To best help your pet, it is best to get advice and support from a veterinarian. The latter will check if your dog does not suffer from a he alth problem that could slow down his weight loss. It will also help you adapt his diet so that your dog does not suffer from hunger or deficiencies.
You should indeed know that weight loss can be very slow in a dog suffering from obesity and that the support of a he alth professional helps to maintain the owner's motivation as much as to ensure the animal tracking.