Is Your Pet Obese?

Pets Are Made In Our Image

Food is serious stuff.  Since time immemorial, nations have struggled to devise effective and reliable ways to feed their population as the seasonal availability of certain crops and foodstuffs waxed and waned. 

The French Revolution of 1789 began over a lack of bread, and how disconnected aristocrats were with the common people.  Heads rolled.  These days, we have the opposite problem.  Almost every nation on earth - in the absence of complete economic meltdown - is struggling to keeping its population fit, health and thin.  We have been in a slow-moving global obesity pandemic for at least 50 years now, and the worldwide trend towards obesity has only accelerated in the last couple of decades.  The halving of global poverty in 2012, a United Nations SDG goal, has played a part in this because most people can now afford to buy more calories in a day than they burn in a day.  So, what's the bottom line?  There are not only a lot of fat people in this world, there are also a lot of fat pets.

But When it Comes to Food...Pets Aren't "People"

Many people think a fat baby is a healthy baby.  Fat babies are also really cute.  For many pet owners, feeding is an act of devotion and love, and a lot of them transfer quite natural human-oriented feelings to their "fur babies", even though the juvenile phase for our pets is typically measured in weeks. But being overweight or obese as a fully-grown mammal is no cause for joy.  All overweight mammals, including people and pets, may suffer from a long, familiar (and expensive!) list of health problems that have been strongly linked with obesity:

• Heart Disease
• Diabetes
• High Blood Pressure
• Joint and Mobility Problems
• Digestive Problems

How To Determine If Your Pet Is Overweight

Determining if your pet is overweight is simple.  Here are three ways you can do it.  A positive result with any two of them should whether or not your pet is overweight.  Afterwards, things become more a question of "how much are they overweight?" rather than "are they overweight?".  Also, generally, if you are asking this question then the answer is already likely to be "yes".

Determining Obesity By Appearance and Behavior

Does your pet look overweight?  Do people tell you they look overweight?  Do they struggle to walk for more than 5 minutes?  Do they struggle to climb stairs or jump up onto things?  Are they panting in hot or humid weather or after even a small amount of exertion?

Determining Obesity By Breed Standard

If your pet is a purebred (or even close to purebred) then there is a breed standard that you can look up to see what the ideal weight range is for them.  Remember, it's  range not a number - there are always individual variations within a breed, and may breeds (like poodles) have multiple size standards.  But any pet who weighs more than 20% over what the breed standard dictates is likely to be considered overweight.  If they are more than 50% over, they are very likely obese.

Determining Obesity By Examination

This last method is the least subjective and (by far) the most accurate.  A fit pet has "washboard ribs" like fit people have a "washboard stomach".  Simply run your hands along the rib cage of your pet from the shoulders to the hips.  If you can't feel their ribs all that well, they are probably overweight.  If you can't feel their ribs at all, they are obese. 

Returning To Fitness Requires a Balanced Approach

The path towards fitness is the same for all mammals, people or pets, and a holistic approach is probably the best approach for resolving the issue of being overweight or obese.  All of these measures will put your pet on the pathway to attaining and then maintaining a healthy body weight:

• Food intake must be balanced with energy expenditure 
• Food must be balanced with rest and exercise
• Food must be balanced in terms of ingredients
• Food portioning must be balanced with size   

Some Of Our Products Can Help

If you are looking for a source of pet nutrition free of artificial flavorings, additives and fillers, take a look at Pepper & Squeaky. They offer a complete line of Freeze Dried Toppers, Freeze Dried Treats and Freeze Dried Food that range from 96% to 100% pure meat.

Pepper & Squeaky Freeze Dried Pet Food Toppers

Pepper & Squeaky Freeze Dried Pet Food Toppers are 98% pure meat (including organ meat) with the remaining 2% being added trace elements such as vitamins, minerals, amino acids and enzymes to help complete its nutritional profile.  Feel free to read the label for more information about specific ingredient types and their composition.

Pepper & Squeaky Freeze Dried Pet Treats

Pepper & Squeaky Freeze Dried Pet Treats are 100% pure organ meat (Beef or Chicken Liver).  The organ meat is cubed and then freeze dried.

Pepper & Squeaky Freeze Dried Pet Food

Pepper & Squeaky Freeze Dried Pet Food is 96% pure meat, with the remaining 4% being added trace elements such as vitamins, minerals, amino acids and enzymes to help complete its nutritional profile.  Feel free to read the label for more information about specific ingredient types and their composition.

Exercise Your Options

Explore Our Catalog of Hundreds of All Natural & Holistic Choices

If our suggestions aren't exactly what you are looking for, you might want to look at the complete Line of Pepper & Squeaky pet nutrition products, or look through our complete catalog of hundreds of all natural & holistic products. 

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Holistic Pet Help offers hundreds of products to pet owners that are looking for more natural ways to boost the health, well-being and quality of life of their beloved pets.  Our website features a large number of articles that explore all aspects of pet care, and many of them feature things you can do for free!  We are located at www.holisticpethelp.com