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Obesity is the number one nutritional disorder among dogs. Studies suggest that approximately 25 percent of the dogs presented to veterinary clinics are overweight. This extra weight puts pets at risk for certain health problems involving the cardiovascular, respiratory and skeletal systems. Knowing how to recognize the signs of obesity and take corrective action is important. But more important is knowing how to keep pets in good body condition to start, thus avoiding the development of obesity in the first place.
Animals with an excessive accumulation of body fat to the point of being 20% or more over ideal body weight are considered obese. Weight gain occurs when animals consume more calories than they use. This gain may be slow and gradual or occur rapidly depending on the size of the difference between energy intake and energy use.
The causes of obesity generally fall into three categories: inappropriate diet, genetic predisposition and hormonal disorders.
Diet
Although this category is labeled diet, obesity is more accurately attributed to inappropriate feeding and exercising of the pet. As stated above, weight gain is a result of eating more calories than the pet uses. When calorie intake equals calorie expenditure, the animal will maintain its body weight. If intake exceeds output, the animal will gain weight. As a result, there are two ways to impact the animal's weight. The first is to feed fewer calories and the second is to increase the number of calories the pet uses by increasing the amount of exercise the pet gets. This means reducing the amount of food the animal receives and increasing the time spent walking or playing with the pet.