When your pet is in need of a diet
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- March
- 18
Yes, it’s fun to share some of your favorite food with your pet. But it’s really not fun for your pet to have to suffer the effects of continued snacking.
Overweight pets suffer from joint and skeletal problems, organ disease and early death. “The Today Show” pet expert Andrea Arden explains in this article why loving your pet with food doesn’t benefit anyone.
I get an annoyingly usual array of comments from other pet owners when I walk my dogs. There’s attempted humor: “What? Those are Italian greyhounds? Better fatten ‘em up with spaghetti and meatballs.”
Innocent observation: “Look Mommy—those dogs are so skinny!”
Downright rude: “I certainly wouldn’t let my dog look like that. You should feed them more.”
Actually, I work very hard at maintaining my dogs’ weight. Joey tends to put on weight quickly and I feel like I’m constantly fighting that. Molly, due to a congenital liver problem, stays very thin no matter how much food I pump into her (too much food at once and her liver has problems processing it.)
But unfortunately, many people don’t realize that my dogs aren’t too thin for their breed. Their dogs are too fat. And some breeds, including beagles and dachshunds, have a tendency to put on weight easily.
A visit to the vet can help owners determine if their animals need to shed a few pounds.
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, March 18th, 2008 at 6:30 am by Sarah Netter.
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Sarah Netter has covered Rockland County government and politics for The Journal News since August 2005. A Connecticut native, she previously covered several municipalities and state elections for her hometown paper. Sarah's passions include her two Italian greyhounds and cheesy disaster movies.
