Are you noticing your furry friend gaining those extra kilos? We all love a little cuddle session with our chubby companions, but we all also know that is not healthy for them. As a pet parent, you need to understand the nutritional need of your pet and the right quantity of diet. Did you know you can add two extra years to your dog’s life cycle by helping them maintain the ideal body weight, compared to their chubby fellow companion canines? In this blog, we will discuss easy weight management tips for your furry friend.

Several external factors can intimidate your pet’s weight. Those extra kilos could be due to overgenerous calorie intake, medical conditions, intense body fat, or lack of exercise. Being overweight can hurt your dog’s day-to-day activities and also result in lowering the pet’s quality of life.

Just like humans, pets can experience severe medical conditions due to those extra kilos or unhealthy fats in the body. Medical conditions like diabetes, breathing difficulties, and heart diseases are a result of poor health conditions caused by being overweight. Another common health issue observed in obese gods is arthritis. The extra body weight adds tremendous pressure on joints, causing premature damage and long-lasting effects.

Look out for those early signs of pet obesity

Pets can’t talk, but they can show signs of discomfort when they require medical help. Examine your pet closely as some external features can help understand the increased body fat, increased face fat, or skin sagging around the abdominal area. Inspect their waistline area. Accumulated fats usually hide a dog’s spine or rib areas.

Have you noticed your pooch’s lowering excitement for evening walks or even the favorite fetch game? These behavioral changes are caused due to overweight, and they make your pet reluctant to walk and move like before. Your pet might show signs of being tired all the time. With the change in weather and increasing temperature, they may pant when excited or energetic. They may pant when they are excited, energetic, or trying to cope with excessive atmospheric heat. However, excessive panting indicates increased body weight, which results in difficulty in breathing.

3 Key tips to keep that bodyweight in check

1. Nutrition

Nobody can ignore those cute puppy eyes made at us at the dining table. That is what makes us all weak and we end up feeding them more than required. We all know the basic reasons behind those extra kilos in your pet. Unsuitable feeding habits, choosing taste over nutrition, and not reading the pet food label correctly and common reasons for pet obesity. Based on the pet’s age and breed you must calculate the nutritional requirement of your pet. Develop a proper feeding habit with correct portions of nutritional food that is suitable for your pet. Beware of your pet’s allergies and resistance toward certain food products or ingredients. You can break the daily meal plan into many smaller meal portions to keep your pet engaged throughout the day. This allows their digestive system enough time to digest the food and consume its full nutrients. You must avoid overfilling their food bowl in one serving, as this will lead to overeating. All pet parents need to be aware of the foods and ingredients in packaged pet foods. Hence, one must always read the label.

2. Regular veterinary check

A veterinarian or a pet nutritionist can help you design the right meal plan for your pet. Feeding leftover food or people’s food should be discouraged. During your pet’s routine veterinary visit you can expect the vet to conduct a preventative care test, routine biochemistry, or hematology test to ensure the overall good health of your pet. As mentioned earlier, a medical condition can also cause an increase in body weight, hence regular veterinary visits will help you keep your pet’s health in check.

3. Spend more time outdoors

Pets are no different from us humans. Just as we need the right mix of food and exercise to maintain that ideal body weight, pets require the same. Walks or just playing in the park is an optimal way to improve your pet’s fitness. You might notice your pet showing signs of laziness or disinterest in the beginning. The acceptance of outdoor activities in pets varies with their age and size. Older pets require a more controlled diet with the right amount of exercise to help them maintain healthy body weight.

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