Pet peeve

When Nancy returns home late in the evening, Bingo, her pet cocker spaniel, can barely contain his joy as he bounds up to her and showers his affection as he jumps up and down and runs around chasing his own tail. For Nancy, after a hard day's work, this pure moment of unconditional love is the greatest destressor. After a day of unpredictable run-ins with colleagues, clients and her boss, she revels in this bonding with her pet and too tired to leash him and take him for a walk, she reaches for a handful of doggie treats and Bingo laps it up.

In the Peterson home, everybody loves Rufus, the black Labrador. At dinner time, Rufus puts on his great act. He rubs his nose on Tom's knee, looks with doleful eyes at Carol, wags his tail at the cook and tries to play fetch with the youngest Peterson twins. All these tricks up his doggie sleeve eventually have their effect as he hungrily chews on the flow of treats - a bit of turkey, a piece of sausage, some baked potatoes, a handful of cheesy pasta…

These tender moments in homes with pets have a fuzzy, warm appeal to them but there is another side to this cosy picture, a side not many pet owners care to think about too deeply - pet obesity.

Both Bingo and Rufus, thanks to the indulgence of their owners, are piling on the pounds and slowly but surely becoming flabby and lethargic. Pet obesity is no longer an issue that sits demanding attention on the fringes of the field of pet care. It has waddled right into the centre of concern. While the joys of owning a pet and the love and laughter a pet can bring into a household cannot be overemphasised, what needs to be greatly stressed is the need for pet owners to watch the calories - their pet's calories that is.

Dr Dominik Saurek, a veterinarian with many years of experience, is not surprised when at his clinic Vetcare, at the Dubai Polo and Equestrian Club, pet owners walk in wondering why their sweet bundle of joy is getting to be such a fat bundle.

Dogs and cats, looking too well fed for their own good, waddle into Dr Saurek's clinic accompanied by their owners who have many a time woken up to the weighty problem at the end of the leash a bit late. "People fail to accept their dog has weight issues," says Dr Saurek. And the ways of being in denial are many. From ‘Doctor my dog does not eat at all!' to ‘But doc, my dog just hates dog food, he needs to eat with us!' or the classic ‘How can we eat and not have him get a wee bit as a treat, after all we love him so much', Dr Saurek has heard them all.

The truth of these denials is that the pets in most cases are not eating their meals at the designated times because they are so used to being treated to nibbles all day long. And so the owner thinks his poor pooch hasn't eaten a thing all day long! "Dogs and cats that refuse to eat pet food at regular times have been spoilt by their owners," says the vet. "If you feed them human food frequently, the pet will naturally lose its taste for pet food and demand the food on your table!"

Pets that beg for food are not natural born beggars. "They are turned into beggars due to the indulgence of their owners," says Dr Saurek. "They come to understand that if they behave in a certain manner they will be rewarded with human food, all of which is very harmful for their health."

Nearly half the pets (both cats and dogs) that are brought to Dr Saurek's clinic are grappling with weight issues. Some are alarmingly obese whereas others are tilting the scales just to the right. The reasons for pet obesity are startlingly similar to the causes for obesity in humans - poor eating habits, lack of exercise and over eating. In the US, for instance, nearly 50 per cent of the registered pets are obese according to the figures provided by the Association for Prevention of Pet Obesity.

Puppy fat

While we humans are fortunate to know when we are putting on weight - the terrific pair of jeans no longer fits, the lycra top looks like it has shrunk two sizes - our pets have no clue about their expanding waistlines. So, it is pretty much up to you to keep a watch on them. There are many ways to determine if your pet is putting on the kilos, says Dr Saurek. One of the first things every pet owner should do is to maintain the discipline of taking his pet for a regular check-up. (Yes, just like you and I are supposed to go for routine health checks.)

For every breed and every stage of growth - ranging from the puppy to adult to senior stage - there are pointers for ideal weight ranges for pets. For instance, in dogs, an adult female Labrador should weigh between 25kg to 32kg pounds and be about 55cm to 60cm tall. An adult Yorkshire terrier on the other hand, only weighs 3kg and does not grow beyond 23cm in height.

A dog is considered overweight if it weighs 15 per cent more than its ideal weight and obese if it is 30 per cent heavier than its normal weight. However, it is not always possible to determine the ideal weight and height ratios as many dogs are cross-breeds. In such cases, there are other criteria to determine your pet's weight. These are largely based on the look and feel of your pet. Dr Saurek lists four common criteria for a quick check-up:

Ribs With very thin or underweight dogs or cats, the ribs are easily felt with no fat cover. With overweight dogs it is difficult to feel the ribs as it has a moderate fat cover. In obese dogs it is extremely difficult to feel the ribs as they have a thick fat cover.

Tail base In the case of a pet with ideal weight, the base has smooth contours, but bones can be felt under a thin layer of fat. In very thin pets, the bones are raised with little or no tissue between the skin and the bone. With overweight and obese pets, there is thickening at the base and the bones cannot be felt as the fat layer is quite thick.

Side view The pet is viewed to determine if it has ideal contours. In case of thin, underweight and ideal weight pets, the doctor can clearly see an abdominal tuck. With obese and overweight pets, the abdominal tuck is missing. In some cases, a layer of fat hangs from the tummy region and the waist is non-existent.

Top view The thin or underweight pet has an accentuated hour-glass shape. Ideal weight pets have a well-proportioned lumbar waist. Overweight and obese pets have a fairly broadened back.

Why do pets become obese?

Apart from the issues mentioned earlier - indiscriminate feeding habits by owners and lack of exercise being the main culprits - metabolic or hormonal disorders such as diabetes, thyroid and so on also lead to obesity in pets.

In case of cats, especially Persian cats, the fallout of obesity is a lower tract infection and formation of uric acid crystals. For example, when cats do not exercise, they do not feel thirsty and therefore drink less water, which makes their urine very concentrated and increases the possibility of the formation of uric acid crystals. To prevent this, you must first prevent obesity in your feline pet.

But the most compelling issue that needs to be addressed to keep pets healthy is the owner's psychological mindset. The more a pet owner is a workaholic, remains stressed and has multiple job and personal issues to grapple with, the less he or she is able to attend exclusively to their pet's needs when required. "Many pet owners are career people and stay out of the house for long hours every day. This leads them to become overindulgent with their pets in the few hours a day or week they do get to be with them. So they compensate for the lack of attention by giving them out-of-turn treats even though they have no time to take them for a walk, play with them and exercise them on a regular basis."

What aggravates this problem is the kind of treats we give our pets. While specifically designed pet treats are OK in moderation, they can have a negative effect when given in abundance. Human food treats, like bread, ice cream, chicken and meat are not good. High-carbohydrate diets, for instance, are an absolute no-no for pets.

"Any kind of weight reduction in the case of pets has to be done only in consultation with a vet; otherwise it can harm your dog or cat," cautions Dr Saurek.

"Usually we put the pet on 20 to 30 per cent calorie reduction and choose a formulation with high fibre in it. There are many varieties of pet foods available for animals on a diet. We help the owner know the requirements. If the pet is under threat of renal failure, we advise a low-protein and low-phosphorous diet and other renal support food."

Another fact that most pet owners do not even think about is that their personal equation to food is not to be translated into a relationship trigger with their pets. Human beings often display their love and indulgence for each other through food. Is your spouse feeling low? Treat him to a sumptuous meal. Is your teenager sulking? Rustle up a juicy burger or head for his favourite fast food place. This happy trigger works to lift spirits in humans (and we are not even considering the calorific cycle we pedal when on this route) but when you apply the same response to showing your affection towards your pet, it is a gross miscalculation.

When you feed your pet a few spicy titbits at the table, you might delude yourself into thinking that they are just a few morsels after all and how much harm can they do but your pet is not the same size as you, much less lives the same life as you or has the same body type. A small burger patty for a small dog equals a calorie consumption of five days of meals! If you were to feed it half a burger or its equivalent, he is being over fed, says Dr Saurek. "It is important not to humanise our pets. Human beings have more than 9,700 taste buds whereas dogs have only 1,700. Very often my clients come to me and say their dog is bored with its regular food (the poor thing!) and that is the reason they decided to give it a new taste sensation." That, says Dr Saurek, is plain ignorance.

The other big issue is exercise. While we humans can be pushed, goaded, nagged or inspired to hit the gym or not (and bear the consequences), pets have no choice but to depend on their owner to exercise them.

Bigger dogs such as Labradors, Dobermans and German Shepherds, need a lot of outdoor exercise and need to be walked at least twice a day for an hour on each outing.

Last but not the least, just as we humans, hopefully, cut back on calories when we begin to be wedded to our chairs at work, and to the TV couch at home, we need to apply the same reasoning to our pets' health. If you are unable to walk your dog every day, the least you can do is monitor the amount of food you are giving it.

What are the fallouts of pet obesity?

If you continue to indulge your pet and feed it food that is not ideal for its consumption, your pet is likely to develop skin rash, heart disease, diabetes, triglycerides and above all painful joints. The downside of obesity is very depressing. When pets fail to reduce weight, Dr Saurek is left with very few options but to put them to sleep as they suffer from a variety of health complications.

Not an option any pet lover will even want to contemplate. But that is the worst-case scenario. And the path to getting there is littered with morsels of human food, withered hours of no exercise for the pet. All of which can be cleaned up and the road made smooth if you truly love your pet and are willing to give it the time, attention and discipline it deserves in return for the unconditional love it brings to your life.

Dos and Don'ts

Do

Don't