Info Feature: Pet Obesity — New Knowledge

Like obesity in humans (both adult and child), obesity has become a serious health concern for pets, to an epidemic level. Not only is it a concern purely because of what we’ve known about it to this point (obese pets live shorter lives, and are more prone to heart and joint issues), but because of what’s been discovered recently through new research about the nature of obesity and its previously unknown effects.

Let’s start with some causes. One highly contributing factor is, obviously, a lack of activity. This is more a predominant factor with dogs; cats have a less active lifestyle in general and thus require less activity. Dogs are designed by nature to move around daily — a LOT. If they can’t get any exercise, the pounds pile on. The other obvious factor is the amount of food our pets are getting. We sometimes tend to equate love with food, and when we see our pets obviously enjoying their meal, our minds, consciously or subconsciously, add just a little more to the bowl. However, the pet food manufacturers are also to blame. The feeding charts on their bags tend to recommend too much. They’re trying to sell more food, so it’s in their interest to bump up the charts a little. However, the results are often pudgy pals. The rich nutritional content of pet foods, particularly the high-end foods, also contributes. Dog and cat physiologies aren’t designed to handle large quantities of very rich foods, so if you’re not watching carefully, weight gain can happen very quickly. The bottom line: don’t trust feeding charts. Experiment with food levels and keep visual track of your pet. (Don’t be concerned with pounds.) There are two charts with this article designed to help you do just that.

The newest research has found that obesity affects pets at the cellular level. White fat does more than store and release energy; it also secretes cell-to-cell "communication" proteins. There’s a ton of techno-babble that can be distilled into a couple of fairly simple statements. First, obese individuals don’t receive normal body signals that help regulate appetite and energy usage. Those pets are getting messages from their brains to eat too much, because their brains aren’t telling them that they’re full, and at the same time getting a message to hold on to their fat, rather than use it for energy. Another result of this cellular activity: proteins are secreted by fat that increase resistance to insulin (diabetes is therefore a common result of chronic obesity), and increase inflammation.

Obesity is also a major contributor to osteoarthritis. Simply put, being fat is hard on the joints. When the damage to joints outpaces the body’s production of healthy joint bone and tissue, osteoarthritis develops.

Here’s another result: respiratory difficulty. Obese pets, when in the midst of physical activity, have breathing difficulties due to the constriction of their airways and a shifting of their diaphragms resulting from being displaced by so much fat. Obesity can also contribute to a collapse of the trachea (usually seen with exertion coupled with a cough).

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