Pet Obesity Prevention

Pet obesity prevention

Obesity

Obesity refers to a condition wherein an excess of body fat develops to an extent that can be detrimental to an individual’s health. Obesity contributes to serious health conditions such as diabetes mellitus, coronary heart disease etc. Obesity poses a major health concern globally, whereby studies indicate that around 59% of dogs and cats are overweight.

Therefore, this makes obesity one of the most prevalent medical conditions prevalent in veterinary practice .  Recent findings suggest that obesity is increasing at a significant rate and has now become a global issue, thereby affecting developing countries as well.

 

Pet Obesity

Obese dog

The growing existence of growing animals is of particular concern, whereby around 21% of dogs are overweight by 6 months of age. Moreover, obesity leads to metabolic disorders, serious functional damage such as deterioration of respiratory function, cardiovascular function, and renal function. Additionally, Obesity poses a severe financial burden on pet owners as they expend large sums of money on regular checkups with vet, medications, insurance etc.

For instance, dogs that are overweight face numerous health problems that consequently decrease their life span. Moreover, there is a higher chance of them being adversely affected by other health issues such as osteoarthritis, diabetes mellitus and some forms of neoplasia . The ‘World Small Animal Veterinary Association’ declared canine obesity as a medical condition.

 

 

Stats

The Association for Pet Obesity Prevention (APOP) finds that

  • Rate of pet obesity stood at approximately 59.5% for cats and 55.8% for dogs
  • Both pet owners and professional Vets struggles with agreeing on pet nutritional advice due to the large volume of conflicting advice available. Therefore, pet owners and vets find it extremely difficult to aid pets with achieving safe and optimal weights.
  • Additionally, the survey found that around 80% of professional vets and around 68% of pet owners had taken steps to facilitate their pets with weight loss, whereby the most popular method supported by 68% of the respondents was dieting by decreasing calories or portion sizes.

Dog and cat obesity in USA

 

 

Nationwide (Pet Health Insurance Company)

  • Pet obesity has been increasingly rising for the eight consecutive year .
  • Around 20% of Nationwide members’ pet insurance claims in 2017 were for health issues and diseases associated with pet obesity, thereby adding up to approximately $69 million in veterinary expenses.
  • Nationwide received around 57000 pet insurance claims for arthritis found in dogs in 2017, whereby it represents one of the most common disease exacerbated by excessive weight .
  • Furthermore, Nationwide received around 5800 pet insurance claims for bladder or urinary tract disease found in cats, whereby it is the most common obesity linked condition in cats.

 

PDSA Animal Wellbeing Report 2018,

  • Around 50% of vets predicted that pet obesity would have extremely serious health and welfare implications in a decade’s time.

 

British Veterinary Nursing Association (BVNA)

  • Finds that vet professional believe that around 34% of the cats that they attend to on a weekly base are either slightly overweight or obese.

Prevention of Pet Obesity

Obese cat

Over the past decade, researches and doctors are increasingly advocating for the adoption of the One Health (OH) approach in health systems and research, by making sure that transdisciplinary policies are implemented to realize enhanced stakeholder engagement, sustainable ways to prevent disease and develop mitigation solutions.

One Health (OH) is a collective, transdisciplinary approach varying across different sectors and working at domestic, national and global levels. It aims to attain optimum health results by recognizing the link between people, animals, plants and their common environment. OH has a range of benefits such as enhancement of animal and human health and well-being.

Preventing obesity can only be achieved through a prevention plan, whereby the body weight and body conditions of pets is monitored throughout their life span. Furthermore, the prevention plans are supported by the widespread availability of fact-based growth charts such as those created for dogs weighing up to 40 kg that are freely available online for the benefit of veterinary professionals. Studies have shown that managing and controlling diet can considerably increase the life span of dogs.

However, the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention’s (APOP) 10th survey on pet obesity indicates that pet obesity in America is continuously increasing despite a move towards a more natural and “grain-free” diet.

 

 

 

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Resources

  1. Association for Pet Obesity Prevention. (2018). 2018 — Association for Pet Obesity Prevention. [online] Available at: https://petobesityprevention.org/2018.
  2. Bomberg, E., Birch, L., Endenburg, N. and German, A. (2017). The Financial Costs, Behaviour and Psychology of Obesity: A One Health Analysis.
  3. Brooks, D., Churchill, J., Fein, K., Linder, D. and Michel, K. (2020). 2014 AAHA weight management guidelines for dogs and cats.
  4. Carrozza, A. (2018). Pet Obesity: Good News and Bad News. [online] American Veterinarian. Available at: https://www.americanveterinarian.com/news/pet-obesity-good-news-and-bad-news.
  5. gov. (n.d.). One Health | CDC. [online] Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/onehealth/index.html.
  6. Courcier, E., RM, T. and Mellor, D. (2010). An epidemiological study of environmental factors associated with canine obesity.
  7. Day, M. (2017). One Health Approach to Preventing Obesity in People and Their Pets. Journal of Comparative Pathology.
  8. German, A. (2006). The growing problem of obesity in dogs and cats.
  9. German, A. (2006). The growing problem of obesity in dogs and cats.
  10. German, A. (2016). Obesity Prevention and Weight Maintenance After Loss. Vet Clin North Am Small Anim Pract.
  11. Häsler, B., Cornelsen, L., Bennani, H. and Rushton, J. (2014). A Review of the Metrics for One Health benefits.
  12. Kealy, R., Lawler, D. and Ballam, J. (2000). Effects of diet restriction on life span and age-related changes in dogs. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 220.
  13. Kopelman, P. (2000). Obesity as a medical problem. Nature.
  14. Lund, E., Armstrong, P., Kirk, C. and Klausner, J. (2006). Prevalence and Risk Factors for Obesity in Adult Dogs from Private US Veterinary Practices.
  15. Mao, J., Xia, Z. and Chen, J. (2013). Prevalence and risk factors for canine obesity surveyed in veterinary practices in Beijing, China.
  16. com. (2019). Pet obesity on the rise for eighth consecutive year. [online] Available at: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/pet-obesity-on-the-rise-for-eighth-consecutive-year-300771328.html.
  17. Read, C. (2019). The growth of pet obesity.
  18. Salt, C., Morris, P., German, A. and Wilson, D. (2017). Growth standard charts for monitoring bodyweight in dogs of different sizes.
  19. Tropf, M., Nelson, O. and PM, L. (2017). Cardiac and Metabolic Variables in Obese Dogs.

Russel

A pet owner who loves to share useful facts and information about a variety of animals.