Obesity in pets is becoming a common disorder at this time. Many owners are not realizing the damage we are doing to our pets by not providing a balanced diet or let the sedentary lifestyle consume our dog or cat.
This epidemic is important to keep it under control as it can cause other problems in the health of our pets. Such as: heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, respiratory and kidney diseases.
One of the causes of obesity in pets is bad eating habits and lack of physical activity. But how do I know that my pet is overweight? How can I help my pet so I do not suffer from obesity? In this post I discuss some ways to identify if your pet is overweight and give you some recommendations that will help your pet stay healthy.
How to identify if your pet is overweight.
Obesity in pets can be identified by palpating with your hands your ribs, in case it is difficult to find is because they have excess fat. Another sign of being overweight is not displaying silhouette or waistline when your pet is walking. You can also observe the abdomen of your pet in case of being very round and bulging a sign that your animal suffers from obesity.
Recommendations to avoid obesity in pets.
Our pets need to have physical activity, at least 30 minutes daily. Dogs can be very good companions during our exercise routine. So why not invite our pets to do exercises with us? Studies of the State University of Michigan have verified that in the company of our dog we can reach more than 150 minutes of exercises, that is to say more minutes of the recommended ones weekly.
There is no excuse for your dog and cats to perform physical activity, there are many activities for our pets to stay active. For example with dogs you can go out to play with frisbee, balls, take them for a walk, take them to swim, among others. On the other hand, cats are very different from dogs, it is recommended that you provide toys that stimulate their hunting instinct and mobility.
On the other hand it is essential to provide a balanced diet to our pets. It is important to give them foods that contain nutritional values so that our dog or cat stays healthy.
In the case of dogs you can offer dry foods containing animal and vegetable oils, fruits, meats, low levels of salts and sugars. For cats the diet is different, their diet must be based on moist food and cat food, the same must be composed of meats and proteins.
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