OBESITY IN DOG : A PREVENTABLE MENACE

Obesity can be defined as an excess accumulation of body fat. If the body weight is 10-20 percent excess than normal body weight, it is considered overweight and more than 20% is known as obese. Excess body weight can affect the normal routine and can also be a predisposing factor for many diseases.

- Dr. R. Selvakkumar

Mechanised living atmosphere and busy day-to-day activity resulted in reduced physical activity in humans and made them obese. Further, due to our busy schedules, we are unable to spend time with our pets. This made them stay idle and indoors without any exercise and made them overweight. Further, most of the pet owners didn't know about the actual quantity of food required for their pets and fed them ad libitum. All of these factors lead to obesity in dogs. Obese dogs are more prone to many health issues than dogs with ideal body weight. So, we should always feed our dogs based on the actual quantity required by them and feed them with the requirement that varies with the following factors:

• Age
• Physiological status
• Activity of the pet

WHEN IT IS SAID TO BE OBESE?

To judge a dog whether it is obese or not, we should know about the actual weight of the dog at various ages and physiological states. The normal body weight of a dog varies with breed and sex. The below table illustrates the normal body weight of males and females of some familiar breeds of dogs.

 

SIGNS IN OVERWEIGHT/ OBESE DOG