Obesity in dogs: causes, signs, treatment

Recently, quite often the owners of dogs complaining of the obesity of their pets address veterinarians. The reasons for overweight in an animal can be both improper feeding and more serious problems, for example, disruption of the work of internal organs. It is worth noting that obesity in any case is a dangerous disease for the health of the pet, and therefore it is impossible to leave this pathology without attention.

Traditionally, obesity treatment is based on a special diet, as well as an increase in physical activity. The success of losing weight will depend on how strictly you follow all the recommendations of the veterinary specialist regarding the diet and physical activity of the pet.

What are the causes of obesity?

The appearance of extra pounds in an animal can occur for the following reasons and factors:

1. Disruption of feeding. The most obvious and common cause of overweight in an animal is overfeeding. Many dog ​​owners themselves become the reason that the mass of the animal is rapidly increasing, because sometimes even a single portion of calories exceeds the rate of calories consumed by a pet per day. Often the cause of this phenomenon is feeding the animal from the table, feeding with various high-calorie treats. If you feed your pet with exclusively natural products, the cause of obesity can be in the high content of fats in food, as well as in the absence of a balance of nutrients. One of the most common causes of obesity is the predominance of carbohydrates and fats in the diet of the animal and a lack of protein and minerals.
2. Hypodynamia. Often a similar phenomenon is observed in urban pets. Low physical activity as a result leads to the fact that the animal does not have time to spend the calories eaten per day.
3. Diseases of a hormonal nature. Quite often, obesity in dogs becomes a violation of the adrenal glands or endocrine gland, as well as diabetes. Disruption of the hormonal balance as a result leads to the fact that metabolic processes in the animal's body become slower, which also leads to an increase in body weight.
4. The presence of parasites. Traditionally, it is assumed that the parasites in the body, on the contrary, lead to exhaustion. However, in some cases, invasions emit toxins that slow down the metabolism of the animal, which leads to an increase in body weight.
5. Genetic predisposition. Today there are already reliable data suggesting that some dog breeds are more susceptible to obesity than others. These include pugs, French bulldogs, dachshunds, labradors, bigley and rottweilers. Pet owners of these breeds should be more attentive to the feeding of animals and spend more time on their physical activity.

Constant stress can also trigger obesity. If the animal is often in such a state, then the food can become for him something of a protective tool that helps to survive the experience.You can notice this feature in pets that were found on the streets or taken from the nursery.

Effects of Obesity on an Animal

Today, veterinarians unanimously say that obesity is very harmful and dangerous both to the health and to the life of the pet as a whole. Obesity can significantly reduce the life expectancy of a dog.

Primarily, excess weight damages the cardiovascular system. The heart muscle is forced to work in an enhanced mode, because it comes to pump a much larger volume of blood. In this case, the consumption of fatty foods leads to a significant increase in the level of cholesterol in the body. As a result of this process, cholesterol plaques are formed in the vessels, which prevent the blood from circulating normally throughout the body. In obese dogs, blood pressure rises significantly, and hypertension develops over time.

A large body mass is reflected in the musculoskeletal system. First of all, the joints start to suffer. The processes of dystrophy in the spine and extremities gradually develop.With the appearance of obesity in a dog, one can notice how over time articular diseases begin to develop: arthritis, arthrosis, dysplasia of the joints, as well as various strains and ruptures of the ligaments. This primarily affects the motor activity, as over time it becomes quite difficult for the animal to walk and especially run.

The absorption of too much fatty foods, and in general overfeeding, will gradually wear out the pancreas, since this organ has to work in an enhanced mode. Often it is obesity that becomes a factor in the development of pancreatitis in dogs. Not a positive effect on overweight and liver health. Practically every obese dog develops fatty dystrophy.

Large body weight easily leads to thermal shock, various injuries, as well as disruption of the genital organs and weakening of the body's immune defense. According to statistics from veterinary specialists, animals that are overweight live an average of one and a half years less than their relatives with normal body weight.

It is also worth noting that pathological processesarising in the body of an animal with obesity, lead to a slowdown of metabolic processes, as well as reduction of motor activity, which ultimately leads to even greater obesity and the emergence of new health problems. It is important to detect signs of obesity in a pet in time and take action.

Signs of pathology in dogs

Determining the presence of excess weight in your pet is not difficult, you just need to pay attention to the following signs:

1. If you examine your pet, you may find that the last two edges cannot be viewed. It is also impossible to determine the boundary between the chest and the abdomen by inspection.
2. When probing the ribs can be determined with great difficulty.
3. The pet's belly becomes rather swollen and sagging, the back takes on a curved shape.
4. The legs of the dog gradually become short and thick.
5. Gradually, the dog appears additional folds, which were not previously, and which are not provided for this breed.
6. Since the pet becomes inactive, does not seek to walk, does not play, as before.
7. Even a little physical activity causes shortness of breath in the dog.
8. During walks, the animal can often lie down to take a break.
9. Males may experience a decrease in sexual desire.
10. The females, in turn, may experience irregularities in the regime of leakage, and sometimes they may be completely absent.
11. The mass of the animal exceeds the breed standards by 20% and more.

If, despite the description of all the symptoms, it is still quite difficult to determine the obesity of a pet, you should contact your veterinarian. The specialist will examine the animal and make a conclusion.

How to understand what weight is ideal for an animal?

To understand that your pet has excess weight is quite simple, having at its disposal information about the standard performance of a particular breed. It is enough to know the breed, the sex and the age of your pet to determine how much weight it should have. If you find that your pet's body weight exceeds the permissible norms by 20%, you should think about the correction.

How to treat an animal for obesity?

Since obesity entails the development of a large number of pathological processes, it is necessary,to treat the animal under the supervision of a veterinary specialist. Moreover, losing weight is a rather long and complex process.

As a rule, the basis of treatment for obesity is a special therapeutic diet, as well as physical exertion. If obesity is a consequence of the development of a disease of internal organs, then the mainly detected pathology is treated.

How to choose a diet and food?

The veterinarian selects the nutrition scheme for fighting obesity, taking into account the age, breed, sex and degree of obesity of the animal. There are some general rules of nutrition for weight loss:

1. If an animal has been fed on only natural products, then in the course of therapy one should pick up lean meat and poultry, as well as cereals with low calorie content, buckwheat and oatmeal are perfect. Protein food should be about 40% of the total diet, and cereal crops about 20%. In the pet menu you need to add dairy products, as well as raw and boiled vegetables. Also, the veterinarian may prescribe the use of vitamin complexes.
2. During the diet, you should completely abandon feeding the animal from the table.It is forbidden to give your pet sausage products, flour products, salty, donated and fatty.
3. It should also reduce the portion of the pet. This should be done gradually. Initially, it can reduce the diet by 10-15%. If you have a large breed dog, you can feed it three times a day, small breeds need 4 meals per day.
4. It is strictly forbidden to sharply restrict a pet in the diet or starve it. Not only will this not give any result, in addition, the animal may develop pancreatitis, liver or stomach diseases.
5. If your pet is feeding on ready-made feeds, then special attention should be paid to the feed dosage. Most often during the diet the veterinarian prescribes the use of a special feed for the correction of weight. Such feeds are distinguished by the fact that they have a relatively low calorie content, despite the fact that they are completely balanced.

In addition to the feed itself, the doctor also determines the size of the portions. Here it is important to understand that increasing the weight of a serving will not lead to positive changes, therefore it is important to strictly follow the recommendations of a specialist.

Physical activity

Exercise will help your pet quickly and without any harm to your health.Increase the activity of the pet should be gradually as it will lose weight. Doctors generally recommend starting with an increase in the length of walks.

As soon as the animal gets used to such a load, you can add additional types of activity: running, various games, overcoming obstacles, jumping and so on. In the warm season, water treatments will be very useful.

If you have a fat animal, you can ask for help in the canine complex, experts will help you develop a set of physical activities for weight loss.

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