By Cheryl Stevens
In some ways our bad habits have transferred to our pets. As with us humans the amount of overweight or obese pets has been significantly increasing. Some pet health experts suggest that about half of our dogs and cats are overweight.
Maintaining An Optimum Weight
There are a few factors that lead to overweight pets: lack of exercise, too much food, low quality food, and too many unhealthy treats. But these are things we can easily control to keep our furry friends healthier and happier.
With dogs it is easy to take them out for a walk every day. But you can also play with them indoors, for example you can play fetch with their favorite toy or play a game of tug of war. If your cat goes outside she will get exercise roaming around, climbing trees and chasing leaves, but there can be dangers outside too. If your kitty is an indoor only cat you can find a variety of toys that will provide a fun way to get more exercise. Cats can get bored if you play with the same toy over and over so it is a good idea to rotate favorite toys.
The other vital key to keeping your pet at a healthy weight is to feed healthy, high quality pet food and pet treats. Yes, you can buy healthy treats too. Unfortunately some of the pet food produced today is kind of like junk food. Companies use by-products and fillers to make a cheap food, but some cats and dogs don't react well to these foods.
Keeping Your Pet Healthy
Unfortunately when they are overweight or eating a low quality pet food they are at a much greater risk of contracting a variety of health problems. Common problems include diabetes, arthritis, digestive problems, problems with the heart and kidneys and an overall decreased immune system.
If you have ever had to deal with pet health problems you know how stressful this can be, not to mention expensive. In the long run it is well worth it to spend a little more on better quality food so you have lower chance of weight problems and other health problems.
Many of the higher quality cat foods and dog foods even have added ingredients like probiotics, omega fats, antioxidants and supplements to help with aging joints. Keeping your pet healthy will improve his or her quality of life and after all our pets give to us that is the least we can do for them.
