The Dangers of Canine Obesity

Dogs can suffer from the same things as their owners, this great guest post will help you if your dog loves their food a little too much!

A Guest Post by VetDepot

As a loving and responsible dog owner, it’s hard not to spoil that sweet pup of yours.  However, it’s important to not let those extra treats and table scraps lead to too many extra pounds. Unfortunately, canine obesity is all too common and contributes to numerous health risks including heart disease, diabetes and arthritis. Prevention is your best bet when it comes to avoiding the health complications associated with obesity, but steps can be taken  to achieve a healthy weight if your pooch does manage to pack on a few extra pounds.

Causes of Canine Obesity:

Just like people, dogs become overweight when their energy intake exceeds their energy expenditure. The excess energy, or calories, is stored as fat. Sometimes, a medical condition may be to blame for your dog's weight gain. Consult your veterinarian if your dog eats well, is physically active, and is still putting on weight. The underlying cause of your dog's obesity might be hypothyroidism, insulinoma, hyperadrenocorticism, or another condition. Treating these diseases with the correct pet medications as prescribed by your veterinarian may help your dog get back to an ideal weight.

Treating Canine Obesity:

If you have concerns about your dog’s weight, visit your veterinarian for a full physical examination and weight assessment. Your veterinarian can determine whether your dog is overweight by feeling for his backbone and ribs. In overweight dogs, the waist is not defined and a layer fat covers the backbone and ribs.

If your dog is overweight or obese, your veterinarian will work with you to develop a diet and exercise plan to improve your pet's health. Dietary changes may involve increasing the amount of fiber in your dog's diet, cutting down on portion sizes, and eliminating or reducing treats. If your dog suffers from diabetes or another health condition, more intensive dietary modifications may be necessary. Regular exercise is essential to burn calories. If your dog isn’t used to too much exercise, a gradual increase in activity is important to prevent injury. Dogs with arthritis may need some assistance in becoming more active.

In addition to changes in diet and activity level, any successful weight management program for dogs involves changes in the owner’s behavior too. Your dog did not become obese on his own, and you will need to modify your own behavior to ensure your pet's weight loss efforts are successful. Begin by removing your pet from the dining room when your family eats dinner, and resist the urge to offer frequent snacks and treats to your dog. Acknowledge your dog’s good behavior with non-edible rewards, such as playing or petting. It’s also important to keep all of your dog's veterinary appointments and work closely with your vet to ensure weight loss success for your canine companion!

Update on Missy's eye problem

Well after spending several hundred dollars on a specialist and another few hundred dollars on medication that may have cured her Canine Dry Eye, we finally have a result. It has taken us six months, starting with our local vet, and ending with a well know Adelaide eye specialist for dogs and cats.

I am not unhappy with the cost, it was money we had to spend, to try to cure poor Missy's eye problem. It was so sad to see Missy, squinting when she was out in the sunshine, and with eyes that were unable to clear the bits and pieces that are usually cleared by the process of normal blinking and washing debris out with natural tears.

Dogs with Canine Dry Eye lack the natural tears to help this process occur, and the debris leads to sore eyes, and can ultimately lead to permanent sight problems. We didn't and still don't want Missy to go blind, so early in her life. Missy is only three years old, and is such a sweet and lovely girl. I love this wonderful pharaoh hound that we bred. She has all of the wonderful characteristics of her father, with none of her mother's bad habits.

Canine Dry Eye is an Autoimmune Response that destroys the dog's ability to produce tears naturally. The vet doesn't know why this may have happened, and all we could do was try out the medicine he provided to us. Putting ointment in Missy's eyes three times a day has been a bit tedious, but it was also a good chance to teach Missy to be a good girl. If it had been her mother Ananka with this issue, I don't think it would have been as easy. Missy is a special sweet girl.

Unfortunately, when Jake and I took Missy to see the specialist last week, she still wasn't producing any tears at all. This meant that the treatment hadn't led to a cure of Missy's CDE. The only other treatment the specialist could offer was an operation, which would take saliva ducts from elsewhere and put them in place of Missy's tear ducts. This, according to the vet may lead to constantly wet eyes and would cost well over $2,000. It wasn't that difficult to decide against that option.

So now we have Missy getting Viscotears in her eyes many times a day to keep her eyes moist and cleared of gunk. She sits to have her eyes cleaned and then has Viscotears put in. Then she gets something yummy to eat and a pat and goes off to do her own thing. Jake and I share the duties and it's going well enough. I tell Missy she's special and that's why she gets the food and pats. The other dogs would like the pats and treats too, but they're all being sensible about it.

The only really bad thing is that the specialist said if Missy was his dog he wouldn't breed from her, even though he said to me earlier that it was unlikely that she would pass this problem on to her offspring. So Graham and I at Holkschter have a big decision to make soon on what we want for Missy in the future.

Missy is still a great girl to have in our family though and whatever happens, I feel she will remain with us as a much loved pet.