How being overweight increases the risk of diabetes and other diseases in your dog.
Too many dogs are overweight
. Unfortunately, overweight dogs are no longer the exception. In Europe, more than half of dogs, living in homes, are already overweight. Just like in humans, overweight in dogs is often caused by eating too much and not exercising enough. Fatter dogs are also more likely to suffer from health problems than dogs of an ideal weight. Increasingly, health problems such as diabetes, joint pains, heart problems, digestive and reproductive problems are observed in addition to obesity.How do you make your dog lose weight to the ideal weight?
Simply put, eating too much and not exercising enough are the main causes of obesity. So to make sure your dog is at a stable and healthy weight, it is important to eat healthy and on time and make sure the dog gets enough exercise daily, by walking or actively playing with the dog. How much you should feed the dog obviously depends on what he is fed, how old the dog is, but also whether or not he is neutered or spayed. In determining how much a dog should eat, the vet can help. They usually look at the weight which is right for the breed and normal weight and then you can see on the can or bag of food exactly how much the dog needs per day. Divide this amount into the number of food pours and then weigh it with a scale so you know how much (little) it actually is. Dogs that have been helped and are therefore hormonally changed we like to give a third to a quarter less food than he would normally need. Remember that everything the dog eats, including snacks, actually count in the amount of calories the dog eats. Besides the right amount of food, walking, cycling and active play are also essential in achieving and maintaining an ideal body weight for your dog.Why is a healthy weight also healthier for your dog?
Joints are overloaded when overweight.
When dogs are overweight or even obese, it is a huge strain on the body. Overweight dogs have a daily overload on all joints, especially the paws. This often causes more wear and tear and complaints of the joints. Overweight dogs are therefore more likely to be lame and therefore often less happy to move around. This obviously creates a vicious circle, less exercise with the same amount of food results in even more weight gain which then puts more strain on the joints.Overweight dogs are more prone to diabetes.
When a dog eats, sugars are absorbed into the gut. From the gut, sugars are absorbed into the blood and transported through the body. When body cells need energy, they absorb sugars from the blood. Sugars are taken into the cells via the hormone Insulin, so that muscles, for example, have energy to move again. In diabetes, too little of this insulin hormone is produced and so the sugar cannot be sufficiently absorbed into the cells and too much sugar remains in the blood. This sugar attracts extra fluid and together they are then urinated out through the urine. Dogs with diabetes therefore always urinate and drink more. So what makes overweight dogs more likely to develop diabetes? Overweight dogs can become less sensitive to the hormone insulin, allowing less sugars to be absorbed. To ensure that enough sugars can be absorbed, dogs with reduced sensitivity to insulin will need more and more insulin for the same effect.Being overweight puts more strain on the lungs, heart and kidneys.
Actually, everything in a dog's body is put under extra strain the moment the dog becomes overweight. Some parts of the body may suffer more damage from this than other parts. When a dog moves with too much body weight, this obviously puts more strain on the lungs and heart as well. They will have to work harder for the same result than for a dog of normal body weight. The kidneys are also put under extra strain. Not because more weight means more strain, but because these dogs often have elevated sugar in the blood. Increased sugar is taken to the kidneys with extra fluid where they turn it into urine so the extra sugar disappears from the body. This puts kidneys to extra work with more risk of damage.So what is the solution?
Exercise more together with the dog, obviously not from nothing to hours of walking overnight. Look for an ideal food to bring the dog up to weight, this is food such as Hill s Metabolic, Sanimed Weight Reduction or TROVET Weight and Diabetic WRD. If the dog is really overweight or you find it difficult how to tackle this problem; you can ask your vet or a weight consultant for help.-This is an automated translation- |