Dog Health – 5 Diet Nutrition Tips
In order for you to maintain your pet’s health, careful attention must be paid to your pet’s weight. All animals from dogs to rabbits and even your cat must have a healthy weight. Like humans, when they are overweight the tendency for disease and illness to happen is
increased.
Overweight pets are more likely to contract diseases and illnesses and stay sick longer. They are more likely to have symptoms of old age at a younger age. They are also more likely to have a shortened life span.
Protecting your pet and helping them to lose weight is something that you can do. Consider the pages here, each dedicated to another method for you to help your pet to lose weight. You will find yourself able to finally know that your pet is the healthiest it can be.
These pages help you to see 50 ways that you can help your pet to lose weight and to stay fit. Incorporate them into your daily life and your pet will thank you for it. From knowing the facts to playing with them, their weight is your top priority!
1: Getting Them Examined
One of the first things that you can do for your pet is to actually have them examined for their physical fitness. Even if you know that your pet is overweight and needs to lose that weight, an exam should be one of the first things that you do for them.
Meet with a veterinarian that you trust and that you know is committed to helping your pet. Interview them; get to know them so that you can trust them with your pet’s care.
Although this is not a specific tool to help your pet to lose weight, it is a crucial first step. Many people do not realize that a few pounds overweight can be far too much weight for the pet. A doctor can help to point out specifically what needs to be done for your pet.
Your doctor should also be able to monitor your pet’s progression from their current level to the next, healthier stage. They should be your ally in fighting your pet’s overweight problem.
2: Address Illness
In some situations, pets are overweight because of illnesses or hereditary factors just like people are. This is not the normal situation, but if it is what your pet is struggling with, it needs to be addressed.
To find out if your pet is facing an illness or even a disease that is causing them to gain weight, talk with your trusted vet. They can help you to rule this out as a cause for your pet. Most importantly, if it is indeed a problem having to do with illness, it can be treated with medications or other therapies so that they pet is not suffering.
Some animals, like dogs can have this happen due to old age, too. Yet, even when this is the situation, your pet can still be helped with their veterinarian’s advice and treatment options. Most vets are able to notice this difference in weight gain by simply an examination or
through blood tests that are run on the pet.
You definitely want to know and get treated any illness that could cause this type of situation. Your pet will find relief in getting the help that they need.
3: Use Treats As Treats!
It likely sounds incredibly simple. Treats should be given as treats, not regular staples in the dog’s diet. The fact is that many people give their pets too many treats. All animals can have treats unless the vet says otherwise, but you have to give this to them sparingly.
Giving them too many treats can cause them to shy away from foods that they need in their diet. If they are filled up on treats, will they eat the nutritionally balanced food that you are given them as well? Chances are they will not.
In addition, most treats designed for pets are not healthy options in the least. Most are filled with fats and other products that can easily cause the pet to become overweight.
Instead of giving treats on a regular basis as a diet element, use treats for training purposes, for distraction from nail cutting and even as a way to reward your pet. Just limit the amount that you give them as well as the frequency that they get them. This will help your pet to lose weight by reducing the number of calories they get from treat products.
4: Monitor Calorie Intake
All animals, including humans, have a recommended intake of calories per day. Calories are what the body uses to have energy and they are a way of monitoring how much you take in. In all animals, there are also recommendations of how many calories that animal should get.
Unfortunately, there is no way to pinpoint this right here for you because all animals that consume calories do so based on their age, size, physical activity and their overall type. An example is that of a dog that is middle sized. He should be consuming about 700 calories
per day.
Talk to your vet about how many calories your pet should be taking in each day. You will be surprised by what it should be as soon as you start looking at the packaging for their foods. Purchase pet foods that do tell you the calorie count as these are often the healthiest options
for you pet.
Strive to meet your pet’s calorie intake goal. This allows your pet to get the nutrition that he or she needs but helps them to keep off excess weight as well. It is simply a matter of monitoring portion size and food type to reach their calorie goals.
5: Reduce Calories
It is important to realize that if a pet is overweight right now, he needs to consume less than his recommended calorie intake to lose weight. As your body takes in too much food, food is stored as fat in the tissues of the body so that when there is not enough food, this stored fat can be used to help them to get through the rough time.
Most pets will never have that situation since you are taking care of them. To help them to lose this stored weight, then, you must reduce their calorie intake by a small amount so that their body uses stored fat instead of using the foods that they are given for energy needs.
Depending on what your pet’s calorie intake goal is, reduce this number given to them by just 5 to 10 percent. This small reduction will help them to use stored fat as energy and therefore help them to lose weight. More than this amount will cause the body to go into starvation mode which will not allow them to use stored fat. Monitor restrictive diets closely here!
