Is There Never Too Much of a Good Pet?

According to many owners, their four legged friends should be sturdy and plump, since ball-shaped animals look pretty funny and cute. However, veterinarians are convinced that obesity of cats and dogs is a disease that needs to be avoided.

At the online conference “Pet Obesity: a Disease or a Cosmetic Disability?” the topic of pets’ overweight was addressed by Olga Smirnova, Ph.D in Biology, veterinarian, general practitioner, endocrinologist, ESVE member, Chief Veterinarian of the Therapeutics Department of the Veterinary Clinic of Neurology, Traumatology and Intensive Therapy.

“Unlike human medicine, veterinary medicine still doesn’t have a concept of obesity. However, most doctors consider it not a cosmetic disability, but a disease,” the expert started.

She assessed the problem of pet overweight from the point of view of a an endocrinologist: “Doctors of our specialization are rarely approached with endocrine diseases. As a rule, there are reproduction or obesity issues.”

Obesity as an Aftertrouble

Olga Smirnova noted an interesting fact: if obesity is a consequence of some disease, it’s easier to get rid of. However, if it’s actually obesity as such, the whole lifestyle needs to be restructured – one of a pet and one of the owner. There are actually only a few diseases that can lead to obesity. A leader is hypothyroidism – a disorder of the endocrine system in which the thyroid gland does not produce enough thyroid hormone. It’s dogs that are mostly diagnosed with it, not cats. It’s a disease that comes as a pseudo-diagnosis more often than others in endocrinology. Out there it’s called as “a great impersonator” and usually developed by young and middle-aged dogs. A quote by Confucius describes it perfectly: “The hardest thing of all is to find a black cat in a dark room, especially if there is no cat.”

“It should come with apparent abnormalities and develop very slowly,” the veterinarian added.

This kind of obesity provokes Cushing syndrome caused when the adrenal gland makes too much of a certain hormone. It is common to be found among dogs and rare for cats. Fat is accumulated in the abdominal cavity, in the neck area; the muscle bulk is destroyed, but the ultimate weight can remain the same. Another disease related to testicular tumors of male dogs is hypergastrinemia, overproduction of female reproductive hormones that makes configuration of the body change. By the way, this disorder has never been found among cats.

If the Pet Has Obesity in the End

According to the statistics, the number of dogs with obesity has increased several times over the last 30 years. The situation for cats is similar.

“About 40% of pets suffer from obesity nowadays; this condition is the most widespread among companion animals. Unfortunately, owners underestimate the real problem,” Olga Smirnova said openly.

Does Castration Influence the Overweight

There’s not a definitive opinion about this issue at the moment yet, but the fact is widely recognized. Castrated cats and dogs are more prone to obesity. There are three reasons that exist as hypotheses: reduced physical activity, a change of eating behavior and a low speed of metabolism.

“In 2004, an interesting research was conducted: animals castrated at the early age of 5.5 months and younger showed less prominent signs of obesity than dogs castrated at traditional age. Besides, nowadays early castration is quite a normal practice. It’s just not clear yet what it is related to,” the speaker shared.

Obesity is a risk factor for development of whole number of cat diseases such as type II diabetes, when cats get sick and start losing weight. They also have cellulitis that always go along with cat obesity. Any trauma might trigger it and it’s extremely difficult to cure.

“Actually, cats face a huge range of obesity-related issues. Dogs have arthritis, osteoarthrosis, issues with upper respiratory airways, aside from orthopedic complications. Breathing complexity is the most common for small breeds. The only situation when overweight is a benefit is a kidney disease. The pet doesn’t eat anything, while there’s much stored fat,” the veterinarian noted.

In this case if the weight starts increasing, a restrictive diet should be applied. Female type: more fiber and less fat – it doesn’t cause exhausting hunger. Male type: much protein and little carbs – it doesn’t allow losing the muscle bulk. There’s only one way to break the vicious circle: it’s necessary to stick to the diet and increase physical activity, for example, through exercises.

The Ph.D in Biology finished her speech with Angela Witzel’s phrase: “Fat is like a stray dog. If you feed it, it will keep hanging around.”

More

Is There Never Too Much of a Good Pet?

According to many owners, their four legged friends should be sturdy and plump, since ball-shaped animals look pretty funny and cute. However, veterinarians are convinced that obesity of cats and dogs is a disease that needs to be avoided.

At the online conference “Pet Obesity: a Disease or a Cosmetic Disability?” the topic of pets’ overweight was addressed by Olga Smirnova, Ph.D in Biology, veterinarian, general practitioner, endocrinologist, ESVE member, Chief Veterinarian of the Therapeutics Department of the Veterinary Clinic of Neurology, Traumatology and Intensive Therapy.

“Unlike human medicine, veterinary medicine still doesn’t have a concept of obesity. However, most doctors consider it not a cosmetic disability, but a disease,” the expert started.

She assessed the problem of pet overweight from the point of view of a an endocrinologist: “Doctors of our specialization are rarely approached with endocrine diseases. As a rule, there are reproduction or obesity issues.”

Obesity as an Aftertrouble

Olga Smirnova noted an interesting fact: if obesity is a consequence of some disease, it’s easier to get rid of. However, if it’s actually obesity as such, the whole lifestyle needs to be restructured – one of a pet and one of the owner. There are actually only a few diseases that can lead to obesity. A leader is hypothyroidism – a disorder of the endocrine system in which the thyroid gland does not produce enough thyroid hormone. It’s dogs that are mostly diagnosed with it, not cats. It’s a disease that comes as a pseudo-diagnosis more often than others in endocrinology. Out there it’s called as “a great impersonator” and usually developed by young and middle-aged dogs. A quote by Confucius describes it perfectly: “The hardest thing of all is to find a black cat in a dark room, especially if there is no cat.”

“It should come with apparent abnormalities and develop very slowly,” the veterinarian added.

This kind of obesity provokes Cushing syndrome caused when the adrenal gland makes too much of a certain hormone. It is common to be found among dogs and rare for cats. Fat is accumulated in the abdominal cavity, in the neck area; the muscle bulk is destroyed, but the ultimate weight can remain the same. Another disease related to testicular tumors of male dogs is hypergastrinemia, overproduction of female reproductive hormones that makes configuration of the body change. By the way, this disorder has never been found among cats.

If the Pet Has Obesity in the End

According to the statistics, the number of dogs with obesity has increased several times over the last 30 years. The situation for cats is similar.

“About 40% of pets suffer from obesity nowadays; this condition is the most widespread among companion animals. Unfortunately, owners underestimate the real problem,” Olga Smirnova said openly.

Does Castration Influence the Overweight

There’s not a definitive opinion about this issue at the moment yet, but the fact is widely recognized. Castrated cats and dogs are more prone to obesity. There are three reasons that exist as hypotheses: reduced physical activity, a change of eating behavior and a low speed of metabolism.

“In 2004, an interesting research was conducted: animals castrated at the early age of 5.5 months and younger showed less prominent signs of obesity than dogs castrated at traditional age. Besides, nowadays early castration is quite a normal practice. It’s just not clear yet what it is related to,” the speaker shared.

Obesity is a risk factor for development of whole number of cat diseases such as type II diabetes, when cats get sick and start losing weight. They also have cellulitis that always go along with cat obesity. Any trauma might trigger it and it’s extremely difficult to cure.

“Actually, cats face a huge range of obesity-related issues. Dogs have arthritis, osteoarthrosis, issues with upper respiratory airways, aside from orthopedic complications. Breathing complexity is the most common for small breeds. The only situation when overweight is a benefit is a kidney disease. The pet doesn’t eat anything, while there’s much stored fat,” the veterinarian noted.

In this case if the weight starts increasing, a restrictive diet should be applied. Female type: more fiber and less fat – it doesn’t cause exhausting hunger. Male type: much protein and little carbs – it doesn’t allow losing the muscle bulk. There’s only one way to break the vicious circle: it’s necessary to stick to the diet and increase physical activity, for example, through exercises.

The Ph.D in Biology finished her speech with Angela Witzel’s phrase: “Fat is like a stray dog. If you feed it, it will keep hanging around.”

More