Overweight pets are at high risk of suffering from various health problems like diabetes, heart disease, kidney problems and arthritis just to name a few. There are many factors that can contribute to your pet’s being overweight such as the amount of food that you give them and lack of exercise. Fortunately, there are ways in which you can help your pet to get healthy. Here are some that are worth mentioning.
- Measure their meals. If you’ve been quite generous with your pet’s food serving, it is high time that you get yourself a measuring cup. Most pet owners keep on filling their pet’s bowl to ensure that their pet has something to eat. This may sound like a good idea on your part but you’re actually making your pet gain more weight than usual. Even giving them a few extra kibbles a day can add to their weight.
- Give them veggies. It’s understandable that you’ll be heading to your local pet shop for dog food but instead of giving your pet highly processed meats, try giving them vegetables instead. Green beans, cucumbers, bananas, ice cubes, baby carrots, broccoli, and sliced apples are worth considering if you want to help your pet lose weight while boosting their overall health. You can even join your furry friend by eating some veggies too.
- Start exercising. Your pets need to be exercised so they will have stronger bones, better heart health, not to mention get rid of those excess fats they’ve been carrying because of the food that you’ve been giving them. Among the exercises that you can do with your pet are swimming, brisk walking, jogging, and the like. As much as possible, do 30 minutes of exercise per day to help your pet lose weight.
- Smart treating. Teaching your pet tricks is a good way to teach them discipline but if you are going to use treats, skip the sugar laden ones and go for healthier alternatives like salmon, sweet potato, and blueberry bites just to name a few. Again, when feeding treats, make sure that you count them as calories too because you don’t want to go overboard with your feeding. It’s actually a good idea for you to break down their treats to smaller pieces and only give when your pet performed a task to your liking.
- Monitor their weight loss. It’s important that you keep an eye on your pet’s weight every two weeks so that you will know how much weight they are losing per week. At most, they should lose about one to two percent of their overall body weight which is the healthiest way for them to lose weight.
- Reduce carb intake. If you’re going to read the label on your dog’s food, most of it contains carbohydrates. This can cause your pet to gain weight if you are not careful. As much as possible go for foods that have higher percentage of protein.
As much as you would love to pamper your cat or dog, you need to keep in mind that they are not meant to gain too much weight. Watch how much food you feed them and make sure that you add their exercise to your daily routine to ensure that they are getting the work out they need to have a strong physique. You’ll even get worked out too which is a plus. What’s more, you get to bond with your pet which is another great way to forge a better relationship with your pet dog or cat.
