As the UK grapples with never before seen levels of obesity, it’s not just humans who have to face this difficult issue, domestic animals are also suffering from the disease. Research from the Veterinary Record has found that a fifth of horses used for leisure are overweight, and figures from the RSPCA tell a similar tale for dogs and cats. This film investigates why it is our animals are piling on the pounds, and what we can do to prevent killing our pets with kindness.
Transcript of video
Beki Hill: A recent study reported at least a fifth of horses are now obese. And the problem doesn’t stop there; it’s also a serious issue for domestic animals like cats and dogs. The RSPCA has found that at a quarter of cats and a third of dogs are overweight. Experts estimate that 3 and a half million canines need a to lose a few pounds. So what do vets think of the problem?
Dale Barter: I think that the root of a lot of obesity in pets is the fact that their owners want to indulge their pets and that’s part of the reward of owning a pet – you have something that is unerringly there, easy to reward and makes you feel good about yourself if you can do that. So the line about killing them with kindness is apt in this instance. The other problem is that we feed our pets predominantly processed foods now. A bit like with men and women; as we are better fed, our diseases change – we start getting diabetes – in pets joint problems, diabetes, obesity all come as a of being overfed. Processed food aren’t at fault per se, it’s the amount of them that’s fed by people to their pets. In urban environment, of course some pets don’t get enough exercise so it s a combination of both things.
BH: This is Roger; he’s the owner of 2 dogs, but he struggles to keep weight of 15 year old Gromit under control
Roger Masters: We tend to overfeed him; we feed him a lot of bits and pieces, particularly cheese… Of course when he looks at you he’s very hard to resist.
BH: The urge to reward good behaviour, or even spoil a pet, is not uncommon and the treats available look fairly harmless. Unfortunately there are over 100 calories in some of the smaller bones, which this can easily amount to a quarter of their daily allowance. Many owners forget that the animals also need to burn these extra calories off somehow.
RM: He would be a little bit slimmer if I could take him out for walks – unfortunately I’m so busy I don’t have time. So all he can do is walk in garden and we have quite a small garden, so sadly, that doesn’t get rid of his fat either.
BH: Even in densely populated areas like London there are plenty of green spaces to walk your dog. Like here, in Barnard Park in Islington. I went to speak to Jo an exp dog owner who keeps her dog Lottie fit and healthy with plenty of long walks and exercise.
So how often do you walk her?
Jo Phipps: She has a walk in the morning a good two hours, quite a slow walk and she has a walk in the afternoon or evening, again for about an hour and a half
BH: Gromit’s owner is now one of the growing number of busy people who are hiring dog walkers to ensure their pets get the exercise they need. In London alone there are over 500 organistaions offering this kind of service.
Unfortunately it’s not as simple with cats, as Mr Barter explains.
DB: It’s actually quite difficult to get a cat to do exercise – if they want to sleep to sleep all day, they’ll sleep all day. The solution lies with perhaps going back to basic behaviour of cats – that is that they would hunt 10 times a day and get a very small meal. They’d have some activity involved with getting that meal, and the balance that happens is how they keep lean and fit. So little things like having feeding balls with small holes in them and dry food is slowly fed and the cat has to do something to get the food out. Also, hiding the food around the house so the cat has to work and look for its food, rather than just having a very large bowl of food in one place that the cat just has to take a few steps to, fill itself up and walk away.
BH: Vets are always on hand to offer advice on exercise plans, and regular check ups are a vital part of any healthy animal’s life. Additionally, they can provide you with healthy and nutritious pet foods, which contain an excellent balance of all the necessary proteins vitamins and minerals.
Too little exercise, excess fatty foods and too many snacks are all causes of pet obesity, just as they are in humans. Treats may seem like a good idea, but moderation is key. Otherwise the UK are in danger of killing their pets with kindness.
Stephenson, H., Green, M., & Freeman, S. (2011). Prevalence of obesity in a population of horses in the UK Veterinary Record, 168 (5), 131-131 DOI: 10.1136/vr.c6281
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Is it ‘killing with kindness’ or killing with stupidity? Someone do me a study on the relationship between BMI of owners versus BMI of pets. Incidentally, with all due respect to Roger, if you’ve got a pet and you don’t have time to walk him (other than let him wonder in the garden) then why do you have a pet? The garden is like a fish bowl to dogs after the first week? Maybe it’s time for some cats?