Fight the fat: the weight-loss struggle reaches America's pets

Animals, Sept-Oct, 1997 by W. Bradford Swift

Glancing down at my new patient's record, I noticed an apparent discrepancy. "Sasha, eight-year-old, domestic shorthair," the record read; but then, the 18-pound weight had to be wrong. As I stepped into the exam room, I realized it was I who was mistaken. In fact, from the size of Sasha I wondered if the scales had underweighed her. The all-black cat looked like a bowling ball with fur. I was further startled to find the Monroes, Sasha's owners, had brought her in for a routine exam and vaccinations and were apparently unconcerned about her weight problem. Didn't they realize the extra 10 pounds she carried around 24 hours a day exerted a tremendous amount of stress on all her vital organs, especially her joints, heart, and lungs -- not to mention increasing her chances of diabetes?

As I introduced myself, I strategized how to discuss the weight problem as tactfully as possible, since both of Sasha's owners also looked like lifelong members of the Clean Plate Club. It was evident from how much the Monroes coddled Sasha that they were devoted pet parents. Yet they were killing her with kindness.

The Monroe family is just one example of a growing trend plaguing the country's pet population. And it is a plague that can kill. Studies from Cornell University and Nutrition Support Services, a private research group, showed that obese cats had a 53 percent chance of surviving four years, whereas cats with the correct body weight had an 83 percent chance. And it was cats between 8 and 12 years old that were most at risk. Interestingly, findings from the Waltham Centre for Pet Nutrition indicate older cats seem to experience declines in digestive function that can lead to weight loss; in other words, it's the younger and more middle-aged cats that are most likely to be too fat. But dogs seem to be more prone to middle-age spread" as they age.

And as veterinarian John Malin, head of research and development for Waltham, points out: "There is a significant correlation between obesity and overweight problems in human beings and their pets. As we become couch potatoes, often our pets do, too." Malin fingers our increased dependency on modern technology, such as automobiles and computers, as one of the primary culprits behind the pet exercise deficit. If pet owners' lifestyles are becoming more sedentary, it's only natural that their pets' lifestyles will follow.

"How about the person who goes to the refrigerator at one o'clock in the morning after watching the late show and makes himself a sandwich?" asks Roger Caras, noted animal expert and president of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. "The family dog or cat is sure to go into the kitchen, say, `What about me?' and get an extra meal as well." One of the major differences between pets and ourselves is that our animal companions have far less control over what they eat and how much exercise they get. So it's up to their owners to use a little "tough love" when it comes to overeating and underexercising.

"It's far easier to prevent obesity in pets than it is to treat it," advises veterinarian Rebecca Remillard, staff nutritionist at Angell Memorial Animal Hospital in Boston -- a division of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals/American Humane Education Society.

Yet a typical day for many pets consists of eating, sleeping, eliminating, then eating some more. For eight or more hours a day their only exercise is walking from the couch or rug to the food bowl and back again. Usually pets are most active when their human companions return home from work, but their "dog-tired" owners often cut enthusiastic greetings short by turning pets outdoors or shutting them in another room. There they wait patiently to solicit a few treats, capitalizing on their owners' guilt over not paying more attention to them. How many of us are like Caras? "I am constitutionally unable to not give snacks. My dogs know that when they hit the back door, it's right to the kitchen. They form a semicircle as I take down the jar. Everyone gets four dog biscuits."

The cause of most obesity isn't complicated, whether the extra poundage is supported by two legs or four. "Feeding guidelines are based on a simple equation -- caloric intake must equal energy expenditure," says veterinarian Jo Wills, head of scientific affairs at Waltham. "As with humans, if caloric intake greatly exceeds caloric expenditure, pet weight gain is an inevitable result."

There are a few hormonal conditions, such as diabetes, hypothyroidism, and adrenal gland insufficiency, that can contribute to obesity, explains Remillard, but while these conditions may need to be considered and ruled out with testing, the medical conditions of the vast majority of overweight pets do not include hormonal problems.

What are concerned pet parents to do if they can't tell their pet apart from the overstuffed pillow on the couch? Remillard points out a key factor is having the dedication to stick with what it takes to help a pet regain its normal trim shape. If your pet is more than 10 to 15 percent overweight, chances are you will need to place it on a diet specially formulated to safely reduce caloric intake while providing all the animal's nutritional needs. Such a program must be customized for each pet. "Every pet is an individual," stresses Wills. "The veterinarian and pet owner must take into account the pet's weight, condition, breed, and activity level when calculating the proper level of food intake."