How does your dog get fat? – the fatal consequences of obesity in dogs

Obesity is a serious health risk overweight dog

Nobody likes to hear that their dog is too fat. Obesity is a sensitive topic, which many do not dare to address. And if you do, the top 3 answers are: overweight dog

“It’s all just fur! When it’s wet, you can see how thin it really is!”
“He’s always been like that! He got that from his parents!”
“My dog has heavy bones!”

No one likes to admit that their dog is too fat. Emotions or not, about 40 percent of all dogs and cats in Western industrialized countries are overweight or even obese. This is almost every second dog. And this is a serious health problem for any affected animal! In addition, life expectancy is significantly reduced by about 20 percent.

How does a dog get fat? – dangers for overweight lurk here

There are also in dogs, for example, metabolic diseases that can lead to obesity. But the most common cause of obesity is very simple: the most important factor is the lack of balance between exercise and amount of food. In addition, there are factors that change your dog’s energy needs.

For example, if your dog suffers from a joint disease and is allowed or able to move less, the energy requirements will change.
Age also plays a role, your dog moves less, metabolism slows down, the dog’s body needs less food or in a different composition.
Neutering affects hormone balance and therefore your dog’s energy needs.
In addition, there is the tiresome topic of treats. Quite often we do not take them into account when determining the amount of feed.
By the way, the information on the amount of feed on the feed packaging is often treacherous. As a rule, they are overstated rather than understated, and not every dog consumes the same amount of food.

Germans spend more than a million euros a year on dog food. That’s quite a lot, which, if dosed incorrectly, will leave marks on our dogs’ hips.

Obesity comes insidiously overweight dog

That your dog becomes overweight is usually a gradual process. Overweight develops gradually and begins with the so-called “dynamic phase”, during which fat is stored. Your dog takes in more food than he consumes. This is followed by the “static phase” when the fat accumulation capacity is exhausted. During this phase, a comparatively small amount of food may be sufficient to maintain the excess weight. Therefore, it is not surprising that if your dog is overweight, he will not lose weight easily despite reduced food. I often hear from patient owners that the dog only gets a “handful of food a day” and still doesn’t lose weight. By the way, when adjusting the amount of food you have to make sure that your dog still gets all the important vitamins & co.

The drastic and sometimes life-threatening consequences of obesity

The consequences of obesity in dogs are literally severe and will harm your dog for life. Your dog gets into a real vicious circle. The joy of movement decreases because every step is difficult. The entire musculoskeletal system is overloaded and his joints suffer massively. The articular cartilage is overloaded, and at the same time no longer adequately nourished due to a lack of joint movement. The result: ARTHROSE and other joint diseases! The joint fluid becomes thin, the joint capsule shrinks, and ligaments and tendons are affected. Reduced movement causes the muscles to break down and shorten. This means another additional load for the musculoskeletal system. The less muscle there is, the more the skeleton has to lift.

Even more serious consequences

The efficiency of the cardiovascular system also decreases. The dogs run out of breath and every movement becomes an effort. And less exercise means less consumption of energy, which leads to further weight gain. In addition, the risk of diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and tumors increases. Due to the weakened cardiovascular system, anesthesia becomes a danger.

No matter if your dog is still healthy or already has a musculoskeletal disease: every gram too much on the ribs puts a strain on your dog and makes him sick.

Not sure if your dog is overweight and what the right weight for your dog is? In my next article I’ll tell you how to recognize overweight and thus take the first step to protect your dog from serious diseases. Overweight dog