Weight gain in dogs and cats is caused by several factors, as follows:
1. Food and feeding patterns
Pet food today is divided into many forms for convenience in feeding, including canned food, semi-solid food, dry food, and homemade food. The most popular form is dry food.
It is a food with low moisture content, can be stored for a long time, is convenient for the pet owner, and has complete nutritional value. However, this type of food often has a disadvantage in that it usually contains sugar and starch as an energy source. It was found that dry food provides 2,800-4,050 kilocalories/kilogram, which is considered a high-energy food when compared to canned food and semi-solid food. In addition, giving pets snacks, sweets that are high in starch and sugar regularly is another factor that affects being overweight. There are 3 types of feeding: ad libitum, time-controlled feeding, and portion-
Controlled feeding, the form that most inclines towards obesity is ad libitum feeding, which means that pets have unlimited food available to them at all times. This is often combined with dry food, as it is food that does not spoil and can be left out for a long time in large quantities. This is another factor that causes animals to become overweight, as they receive more food than their bodies need.
2. Age, gender, breed
Overweight problems are more common in older animals.
3. Behavior and habitat
The area for raising animals is inevitably related to the behavior of animals. Because nowadays, most people turn to raising animals in limited areas such as condos, dormitories or raising animals in closed systems.
This results in animals exercising or moving their bodies less. Animals therefore behave differently from when they were in the wild, such as eating more, hunting less, and spending most of their time sleeping. Effective weight control in pets for each animal involves many factors, including selecting food with the right amount of calories for the animal, exercising, and adjusting the behavior of the pet and owner to be consistent. These factors must be analyzed and can be put into practice in order for pets to have a consistent, safe weight loss rate and not be at risk of malnutrition or diseases related to malnutrition.
Information from:
Dr.Sasipat Kittisarathamma (Dr.Mook)
Internal Medicine Center, Ultrasound Center
Veterinarian, Taling Chan Animal Hospital
References:
1. Dawn Brooks, Julie Churchill, Karyn Fein, Deborah Linder, Kathryn E. Michel, Ken Tudor, Ernie Ward,
Angela Witzel. 2014 AAHA Weight Management Guildelines for Dogs and Cats. (J Am Anim Hosp Assoc 2014; 50:1–11. DOI 10.5326/JAAHA-MS-6331)
2. Patchanee Sri-ngam. Food and feeding of dogs. Dog care management. (2nd ed.). 2005;76-104.
3. Areerat Akatwiphat. Obesity in dogs and cats. Chiang Mai Veterinary Journal. 2005;3:65-70.
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