So let’s say you read my break-up article. You think I’m unrealistic don’t you? They feel a little salty because let’s face it, 2021 is kind of awful too. Then I speak of having your pet lost weight like you have nothing else to worry about. It’s freezing and you don’t really want to start walking. It’s dark, it’s cold What do I even know about it? So if you are in the group that is now gung ho and ready to roll with pet weight loss, just keep reading to check out my hilarious jokes. If you belong to the above group who whisper things not mentioned and decide not to have your pet weighed, read on.
First, you know it’s fine if you really don’t care about pet weight loss. The first time I tell you that your pet is overweight, just tell me that you don’t mind and that it will be. I promise I’ll never mention it again unless you tell me you want to talk about it. I know we all have a list of priorities, and I’m not here to keep yours for you (I can barely keep mine!)
Second, you know that while my pets are thin (because they’re high on my priority list), not because I don’t have any other flaws. One of my personal mistakes is my entire wardrobe. My hairstyle for two. I even have weight fights with pets. My toddler’s favorite pastime is feeding my animals. He feeds them their food, he feeds them his food, he feeds them my food. He asks for food in their storage containers to feed them. They are trained to stay out of the kitchen when I ask, so he hops down and brings them his food while they wait patiently in the other room. When I take my dogs to work, they clean up all the food and are continuously fed by my staff (they know who they are).
I have the advantage of being very good at judging weight loss and weight gain just by stroking them with my hand. I also have the advantage of a scale. Also, I never really trained my dogs with treats after the first training session. They both love a good old “good dog”! so i can control their food intake fairly easily. On days when the child clearly throws them 100 Cheerios, I only take a quarter of a cup out of dinner. And so on. The reason I am demanding follows.
Joint health
Pets of ideal weight are less prone to arthritis. They are better maintained with less pain even if they already have arthritis. Exercise also promotes strong muscles and ligaments, which reduce stress on the joints. Regular exercise with less weight helps the bones, cartilage, and synovial fluid function more effectively.
Organ health
Increased fat results in a higher workload on the heart. It also leads to more fat in the chest and stomach, making it harder for the organs to work as efficiently. Overweight cats who stop eating have a tendency to develop fatty liver disease. In these situations, the body begins to mobilize fat too quickly for energy to make up for what the cat is not eating. This in turn leads to liver failure.
Fat itself is now recognized as an inflammatory organ. This means that by the very presence of excess fat, it increases the level of inflammation the body is struggling with. This leads to many types of health problems, including general immunosuppression. I often feel that when I tell them, people don’t understand the meaning. In essence, the extra fat they carry is a ticking time bomb, and as it ticks it releases harmful rays.
cancer
Some of the role fat plays in cancer is not known and some of it is due to the inflammatory activities of fat cells. While cancer is a far sad reality in the lives of far too many pets, no matter what we do, we also know that keeping pets while in a lean condition lowers the risk of cancer.
So trust me when I tell you I know the fight. Believe me too, if you tell me that you don’t care and you don’t want to hear it, I won’t bring it up for you again. But do you also know that it is my job to be honest about pet weight (at least once) because it is important for health.
