Fat Pets Fat Owners?
Jane E. Brody of The New York Times reports we aren’t alone in the obesity epidemic, our pets are sharing the burden too:
For more on the subject check out this previous post: Aussie Pets Plump Too
“Studies in Western Europe and the United States have indicated that more than 24 percent of dogs and about 25 percent of domestic cats are obese,” the veterinarians, Jon J. Ramsey and Kevork Hagopian, noted. The findings were published this month in The Journal of Nutrition.Surprisingly, research shows fat owners don’t necessarily mean fat pets:
While many (though clearly not all) French women may be slim, their dogs often are not. A team from Maisons-Alfort, France, found that among a “healthy population” of 616 dogs that attended a vaccination clinic, 38.8 percent were overweight, including 5 percent that were obese.A potentially serious problem seems to be how people miscategorize their pet’s weight similarly to that of their children:
Just as mothers have been shown to underestimate excess weight and obesity in their children, researchers have found that pet owners are notoriously poor at assessing their pets’ weight problems. “My dog isn’t fat; he just has a lot of fur” is an all-too-common response when owners are accused of overfeeding their pets.The article explains that overweight pets have health consequences that rival those of humans.
For more on the subject check out this previous post: Aussie Pets Plump Too
