Hold the Kibble

Obesity is one of America's largest problems, and it affects more than your waistline, your wallet or your health. It's also affecting your pet.

Diet food, exercise programs and even a doggy diet pill have popped up in the last year to curb the problem. Area veterinarians said many of the pets they see are overweight and the owners usually don't even know it.

"The hair coats can make telling difficult," said Dr. Cindy Sprigg, a veterinarian with Crosspoint Animal Hospital.

Sprigg said you want "a nice padding of fat" but should be able to feel and count the ribs on your animal. Visible ribs could be a sign of malnourishment, but feeling them through the coat is good.

The problems associated with overweight animals can resemble and stretch beyond those of obese humans.

Cats can develop diabetes and also start to have incontinence and skin problems.

"They get really greasy and oily on their backs because they can't get back there to groom themselves," Sprigg said.

Pet rabbits can have weight problems because a lot of owners feed their house rabbits concentrated pellets, when they really only need to be on a hay diet, Sprigg said.

"Their health problems are significant because they'll get wounds that won't heal and they can't groom themselves."

For dogs, problems could develop with the heart, liver or kidney, but orthopedic and joint diseases are the most common.

"Their skeletal system just wasn't meant to carry that much weight," Sprigg said.

Pfizer entered the fight against canine obesity last spring when it introduced Slentrol, the first canine diet pill approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The pill decreases appetite, thus reducing food intake and making it easier for dog owners to develop healthier feeding habits and attitudes for their pets, according to Pfizer.

"I'm kind of on the line as waiting to see how it's being used and what kind of results and side effects they see before I jump on the bandwagon," said Dr. Jarett Seiler, veterinarian with Heartland Veterinary Care in Jackson.

He said he has not prescribed the doggy diet pill or heard of anyone in the area using it.

"Just cutting back on food alone can make a difference," Seiler said.

He estimated that 50 to 60 percent of the animals he treats are overweight, but he doesn't put a lot of emphasis on weight problems until an animal is about a year old. Then if there is a problem he will readjust their diet or implement an exercise program

"I prescribe a different diet with increased fiber and just more exercise," he said.

Exercise can come in a variety of activities: walking, jogging, even swimming, if you have a pond or pool. Scheduled exercise for your pet is not only exercise, it's bonding time for the two of you.

Seiler recommended walks instead of runs for animals with arthritis to ease stress on the joints. Cats can be tougher, he said, because most people aren't going to walk their cat.

"With cats, a lot of times it's getting them to go up and down stairs," Sprigg said. If Frisky's food is on a different level of the house than her litter box, she has to climb and descend the stairs daily.

Treats can cause problems as well. Seiler said some people like to treat their dogs to table scraps, like part of a hamburger.

"That may have a few hundred calories in it, which is more than that dog needs in a day," he said. A fast-food cheeseburger can exceed the caloric intake for even a 60-pound dog.

"We want them to be happy," Sprigg said. "It's so easy to just reach in and give them a treat."

Personal restraint can help pet weight, according to veterinary behavioral technician Tara Lang.

"With overweight dogs," she said, "if it's not a medical problem, it's an owner problem, not a pet problem."

Both Lang and Sprigg recommended rationing the animal's food. Sprigg said to put a cup of food on the counter so that every person in the house knows how much the family pet has eaten that day.

"My dog was a liar," said Sprigg, who admits her pooch Sugar is slightly overweight. The first person awake in the family would feed her and she would continue the hungry puppy act until everyone in the house had obliged, Sprigg said.

The type of food is just as important as the amount. Veterinarians agreed that name-brand food, not grocery store brands, are better for the animal.

"Generally the name-brand foods are going to be reliable in composition and digestibility," Sprigg said.

For cats, canned food is better than dry food, which can be high in carbohydrates that will quickly be turned into fat. However, tuna canned for human consumption will leave a feline malnourished.

"A taste here and there is not a bad thing," Sprigg said. "But if it's a major part of their diet, they'll be deficient in certain amino acids."

Lang said switching animals to better food should only take five to seven days of introducing the new food into the old food portions.

"If they're picky and you've tried that method, then you go to the hard love" method, Lang said. That means you just switch the food. After two or three days, the dog will succumb and eat the new food.

Lang said to make sure the animal is a healthy weight and can stand the fast. She added that the hard love method should never be used on cats, because their body makeup requires daily rations.

charris@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 246