How To Tell If Your Pet is Underweight or Overweight
How To Tell If Your Pet is Underweight or Overweight ?
Why is it fundamental to know your dog’s body condition?Obesity is a serious concern for dogs that can result to or aggravate certain health conditions. Keeping an ideal body condition shortens the likelihood that your dog will develop weight-related conditions that can be painful and even life threatening. A slim or ideal body condition also holds healthy joints and helps sustain healthy blood sugar levels, blood pressure and heart rate. Overall, it assists improve your dog’s overall health and well-being throughout his life.
Although most dogs with weight problems are *over* weight, the points below will tell you about how to judge your dog's condition:
Importance of Dog Body Weight
Optimum weight:
Allows your dog to enjoy a longer lifespan
Allows your dog to be active with comfort
Prevents early onset of age-related arthritis
Allows dogs with skeletal or joint problems (healed injuries, elbow and hip dysplasia, etc) to suffer less painful symptoms
Overweight:
Shortens your dog's lifespan.
Dramatically increases the chance of early-onset, painful arthritis (especially in larger breeds).
Increases problems with skeletal or joint problems such as healed injuries or dysplasia, by placing more stress on the areas.
Overweight is usually combined with under-fit, which can cause activity issues such as no stamina, breathing problems, heart problems, etc
Underweight:
Leaves no reserve during illnesses
Usually combined with under-fit
Rarely seen except in extreme cases of neglect.
How to Tell if Your Dog is Overweight, Underweight, or Fit
Perform the following "touch test" on your dog:
Place your hands flat on both sides of the dog's body over the ribcage. Now rub lightly. Can you feel the ribs?
Stand your dog and position yourself behind him. Now place your hands on either side of his body on the ribcage. Run your hands all the way down his body, stopping at the hip bones. Can you feel a "dip" or "waistline" between where his ribs stop, and his hips begin?
Stand your dog and place your hand on the underside of his ribcage, under his chest. Run your hand along the underside of his body into the groin area. Is there a "tuck-up" past where his ribcage ends and his groin begins?
Overweight: Ribs not easily felt, waistline not easily felt, tuck-up not easily felt.
Fit weight: Ribs easily felt, waistline easily felt, tuck-up easily felt.
Underweight: Ribs prominent (to the eye on short-haired dogs, to the hand on long-haired dogs), waistline extreme with "hollow" appearance, tuck-up extreme with "hollow" appearance. Spine prominent.
Note: Prominent hipbones are not necessarily an indication that a dog is underweight. Depending on the rear assembly (the way that the spine, tail, hips and back legs join together) even a very fat dog can have quite prominent hips. Breeds such as most herding breeds, sighthounds, and curly-tailed breeds can have hipbones that are easily seen/felt during normal circumstances.
How can you help your dog accomplish and/or maintain an ideal body condition?Consult your veterinarian to learn whether your dog is maintaining the ideal weight and body condition for his size, age and breed. Then commit yourself to providing your dog with the proper diet and regular exercise, which are the healthiest ways to maintain mint body condition.
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