By now, we're all very aware that America is overweight. We eat too much processed food, don't get enough exercise, and would rather drink 3 disgusting shakes a day then actually learn how to give our body a clean, healthy diet. So yes. The majority of us could lose a few pounds.
And so could our pets.
According to The Huffington Post, over half of all the pet dogs and cats in the US are overweight, with one fifth of them weighing "30% over a healthy weight."
So, not only are we failing when it comes making healthy choices for ourselves, we're dragging our pets down with us. Awesome.
"Overweight pets suffer from a multitude of health issues including diabetes, kidney failure, and cancer," the Huffpost reports. "Last year, pets owners with one insurance company paid vets $25 million to treat obesity-related conditions such as asthma."
Overfeeding and not giving them the exercise they need are the two main issues when it comes to our obese animals – not unlike the issues we have ourselves. The only difference is that nobody forces us to eat unhealthily or sit around inside all day.
Most dogs need about 20 – 30 minutes of good activity a day, while most cats need about 15 minutes of active playtime. Meals should be high in protean and low in carbs, and if you're curious as to how different pet foods rank in terms of these areas, petobesityprevention.com offers nutrition information for many popular pet foods.
There seems to be a huge correlation between the size of our stomachs and the size of our pets' stomachs – so let's do everyone a favor and get up and out! Remember, most of the time, our pets can't get exercise without us.
[And no matter what YouTube says, sticking your dog on a treadmill doesn't count.]
Don't forget PETCO has a full line of organic and healthy pet foods including Holistic Select Chicken and Peas Meal for weight management for adult dogs.
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