Fat pets? Experts say they are what they eat

Humans aren’t the only ones who can have trouble with their weight, turns out many dogs and cats struggle with obesity too.

With the number of overweight pets on the rise, the finger has been pointed at the pet food industry.

The industry has been accused of encouraging over eating, which can cause serious health problems for our furry friends.

Too much of the wrong food can make our pets fat and sick, while taking years off their lives.

Dr Ian Billinghurst from BARF Petfood told 7 News he felt a big factor in our pet’s weight problem was a lack of exercise and a high carbohydrate diet.

Currently 45 per cent of dogs and 40 per cent of cats in Australian homes are overweight or obese.

Chubby pets are prone to serious health conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, arthritis, cancer, tumours, neurological disorders, dental, skin and joint problems.

Roy the Labrador was previously 60kg, and he needs to get down to 35kg to be considered a healthy weight.

Roy’s owner Gary Gilday said it was tough withholding treats from his pooch because he was a lovely dog.

“About 80 percent of dogs that we see are a little bit overweight, but of those 20-30 percent are quite overweight,” Dr Melissa Kozaruik of Erina Heights Vet said.

Dr Kozaruik has been helping Gary get Roy down to a healthy weight.

“Previously he was on all sorts of foods, dog rolls, kibble from the supermarket, and those things we do see as a big problem,” Dr Kozaruik said.

Mars pet foods admitted dry foods could cause obesity in animals.

“All of our products have a broad range of ingredients, things like meats, fats, bones, fibre,” spokeswoman Sylvia Burbery said.

“It's true that dry food contains more calories than wet food, so we actually encourage people to feed a balance of dry and wet”.

Some critics believe pet owners should ditch processed pet foods entirely and feed them what they would eat naturally – such as raw bones, chicken wings and necks, organ meat and more.

“When we change or switch pets to the real food, or the raw natural diet, the results are almost immediate, and the changes are quite startling,” Dr Billinghurst said.

For more information about BARF Australia and getting your pet down to a healthy weight visit [ www.barfaustralia.com/AboutUs/DrIanBillinghurstBio.aspx |barfaustralia.com|popup=true]