Your Kalamazoo Mobile Vet Shares Five Ways to Help Your Dog Shed Weight
While we love all dogs, including the chunky ones, having extra weight can be detrimental to their health. For those of you who have a portly pooch that needs to lose a few (or more) pounds, your Kalamazoo mobile vet Creature Comfort will cover five ways to accomplish that goal in this post.
Reduce their calorie intake. Like humans, if your dog is consuming too many unburned calories, they will gain weight. Also, like humans who are trying to lose weight, the first step for your dog should be looking at the number of calories being consumed. If your dog is overweight, there is a pretty good chance that they are being overfed. In general, dogs require less food than people think.
Feed them a high-protein, low-carb diet. Unfortunately, many of the most popular and widely available dog foods contain too much filler. Having too much filler means more calories without the needed nutritional values. If you’re wondering what type of food you should feed your dog, whether it’s store-bought, homemade, or even delivered to your door, reach out to us so we can discuss your options.
Increase their fiber intake. Even if you’re using store-bought foods, you can add in fiber with fiber-rich fruits and vegetables like carrots, green beans, and apples.
Make sure they have enough water. Here is yet another way that dogs are like humans, thirst or dehydration makes us feel hungry when all our body is really needing is water. You should always make sure your dog is getting enough fresh, clean water (especially on those hot summer days).
Increase their amount of exercise. Simple choices like gradually extending and/or increasing the strenuousness of your dog’s daily walks is a great way to burn calories. There are also other fun ways to get their hearts pumping like playing fetch.
If you’re concerned about your dog’s weight, it’s a good idea to have an examination done by your Kalamazoo mobile vet, Creature Comfort. From there you can see if they have any related health issues and come up with a plan for helping them shed those extra pounds. If you have any questions, or would like to set up an appointment, do not hesitate to contact us today!
