Your Dog Is Fat. And You Know What to Do

If you switch your pet to "diet food," don't forget to switch back to a more complete diet once the weight falls off. Too often, a vet puts a dog on a highly-restricted short-term diet, but five years later the poor animal is still getting that same highly-processed food meal after meal. This presents dangerous vitamin, mineral and enzyme deficiencies.

It's far safer to replace high-cal processed foods with a lower calorie diet, adding lots of fresh, whole foods including plenty of cooked, fresh veggies. Counter-intuitively, one should add good fats (cod liver or olive oils) to aid health and curb appetite. Adding high fiber foods also helps to satiate the appetite.

When increasing exercise, take care to supplement with natural arthritis remedies (with glucosamine and other natural anti-inflammatory ingredients). Never use arthritis "drugs" without doing an on-line check for safety. Many have dangerous, even deadly, side effects that are not divulged by veterinarians selling them.

Re diet pills for dogs, one can only hope they will be safer and more effective than diet pills for people. It has not gone unnoticed that although diet pills and special diet foods for the human population have increased, the number of us who are overweight has also increased. One can't help asking: Isn't doing the same thing and expecting different results the definition of insanity?

Jan Rasmusen

Author, Scared Poopless: The Straight Scoop on Dog Care

www.Dogs4Dogs.com

Jan Rasmusen of CA 12:23PM March 21, 2008