Kind to be cruel

On the news this morning there was an item about obesity in dogs and cats, which according to vets is getting more and more of a problem. Some owners feed their animals inappropriately, often letting them eat food humans eat like chocolate and leftovers. They also indulge them in animal treats which aren't that healthy either. An overweight cat or dog isn't likely to live as long as one who is fed on appropriate animal food as they are prey to all sorts of health problems. An obese person is likely to have an obese dog as they are unlikely to be able to walk it as far and as often as it requires.

We had several German shepherds when I was a child, they were never pampered and only fed once a day on appropriate food. They were healthy, friendly apart from one which we had put down because of its attitude, and they lived a good long time. I remember Bruce particularly well, it used to guard my pram when it was in the garden. It lived until it was getting on for 20. Dad was having it put down on the Monday as the dog was obviously in pain from something incurable in those days. On the Sunday he gave it the remains of the roast lamb, it was the only time the dog was indulged in that way.

Re: Kind to be cruel

My dogs have left overs everyday, I also cook human foods for them, preferring them to have quality I can provide. Never had a fat pet though as the left overs form part of their 4 meals a day.

In fact my vet at last check about three weeks ago said Mollie was in the best shape of any of the nearly 12 year olds on his books.

Losing her sight a bit and a little deaf but her body is in great shape especially since she has had bad hips since she was about 5 years old, we have stopped her hips getting really bad with good food, keeping her weight right and giving appropriate exercise.

Left overs are only a problem when fed in addition to the normal food allowance and the same with human foods you just have to select healthy human foods not fill them up with sugar.

Re: Kind to be cruel

4 meals a day is way too much for any dog apart from young puppies. One or two meals a day is more than adequate.

Re: Kind to be cruel

And you a dog lover ! My older dog has digestive problems and a gluten intolerance since a puppy she has done far better on smaller meals 3 or 4 times a day. I also have a tiny chihuahua puppy who is just now going down to 4 meals from 5. My vet has advised as she is so small she should never be on less than 3 meals a day, she just wouldn't be able to cope with eating a huge meal.

All dogs need different things, some do well on one meal some don't.

They are living breathing creatures and come in all sizes so one size will not fit all.

And surely as she is happy and healthy and my vet is very pleased with her is all that matters ?

Re: Kind to be cruel

You shouldn't be feeding then solely on human food either as dogs need the nutrients found in balanced dog food. You are not doing them any favours feeding them your titbits particularly as you are a veggie.

Re: Kind to be cruel

Humans as well should eat 3 meals a day - rather than one big meal, makes sense....

Re: Kind to be cruel

To be fair - dogs are just like us, scavengers, they will eat whatever they can lay their paws on. My youngest dog loves vegetables and melon for some bizarre reason and prefers fish to meat. His favourite dinner is rice, cooked in broth with peas and egg added to it; the vet told me that will be healthier for him than any mass produced dog food.

Re: Kind to be cruel

For goodness sake I have said already twice how well they do on it. Do you want them to be like Mollie was before I started cooking for them ? so ill she was going to be PTS at 18 months old, thin and with persistent diarrhoea ?

Commercial foods are fine for many dogs, not for dogs like Mollie.

Besides better they have human quality foods than whatever they put in the commercial foods, hoof and bums and anything else they can mechanically recover.

Re: Kind to be cruel

We ae different from dogs though Pats you can't really compare the two.

Re: Kind to be cruel

If you feed a good quality dog food it doesn't contain rubbish like that anyway. Dogs should not be fed solely on human food.