Pet owners are often perplexed to learn that their dog’s daily leash walks or their cat’s nightly chase sessions are inadequate exercise. Walk this way-Take your pet’s exercise routine up a notch Your pet’s veterinarian will determine whether your furry friend’s diet should change, and provide information on the amount they can eat each day for controlled weight loss. Exercise must be low-impact to meet your pet’s current cardiovascular and physical capacities. Safe and effective weight loss requires tailored nutrition to fuel your pet’s body and simultaneously burn excess fat. Placing your cat on an unsupervised diet can lead to a life-threatening liver condition (i.e., hepatic lipidosis), while pushing your overweight dog to overexertion can lead to heatstroke, orthopedic injury, and soft tissue strain. Abrupt nutrition changes can do more harm than good-especially if your pet has an underlying medical condition. The answer to weight loss is not always fewer calories and more exercise-especially when your pet’s health is at stake. Feed less? Not so fast-Safe weight loss for pets If your pet scores outside the ideal range, schedule an appointment at Wales Animal Clinic. Follow this link for the complete illustrated 5-point BCS chart. Ideal body weight is defined as a 3 or 5, respectively. You can measure your pet’s BCS on a 5- or 9-point scale, with each numeric score describing different physical characteristics. Profile - Your pet’s side profile should have an inverted curve from the rib cage to the abdomen.Waistline - When viewed from above, your pet should have an obvious waistline between their last rib and their hips.Ribs - You should be able to easily palpate a healthy pet’s ribs under only a light fat covering.To assess your pet, place them in a standing position, and evaluate the following three key body areas: You can learn to use the BCS scale-a simple and easy tool to implement at home. Instead, veterinary professionals use visualization and palpation to determine your pet’s body condition score (BCS), which assesses their current and ideal body weight. Pets’ bodies vary widely in size and structure, so their weight shown on the scale does not provide enough information to determine if their weight is appropriate. Size score-Assessing your pet’s body condition Medication - Weight gain is a common side effect of steroids and phenobarbital.
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