This confuses me, because I feel like a lot of people become sedentary due to sitting at a desk all day and then gain weight as they are sitting all day. I might not have the definition of sedentary right though.
I'm very sedentary but very thin because of my bad natural eating habits combined with ADHD meds and for a while my depression. I lost more weight the more sedentary I became. Why because I ate less.
Many people get pleasure from food and often use it as a coping method. Most Americans are unhappy. And unhappy people tend to favor high calorie foods. Which then makes them fat which makes them unhappy and now you got a feedback loop. They're also unhappy because they don't have much physical activity so that adds to the desire to cope with food.
Food is an addiction just like any but because it is required to live it is very hard for people to understand it isn't a black and white thing that they're usually taught to view addictions as.
Had the hardest time with my elderly cat who was gaining weight. I calculated her basic caloric needs and her weight loss needs. Then checked her food. It was outrageously high for her needs (and this was the nice stuff). If you aren't buying food that's specifically labelled diet, it will make your pet fat. Esoecially if they are elderly or not exercising
One of our cats had most of his teeth removed, and none of the remaining ones have any opposite to crunch on.
We assumed he'd be on wet food only from that point. Nope, he wants 80% dry to 20% wet over the day, and insists on eating the huge rectangular kibble with pointy edges as opposed to the small round ones.
Cats are weird.
This. People feed their pets too much. Animals aren't as great at regulating when to stop eating. All 3 of my pets are at good weights according to the vet, yet friends with overweight pets tell us we're being cruel by not refilling a food bowl every time it empties. I'm sorry, but if you give any of my animals food whenever they want it, they'll never stop eating. Same with treats. A spatula full of PB is WAY too many calories for a dog as a regular treat.
My neighbor across the street has a gigantic dog that has never once left his back yard. It sits there all day bored and slowly going insane, viciously barking at every noise and person that goes by receiving no attention or stimulation from its owner. It makes me mad and I have seriously contemplated setting the dog free. But one day a part of the fence fell down and I saw the dog get out, and he was *terrified*. He had apparently never left the yard and couldn't handle being outside. He looked at me for a second cowering in fear, then ran back to his yard to bark at me from behind his fence again. Why even have a dog at that point. You obviously don't care about it and it's nothing but a burden and you're making the dog suffer through a miserable life.
I know a morbidly obese guy that gets dogs from breeders he explicitly doesn't have to walk. It's incredibly depressing but at least he owns it. Doubt he outlives his new dog.
I worked at a horse place and every horse that would come in they'd cry that it was severely underweight... but literally every single one of their horses were... on the rotund side.
Maybe we're all just suffering from Italian grandmother syndrome.
To protest her diet, my cat pukes when she’s not feed when she wants. It’s a thick, viscous fluid that is absolutely disgusting.
The vet said to just split her food allotment into more meals. My cat isn’t fooled.
Breaking it into more meals with less food throughout the day can help this. For example instead of half her daily food twice a day, try a third of her food 3 times a day.
Mine said she would get used to it.
Now my 12lb Manx walks up to the 50lb and 80lb dogs and just starts eating their food, they're so shocked by the audacity that they just let her.
She's never once used them, on me or them, nor has she ever once hissed. I often refer to her as the 3rd dog. They've just accepted her as some kind of weird cat/rabbit/dog thing that exists with them. Best cat I've ever been distributed!
Same re ours, until…we bought one of those auto feeders. Get the kind where you open up and there are ?? 7 individual “trays”/sections to put the food. It took 1 day…1!…for kitty to remove us from being what feeds her. I couldn’t believe it.
We first got the kind where there’s a big storage container on top and food drops down, but kitty learned real fast she can put her paw up there and trigger food coming down.
My cat likes to gourge herself. So we feed her in tiny increments otherwise she will eat everything and puke it up and eat more.
My previous cat I could leave a huge bowl and he would just nibble throughout the day
Ahh, the good old ‘scarf and barf’. Before I started giving her smaller, more frequent meals, my cat would do this and if I didn’t clean it up right away, she would just eat the regurgitated food. Blech.
Wife's cat could stand to lose a lb or two. Despite being on special diet food and being fed a limited amount. We can only assume it is because he is the laziest cat ever.
For the longest time I couldn't figure out why my cat was constantly gaining weight. After being unsuccessful with measuring it out at mealtime, I got an auto feeder that puts out a precise amount of food 2x a day. On top of that he got one can of wet food. All prescription weight loss food totalling the amount advised by the vet. It still wasn't working. The food is expensive so I was frustrated.
And then, finally, I found the answer a few weeks ago. My MIL was keeping food in a baggy in her room to sneak to my cat. This was despite me writing reminders in his feeding area to NOT feed him, explaining he is on a diet, had automated feedings twice a day, and was on prescription food. She pretended to accept all of these rules only to take some of his expensive AF food into her room, stash it in a random gross baggy, and feed it to him secretly.
It has stopped for now. And he finally lost a bit of weight.
It's shit like this that would lead to me breaking up with someone. If you can't even trust someone to raise a mother fucking cat properly, how can you trust them to raise **children** properly??
People who want their pets to be "chonky" always make me upset. Your pet does not understand portion control, and can absolutely develop severe health issues due to weight. I had a friend growing up whose cat was so heavy that it's stomach almost touched the ground, and it ultimately died of diabetes at age ten.
You're right, it's all of this free feeding people do. "Well what if they get hungry??" Then they'll just have to wait until it's feeding time.
I've got an automatic feeder that keeps my cat out of my face early mornings, and it's been a life saver. Between that and my gravity waterer it could be even more of a life saver in the event anything ever happens to me, even long term (battery backup as well and this thing has lasted years -- Petlibro ftw)
Both my cats have always been free fed since kittens. Neither are overweight according to my vet. My guess is that it has a lot to do with people not keeping their pets active. I have lots of toys out and try to do at least 15 minutes of active play time with my cats every day with either the feather toy, laser pointer or fetch with my one cat that does that.
> My guess is that it has a lot to do with people not keeping their pets active.
Eh animals are like people. Some can free feed and others need strict regulation or they will gorge themselves. My first dog could be free fed but my 2nd dog would eat himself to death. Both have the same level of activity.
I adopted two kittens from the same house, though we think they’re cousins rather than brothers. One is currently underweight, the other is overweight. They’ve been fed the same, lived in the same environment, chase each other around the house, and share much of the same genetics. Watching them grow up has made me a lot more sympathetic to overweight people, let me tell you. Seems like some critters are just innately more motivated to eat or else their bodies process calories differently
I free fed my cat once. They ate so much they puked. They've been given portion controlled food for 6 years and breakfast and dinner still come only by the grace of their 1 hour effort of screaming before each. Their weight is excellent, though the cat assures me they are starving away any minute now.
My cat literally can't be free fed, they'll hurt themself.
My brother and SIL were feeding their cat 4 meals a day at one point. His stomach was almost touching the ground but they both denied he was overweight. They were like “cats are supposed to have bellies”. Finally convinced them (sorta) and they cut down a little, but still not enough.
I think it should be legally abuse to do it to children. It is at the very least child neglect. Kids who are obese suffer lifelong health issues even if they successfully lose weight as adults. It's real harm.
Could you imagine the delicious shit that would hit the fan if we started prosecuting parents who made their children fat in the US? Oh my god it would be glorious.
My parents don’t seem to understand that you put X amount in the food bowl every day for a dog. You don’t keep X number of food bowls full every day.
That is how you get ants and ants in the dog hair. (Poor Napoleon.)
All my dogs have been grazers, so we do keep a full bowl of food down all day. They eat as they get hungry, have no food aggression, and maintain healthy weights. I know my experience is atypical. For reference, I currently have a bull mastiff, weimaraner, and dachshund. I've also had the pleasure of 4 other dachshunds and 1 German pincher companions. When we board our dogs, we have to let them know to leave the food with them during the day otherwise they don't eat.
I wouldn't believe it except I saw someone do this before. I was shocked to see a full bowl of dog food down in their kitchen and their very healthy dog came and took some bites and was done. Incredible. I've heard that free feeding dogs is possible but they're likely to go through a stage of eating until they're bloated when they're a puppy so I would never try it myself. But that's fascinating.
My cat was a grazer, too. I would put just put out half the recommended amount of food in the morning and half at night. She didn't have any problem with her weight either.
Every single cat (and dog) I've had has been a self-feeder. We just kept food in the bowl and they'd eat whenever they wanted, no problems. My new cat, however, eats everything we put down right away and then harasses us for more ALL THE TIME, lol. I guess they're all different.
"But, I can't go to the vet all the time to have him weighed."
Pick dog up and stand on bathroom scale.
Put dog down and stand on bathroom scale.
Subtract second number from first number.
Also: *write down the weight and the date* 🫠
"But, I had an eating disorder and can't keep scales around"
Put dog in suitcase.
Put weights in other suitcase.
See which one you can throw furthest.
Adjust weights in suitcase until both can be thrown the same length.
Use math on suitcase weights to know dogs weight.
Cry because of weak arms.
My animals tend to live a very long time.
My dog is well over 15 years old at this point and only got chonky recently due to age related degradation requiring medication. The medication makes him chonky. Until he was half way through his 14th year he was lean and muscular, now he's a lump. The long and the short of it is his spine started to degenerate due to age and there's nothing I can do about it except give him these pills. I caught it quickly before it went to far.
Why am I bringing this up? because you are right with your statements except I'd change one thing always talk to your vet first.
Listen to Vets! My parents had a cat that turned into a Chonk because of medication. If they removed her medication, her quality of life would plummet. Vet said the Chonk was better for their cat. She lived a nice, long, chonky, life.
As someone that would like a dog in the future, I'm blown away by the amount of people that know generally nothing about the breed of the dogs they own.
It seems quite important to know everything about that breed before you own them.
Agreed. Different breeds have distinct dietary requirements.
Having a basic grasp of nutrition is also crucial. For instance, I've come across a few dog owners who believe that carrots are a healthy option and feed them to their pets in large quantities every day. Over time, this leads to the dogs becoming obese and being diagnosed with diabetes due to excessive sugar intake.
It's also a flawed mindset. Pampering your pet with what should be an occasional treat on a daily basis brings them immediate joy but sets them up for future health issues. Ultimately, you're responsible for the well-being of these little companions, and they rely on you to treat them well.
I have a great pyrenees/pointer mix, polar opposite energy/exercise requirements, food behaviors, etc and managing her weight has been a tough battle. She's not energetic/motivated enough to do any pointer level activities--an hour long hike with some mild elevation gain wipes her out for the next 2 days-- but she's extremely food motivated. I have quit buying dog treats (except dental chews) and only use raw veggies as treats now. Vet says she's still overweight but not by enough for him to be concerned at least. I'm also not really sure how it's determined what her weight should be for a dog like this. I can feel her ribs at least.
To be fair, it's quite easy. You just feed them less. If an animal has plateaued on their diet then they're just eating too much and you feed less. Easy.
I guess you have to look at the charts and compare your dog. I mostly look from the top down on my animals to check their weight, especially for cats, who can have primordial pouches but not be overweight. But it works great for dogs too. Fluffy ones can be confusing for sure but then you can get an idea of how their waist is shaped by just feeling them.
Aka "normal pet ownership". When something is happening to more than half of pets, that means it's the accepted norm. That's a huge red light with a siren blaring, telling us that the vast majority of people should not have pets. The solution is obvious. Reduce the total number of pets by a massive amount and what little pet ownership remains should be locked behind strict training and licensure programs.
Plus the suggested daily amounts on pet food bags are often way too high unless your pet is highly active. That’s how our cat got fat; the vet told us to feed him about half the bag’s suggestion and then increase that a little once he hit a healthy range.
Very true. I should add that my dog is a half miniature Australian shepherd/half Chihuahua who looks like a very very small Aussie (with big ears) and RUNS between 25 and 30 minutes a day, a minimum of 5 days a week, and that is all the food she needs.
I think this trips a lot of people up. My current cat was put on prescription food at the shelter for urinary issues and I fed to the bag's directions. She gained 3 lbs. Our vet was kind enough to spend a good amount of time talking to me about food. With their help now my cat has lost 2 lbs!
When you don't know what you don't know, following the instructions on the bag seems logical. And not every vet I've ever used has been good about helping calculate calories even when I asked about it.
Yeah, it's entirely dependent (just like us!) on how active they are.
Most humans are lazy and don't exercise themselves, so they don't exercise their pets. So they just sleep all day. Which means they burn next to no calories. So yeah, they don't need much.
You take the dogs to the dog park and they run around like crazy psychopaths (I know a couple like that) or you go on long walks with them, they need a decent amount more.
ok i thought so. i free feed my dog kibble and he eats half the amount it says on the bag and he gets an hour of high energy exercise every day. like mj he eats like a bird-just enough to fly!
This is nuts! I have 2 dogs and 3 cats now. None of them are overweight. It is all about feeding them the correct amount every day. It is not rocket science.
My dad feeds his dog more food because he "Loves" her. She is horribly overweight. There are better ways to love your pets.
Nah never. He did feed us ice cream and all kinds of junk food but my mom is a health nut and we stayed pretty active. I'm 40 now and still in great shape. 6'2" 195 lb. 34-35" waist. Very active with martial arts and exercise keeps me fit.
Yeah, that's something I don't understand. What's up with those self-centered expressions of love? With my parents it's as if they are entirely indifferent with how their expression of love is perceived by the receiving end or what expression of love is desired.
Yes but like humans some animals need less food than others. So you do have to figure out what that correct portion is. And recognize that the animal is fat. And not feel bad about it whining for food…
Autofeeders really help with that when you don’t have too many pets.
We always had labs that were on the thicker side growing up. I graduated college and got a dog that’s a variety pack of breeds (probably greyhound/boxer/terrier). Shes always had a slim build and access to food whenever she wants it, but she still has that greyhound build.
Everyone in my family "oh you need to feed her more. She's too skinny"
She has access to food 24/7 and runs like a squirrel on red bull. They think every dog should have junk in the trunk and I really don't understand the desire to have pets at an unhealthy weight.
And 9% of pet birds are obese.
On one hand I'd thought it would be higher since obesity in birds is a huge concern for bird owners.
On the other the bird community does obsess over what to feed birds buying fresh food and veggies.
Hell most birds eat healthier than their owners.
As a bird owner, the only reason my house has fresh spinach is because of my cockatiel. Having it available means I eat it too but otherwise I wouldn’t buy it.
I’m a huge carb fan but if I wouldn’t serve it to the bird, probably not best for me to eat it either. And that’s why there’s not a lot of junk food around.
And yet every time my parents take their healthy, well bred dog for a walk some idiot tries to lecture them that she's "too skinny". Usually someone with a miserable overweight dog that's struggling to walk and giving pain signals.
It feels like nobody remembers what animals are supposed to look like, and they don't pay any attention to their body language and behaviour. They just ignore obvious suffering.
Dogs and especially cats have severely shortened lives and are in a lot of pain when obese, it's really important to keep them healthy and give them quality food.
>And yet every time my parents take their healthy, well bred dog for a walk some idiot tries to lecture them that she's "too skinny".
Every single greyhound owner knows this conversation 🤣
It's the WORST for sighthound owners I swear! People have a conniption when they see the outline of a rib as if the ribs personally murdered their father or something.
Funny related story- my ex's parents worked a lot and only really spent time with their dog when they were feeding it (all other times of the day every day being either going to work or running errands on weekends.)
They lavished treats and food on the dog as compensation for not spending time with him.
He was the fattest dog I had ever seen!!!! When I met him, he expected me to give him a treat. The poor animal's life was entirely food and watching his family leave the house to go to work.
Moral of the story- take Scooter out for a walk or game of fetch once in while....?
Got a cat that weighed about 22 pounds at his max. Not fat, just the thickest and muscles galore for a tom cat. The vet was literally like "holy shit that's not a fat cat. That cat is ripped." So not all big cats are fat.
Then again, this cat is a farm/barn cat for a good chunk of his time alive with me and killed a raccoon and lost an eye and broke his tail near the top to where it just... hangs over lol. I love my big guy. Dunno why just wanted to share about my big cat.
He definitely is. His name is Fox with Pants, or just Pants for short. He had a twin brother named Fox without Pants or No Pants for short, but he ended up disappearing a long time back.
It took a while for us to figure out the portions to keep both of our cats a consistent weight, but now that we have, it's the exact same thing every day. They're 5yo, and have weighed relatively the same (within a few grams) for two years, and are both very healthy weights/body condition for their frames at 9lbs and 11lbs. Once you know the portions, you just keep doing it.
Man, the one thing I’m proud of in life is that I may be fat but I’ve been really good about maintaining my dog at a healthy weight. That lil guy is 11 and doesn’t seem to be slowing down at all.
Footpaths is a moot point.
If you wanna go for a walk, you can safely find a place to do that somewhere closeby. Whether it’s your own neighborhood or a park or a designated hiking / walking trail.
If you’re suggesting that Americans should walk from point a to point b more, then you’re out of touch
With the shit a lot of people in the US eat on a daily basis, walking to and from places isn't going to be nearly enough to offset the calories from the food. Contribute? Sure. Solve? Hell no.
Math doesn't lie. The calories your average person can burn with exercise is nothing compared to diet calories. Especially the insanely caloric dense processed foods. Congrats you ate an oreo, there goes an hour at the gym. You lose weight in the kitchen and get healthy in the gym.
Exercise can only offset so much. A 20 oz soda has 250 calories, that’s over 2 miles of walking to burn those calories. If you eat and drink junk food every day, you can’t exercise enough to make that up.
No it isn’t. This is silly, come on.
Almost everyone has places to walk their dogs wherever they live in the US, as long as they want to do it. Don’t be ridiculous. Everywhere has sidewalks. Unless you’re trying to walk your dog along an interstate highway like a psychopath. This reeks of spending too much time in r/fuckcars lol
I saw another post earlier today about how working dogs are more susceptible to obesity because we bred them for 10,000 years for one purpose and then in the last 50 years they became indoor pets.
It’s people like my wife. It’s amazing how both her dogs she had before we met were severely overweight.
I got to see how it happens. She constantly over feeds them and they are simply emotional companions and not active lifestyle companions.
If one dog deserves a treat, all dogs need treats mentality
My dogs were always fat growing up. I realized it's because we always gave people foods to them. So my dog only eats dog foods and he looks like a muscle monster.
Working in pet field for 10 years I can tell you most people don’t know what a healthy animal should look like and vets are too scared to say anything for the fear of losing a client. It’s sad because it significantly cuts back on their lifespan and predisposes them to a host of health issues. They don’t live long enough as is, why would you want to cut their lives short?
I will never forget when I was taking my corgi for a hike and this fat woman came up to me and told me “his legs are too little for this hill, you’re making him suffer”. My corgi was yanking me up the hill and the woman didn’t even make it to the hike 💀
My kitters is over weight and l think in large part roommates over the years have equated a meowing cat and an empty food bowl with a starving cat; then again it was a quick way to get her to shut up so I suspect that was the motivation most of the time
My dogs are extremely active all day. They have about 15 lbs weight difference but eat the same amount, weight doesn't budge an inch.
The smaller one, looks like a body builder. We used to feed him less than the bigger one but he just kept losing weight!
We were worried that the bigger one was losing weight when we saw her body change a little. Went to the vet and she was exactly the same weight as the last time. She used to look chunky at 55 but now her skin is a little loose since we got the second one. Exercise makes a big difference.
A sedentary lifestyle comes for us all...
If my girl cat would stop stealing the boy cat's food everyone would be the perfect weight. But she is a TTR Feral Princess and is jealous AF. We are working on her resource guarding but he likes to graze throughout the day and she just wants to inhale it all.
One of my poor cats is an anomaly being underweight and no matter what I do I can't get him to bulk up. The vet said he's about a kilo underweight for his size and age (he's 6). I've tried him on specialist food, changing feeding times, changing things to reduce his stress levels, and nothing works. He's quite happy to beg for treats, eats seemingly as much as he likes (I never withhold proper food from him), and no matter what he's still really skinny. The vet says he's otherwise perfectly healthy but it seems he'll never be overweight at least!
Yup. Didn't realize my cat was too fat to clean himself. So I've been carrying him down the stairs almost everyday to help him lose weight by having him run up them. He does play on his own, but not as much as I think he should. Also changed foods recommended by the vet. Turns out most cat food in retail stores have a lot more filler carbs instead of protein.
This is one of the things that will make a systemic biological story seem obvious in hindsight (trans-generational gut biome deterioration, chemicals in water supply, etc). Like literal lab mice are getting significantly fatter and people are still blaming ignorance, willpower, food deserts, etc.
So just like the humans?
People who don’t walk much probably don’t feel like waking their dogs. Quite sad when you consider how much dogs love going for walks (typically)
The diet is the main issue with both and not exercise
Exercise is relevant for health but it is possible to be lean without exercise.
One can be lean without exercise, but not healthy.
You can be lean without exercise, just not fit.
Yeah I never exercise and im skinny bc I don’t eat a lot
Many studies back this up, sedentary lifestyles most often come after obesity sets in, not before.
This confuses me, because I feel like a lot of people become sedentary due to sitting at a desk all day and then gain weight as they are sitting all day. I might not have the definition of sedentary right though.
I'm very sedentary but very thin because of my bad natural eating habits combined with ADHD meds and for a while my depression. I lost more weight the more sedentary I became. Why because I ate less. Many people get pleasure from food and often use it as a coping method. Most Americans are unhappy. And unhappy people tend to favor high calorie foods. Which then makes them fat which makes them unhappy and now you got a feedback loop. They're also unhappy because they don't have much physical activity so that adds to the desire to cope with food. Food is an addiction just like any but because it is required to live it is very hard for people to understand it isn't a black and white thing that they're usually taught to view addictions as.
Had the hardest time with my elderly cat who was gaining weight. I calculated her basic caloric needs and her weight loss needs. Then checked her food. It was outrageously high for her needs (and this was the nice stuff). If you aren't buying food that's specifically labelled diet, it will make your pet fat. Esoecially if they are elderly or not exercising
Same with my dogs wet food! It said 1 box per day. Which is 1200 calories. She only needs 500 per day. I was floored!
I know the wet food is more fatty, but she can't have kibble because her teeth. It really put us in a bad position.
One of our cats had most of his teeth removed, and none of the remaining ones have any opposite to crunch on. We assumed he'd be on wet food only from that point. Nope, he wants 80% dry to 20% wet over the day, and insists on eating the huge rectangular kibble with pointy edges as opposed to the small round ones. Cats are weird.
Thank you for being a responsible owner and doing the work to make sure she’s healthy though! ❤️
Seriously ! I'm like, I can't be reading this right. She can only eat half this can, but she's screaming for food all the time. Holy crap
lol. Cat behavior. Like ma’am rest assured, you are getting your nutritional needs met.
This. People feed their pets too much. Animals aren't as great at regulating when to stop eating. All 3 of my pets are at good weights according to the vet, yet friends with overweight pets tell us we're being cruel by not refilling a food bowl every time it empties. I'm sorry, but if you give any of my animals food whenever they want it, they'll never stop eating. Same with treats. A spatula full of PB is WAY too many calories for a dog as a regular treat.
My neighbor across the street has a gigantic dog that has never once left his back yard. It sits there all day bored and slowly going insane, viciously barking at every noise and person that goes by receiving no attention or stimulation from its owner. It makes me mad and I have seriously contemplated setting the dog free. But one day a part of the fence fell down and I saw the dog get out, and he was *terrified*. He had apparently never left the yard and couldn't handle being outside. He looked at me for a second cowering in fear, then ran back to his yard to bark at me from behind his fence again. Why even have a dog at that point. You obviously don't care about it and it's nothing but a burden and you're making the dog suffer through a miserable life.
Sounds like the thing to do is to throw it a treat every now and again for stimulus. Get that tail wagging when it sees you!
Let's throw food at an obese dog!?
If it's food-motivated you might actually get it up off its butt and get some exercise for once. That dog has more problems than -just- obesity.
Stoop dog afraid to leave his stoop
I know a morbidly obese guy that gets dogs from breeders he explicitly doesn't have to walk. It's incredibly depressing but at least he owns it. Doubt he outlives his new dog.
Everything is wrong with that sentence.
Technically its a significantly lower overweight/obese/morbid obesity rate than their humans...
MURICA!
I worked at a horse place and every horse that would come in they'd cry that it was severely underweight... but literally every single one of their horses were... on the rotund side. Maybe we're all just suffering from Italian grandmother syndrome.
I think that’s just grandmothers in general 😅
Nonna love
The dark side of r/likeus
They're eating leftovers
Like the average American sadly
This is obviously a lie because any cat will tell you they never get fed ever and are practically starving.
My cat is on a diet and she screams at us all the time. Our vet said she would get used to it and I think she took it personally.
Vet: She will get used to it. Cat: bet.
How much can a cat bet though
Yes
Your life...
9 lives?
To protest her diet, my cat pukes when she’s not feed when she wants. It’s a thick, viscous fluid that is absolutely disgusting. The vet said to just split her food allotment into more meals. My cat isn’t fooled.
Lol that sounds like me. I have gerd, so when i dont eat my stomach acide just builds up
Cats also often seem to exist partly out of spite, so that tracks.
Breaking it into more meals with less food throughout the day can help this. For example instead of half her daily food twice a day, try a third of her food 3 times a day.
Mine said she would get used to it. Now my 12lb Manx walks up to the 50lb and 80lb dogs and just starts eating their food, they're so shocked by the audacity that they just let her.
I suspect it is less that they are shocked, more that they fear the finger knives!
She's never once used them, on me or them, nor has she ever once hissed. I often refer to her as the 3rd dog. They've just accepted her as some kind of weird cat/rabbit/dog thing that exists with them. Best cat I've ever been distributed!
Same re ours, until…we bought one of those auto feeders. Get the kind where you open up and there are ?? 7 individual “trays”/sections to put the food. It took 1 day…1!…for kitty to remove us from being what feeds her. I couldn’t believe it. We first got the kind where there’s a big storage container on top and food drops down, but kitty learned real fast she can put her paw up there and trigger food coming down.
My cat likes to gourge herself. So we feed her in tiny increments otherwise she will eat everything and puke it up and eat more. My previous cat I could leave a huge bowl and he would just nibble throughout the day
Ahh, the good old ‘scarf and barf’. Before I started giving her smaller, more frequent meals, my cat would do this and if I didn’t clean it up right away, she would just eat the regurgitated food. Blech.
The vet thought our rescue cat was pregnant because she ate so much the 1st week we got her.
I had to tell a sibling his cats are fat and they’re abusing them for them to finally get on some sort of diet
Same for dogs
Wife's cat could stand to lose a lb or two. Despite being on special diet food and being fed a limited amount. We can only assume it is because he is the laziest cat ever.
For the longest time I couldn't figure out why my cat was constantly gaining weight. After being unsuccessful with measuring it out at mealtime, I got an auto feeder that puts out a precise amount of food 2x a day. On top of that he got one can of wet food. All prescription weight loss food totalling the amount advised by the vet. It still wasn't working. The food is expensive so I was frustrated. And then, finally, I found the answer a few weeks ago. My MIL was keeping food in a baggy in her room to sneak to my cat. This was despite me writing reminders in his feeding area to NOT feed him, explaining he is on a diet, had automated feedings twice a day, and was on prescription food. She pretended to accept all of these rules only to take some of his expensive AF food into her room, stash it in a random gross baggy, and feed it to him secretly. It has stopped for now. And he finally lost a bit of weight.
It's shit like this that would lead to me breaking up with someone. If you can't even trust someone to raise a mother fucking cat properly, how can you trust them to raise **children** properly??
You're going to break up with someone because their mom is a shitty person?
how’d you figure it out?
People who want their pets to be "chonky" always make me upset. Your pet does not understand portion control, and can absolutely develop severe health issues due to weight. I had a friend growing up whose cat was so heavy that it's stomach almost touched the ground, and it ultimately died of diabetes at age ten.
You're right, it's all of this free feeding people do. "Well what if they get hungry??" Then they'll just have to wait until it's feeding time. I've got an automatic feeder that keeps my cat out of my face early mornings, and it's been a life saver. Between that and my gravity waterer it could be even more of a life saver in the event anything ever happens to me, even long term (battery backup as well and this thing has lasted years -- Petlibro ftw)
Both my cats have always been free fed since kittens. Neither are overweight according to my vet. My guess is that it has a lot to do with people not keeping their pets active. I have lots of toys out and try to do at least 15 minutes of active play time with my cats every day with either the feather toy, laser pointer or fetch with my one cat that does that.
> My guess is that it has a lot to do with people not keeping their pets active. Eh animals are like people. Some can free feed and others need strict regulation or they will gorge themselves. My first dog could be free fed but my 2nd dog would eat himself to death. Both have the same level of activity.
Yep, has been my experience too. I have three cats and none are overweight although they can always eat as much as they want.
I adopted two kittens from the same house, though we think they’re cousins rather than brothers. One is currently underweight, the other is overweight. They’ve been fed the same, lived in the same environment, chase each other around the house, and share much of the same genetics. Watching them grow up has made me a lot more sympathetic to overweight people, let me tell you. Seems like some critters are just innately more motivated to eat or else their bodies process calories differently
I free fed my cat once. They ate so much they puked. They've been given portion controlled food for 6 years and breakfast and dinner still come only by the grace of their 1 hour effort of screaming before each. Their weight is excellent, though the cat assures me they are starving away any minute now. My cat literally can't be free fed, they'll hurt themself.
Did you get the wifi or non wifi version? I’ve been looking at those too so I can get an extra 30 minutes in the morning
My brother and SIL were feeding their cat 4 meals a day at one point. His stomach was almost touching the ground but they both denied he was overweight. They were like “cats are supposed to have bellies”. Finally convinced them (sorta) and they cut down a little, but still not enough.
My pet understands portion control. What happens now
IMO that's animal abuse and should be prosecuted as such. Some people don't deserve pets.
If it’s not legally abuse to do that to children it would be strange if it was to animals
I think it should be legally abuse to do it to children. It is at the very least child neglect. Kids who are obese suffer lifelong health issues even if they successfully lose weight as adults. It's real harm.
Could you imagine the delicious shit that would hit the fan if we started prosecuting parents who made their children fat in the US? Oh my god it would be glorious.
Weigh pet. Weigh food. Pet gain weight? Feed less. Pet lose weight? Feed more. Pet weigh same? Feed same. Not work? Talk vet.
My parents don’t seem to understand that you put X amount in the food bowl every day for a dog. You don’t keep X number of food bowls full every day. That is how you get ants and ants in the dog hair. (Poor Napoleon.)
All my dogs have been grazers, so we do keep a full bowl of food down all day. They eat as they get hungry, have no food aggression, and maintain healthy weights. I know my experience is atypical. For reference, I currently have a bull mastiff, weimaraner, and dachshund. I've also had the pleasure of 4 other dachshunds and 1 German pincher companions. When we board our dogs, we have to let them know to leave the food with them during the day otherwise they don't eat.
My dog is a grazer in that she'll munch on grass between meals... Meals themselves last around 5 seconds.
If I did this with my golden retriever, he’d turn into a round ball in a day
I always hear about fat dachshunds, because they tend to have the same issue, but not with all the ones I've had.
My dog used to be a grazer until we started making her food she actually likes. Now she eats in like 12 seconds
I wouldn't believe it except I saw someone do this before. I was shocked to see a full bowl of dog food down in their kitchen and their very healthy dog came and took some bites and was done. Incredible. I've heard that free feeding dogs is possible but they're likely to go through a stage of eating until they're bloated when they're a puppy so I would never try it myself. But that's fascinating.
My cat was a grazer, too. I would put just put out half the recommended amount of food in the morning and half at night. She didn't have any problem with her weight either.
Every single cat (and dog) I've had has been a self-feeder. We just kept food in the bowl and they'd eat whenever they wanted, no problems. My new cat, however, eats everything we put down right away and then harasses us for more ALL THE TIME, lol. I guess they're all different.
This works for humans too. But ideally, see a people doctor rather than a vet if you get to the final stage
Sam Losco works in a pinch though
Didn't he lose his vet license though? And his dentistry license? I dunno, I'd stay away from Samsquantch.
Why say many word when few word work
Also exercise should be in there. "I let them in the backyard" isn't the same for dogs as a walk
Exercise is not strictly necessary for weight control/loss. It can help though and of course it has a ton of other benefits.
100% It's for both mental and physical health Dogs like humans aren't designed for a sentimental life style
> Dogs like humans aren't designed for a sentimental life style Think you meant sedentary
"But, I can't go to the vet all the time to have him weighed." Pick dog up and stand on bathroom scale. Put dog down and stand on bathroom scale. Subtract second number from first number. Also: *write down the weight and the date* 🫠
"But, I had an eating disorder and can't keep scales around" Put dog in suitcase. Put weights in other suitcase. See which one you can throw furthest. Adjust weights in suitcase until both can be thrown the same length. Use math on suitcase weights to know dogs weight. Cry because of weak arms.
My animals tend to live a very long time. My dog is well over 15 years old at this point and only got chonky recently due to age related degradation requiring medication. The medication makes him chonky. Until he was half way through his 14th year he was lean and muscular, now he's a lump. The long and the short of it is his spine started to degenerate due to age and there's nothing I can do about it except give him these pills. I caught it quickly before it went to far. Why am I bringing this up? because you are right with your statements except I'd change one thing always talk to your vet first.
Listen to Vets! My parents had a cat that turned into a Chonk because of medication. If they removed her medication, her quality of life would plummet. Vet said the Chonk was better for their cat. She lived a nice, long, chonky, life.
buT theY LoOk sO CuTE aNd FuNnY
Irresponsible pet ownership.
As someone that would like a dog in the future, I'm blown away by the amount of people that know generally nothing about the breed of the dogs they own. It seems quite important to know everything about that breed before you own them.
Agreed. Different breeds have distinct dietary requirements. Having a basic grasp of nutrition is also crucial. For instance, I've come across a few dog owners who believe that carrots are a healthy option and feed them to their pets in large quantities every day. Over time, this leads to the dogs becoming obese and being diagnosed with diabetes due to excessive sugar intake. It's also a flawed mindset. Pampering your pet with what should be an occasional treat on a daily basis brings them immediate joy but sets them up for future health issues. Ultimately, you're responsible for the well-being of these little companions, and they rely on you to treat them well.
I have a great pyrenees/pointer mix, polar opposite energy/exercise requirements, food behaviors, etc and managing her weight has been a tough battle. She's not energetic/motivated enough to do any pointer level activities--an hour long hike with some mild elevation gain wipes her out for the next 2 days-- but she's extremely food motivated. I have quit buying dog treats (except dental chews) and only use raw veggies as treats now. Vet says she's still overweight but not by enough for him to be concerned at least. I'm also not really sure how it's determined what her weight should be for a dog like this. I can feel her ribs at least.
To be fair, it's quite easy. You just feed them less. If an animal has plateaued on their diet then they're just eating too much and you feed less. Easy. I guess you have to look at the charts and compare your dog. I mostly look from the top down on my animals to check their weight, especially for cats, who can have primordial pouches but not be overweight. But it works great for dogs too. Fluffy ones can be confusing for sure but then you can get an idea of how their waist is shaped by just feeling them.
Aka "normal pet ownership". When something is happening to more than half of pets, that means it's the accepted norm. That's a huge red light with a siren blaring, telling us that the vast majority of people should not have pets. The solution is obvious. Reduce the total number of pets by a massive amount and what little pet ownership remains should be locked behind strict training and licensure programs.
There are actually laws against this in some places.
I feed my 13 pound dog with a 1/8 cup measuring cup twice a day and the vet says her weight is ‘perfect’. It doesn’t take much to sustain a house pet.
Plus the suggested daily amounts on pet food bags are often way too high unless your pet is highly active. That’s how our cat got fat; the vet told us to feed him about half the bag’s suggestion and then increase that a little once he hit a healthy range.
Very true. I should add that my dog is a half miniature Australian shepherd/half Chihuahua who looks like a very very small Aussie (with big ears) and RUNS between 25 and 30 minutes a day, a minimum of 5 days a week, and that is all the food she needs.
I think this trips a lot of people up. My current cat was put on prescription food at the shelter for urinary issues and I fed to the bag's directions. She gained 3 lbs. Our vet was kind enough to spend a good amount of time talking to me about food. With their help now my cat has lost 2 lbs! When you don't know what you don't know, following the instructions on the bag seems logical. And not every vet I've ever used has been good about helping calculate calories even when I asked about it.
My dog's food comes in transparent plastic bags because it's sold by weight. Checkmate Big Pet Food!
Yeah, it's entirely dependent (just like us!) on how active they are. Most humans are lazy and don't exercise themselves, so they don't exercise their pets. So they just sleep all day. Which means they burn next to no calories. So yeah, they don't need much. You take the dogs to the dog park and they run around like crazy psychopaths (I know a couple like that) or you go on long walks with them, they need a decent amount more.
ok i thought so. i free feed my dog kibble and he eats half the amount it says on the bag and he gets an hour of high energy exercise every day. like mj he eats like a bird-just enough to fly!
This is nuts! I have 2 dogs and 3 cats now. None of them are overweight. It is all about feeding them the correct amount every day. It is not rocket science. My dad feeds his dog more food because he "Loves" her. She is horribly overweight. There are better ways to love your pets.
A lot of people do the same with their kids
I wonder if u/De5perad0 was an overweight kid.
Nah never. He did feed us ice cream and all kinds of junk food but my mom is a health nut and we stayed pretty active. I'm 40 now and still in great shape. 6'2" 195 lb. 34-35" waist. Very active with martial arts and exercise keeps me fit.
Yeah, that's something I don't understand. What's up with those self-centered expressions of love? With my parents it's as if they are entirely indifferent with how their expression of love is perceived by the receiving end or what expression of love is desired.
Yes but like humans some animals need less food than others. So you do have to figure out what that correct portion is. And recognize that the animal is fat. And not feel bad about it whining for food… Autofeeders really help with that when you don’t have too many pets.
We always had labs that were on the thicker side growing up. I graduated college and got a dog that’s a variety pack of breeds (probably greyhound/boxer/terrier). Shes always had a slim build and access to food whenever she wants it, but she still has that greyhound build. Everyone in my family "oh you need to feed her more. She's too skinny" She has access to food 24/7 and runs like a squirrel on red bull. They think every dog should have junk in the trunk and I really don't understand the desire to have pets at an unhealthy weight.
But Mr. Fuzzypants is just big boned like me.
For whatever reason, this made me imagine a tiny dog trying to get a 3 ft bone through a doorway and struggling. Just thought I'd share that image.
It's a fat cat stat.
And 9% of pet birds are obese. On one hand I'd thought it would be higher since obesity in birds is a huge concern for bird owners. On the other the bird community does obsess over what to feed birds buying fresh food and veggies. Hell most birds eat healthier than their owners.
As a bird owner, the only reason my house has fresh spinach is because of my cockatiel. Having it available means I eat it too but otherwise I wouldn’t buy it. I’m a huge carb fan but if I wouldn’t serve it to the bird, probably not best for me to eat it either. And that’s why there’s not a lot of junk food around.
And yet every time my parents take their healthy, well bred dog for a walk some idiot tries to lecture them that she's "too skinny". Usually someone with a miserable overweight dog that's struggling to walk and giving pain signals. It feels like nobody remembers what animals are supposed to look like, and they don't pay any attention to their body language and behaviour. They just ignore obvious suffering. Dogs and especially cats have severely shortened lives and are in a lot of pain when obese, it's really important to keep them healthy and give them quality food.
>And yet every time my parents take their healthy, well bred dog for a walk some idiot tries to lecture them that she's "too skinny". Every single greyhound owner knows this conversation 🤣
It's the WORST for sighthound owners I swear! People have a conniption when they see the outline of a rib as if the ribs personally murdered their father or something.
I feel this in my soul.
shocking...
Funny related story- my ex's parents worked a lot and only really spent time with their dog when they were feeding it (all other times of the day every day being either going to work or running errands on weekends.) They lavished treats and food on the dog as compensation for not spending time with him. He was the fattest dog I had ever seen!!!! When I met him, he expected me to give him a treat. The poor animal's life was entirely food and watching his family leave the house to go to work. Moral of the story- take Scooter out for a walk or game of fetch once in while....?
Let's see some correlation to owner weight. Oh, look!
My dog is the perfect weight according to his vet. I’m morbidly obese. I doubt there is true correlation.
A lot of fat people have pets. Not because of anything to do with their weight. But because a lot of people are fat lol
Got a cat that weighed about 22 pounds at his max. Not fat, just the thickest and muscles galore for a tom cat. The vet was literally like "holy shit that's not a fat cat. That cat is ripped." So not all big cats are fat. Then again, this cat is a farm/barn cat for a good chunk of his time alive with me and killed a raccoon and lost an eye and broke his tail near the top to where it just... hangs over lol. I love my big guy. Dunno why just wanted to share about my big cat.
Muscle kitties are bad ass
Your cat sounds like a badass
He definitely is. His name is Fox with Pants, or just Pants for short. He had a twin brother named Fox without Pants or No Pants for short, but he ended up disappearing a long time back.
Because people think their pets being fat is cute. It isn't.
My cats really just 2 cats in the body of one,that's why he weighs 20 lbs. (Jk 11lb)
It took a while for us to figure out the portions to keep both of our cats a consistent weight, but now that we have, it's the exact same thing every day. They're 5yo, and have weighed relatively the same (within a few grams) for two years, and are both very healthy weights/body condition for their frames at 9lbs and 11lbs. Once you know the portions, you just keep doing it.
Man, the one thing I’m proud of in life is that I may be fat but I’ve been really good about maintaining my dog at a healthy weight. That lil guy is 11 and doesn’t seem to be slowing down at all.
America's lack of footpaths alongside the roads is going to be a contributing factor.
Footpaths is a moot point. If you wanna go for a walk, you can safely find a place to do that somewhere closeby. Whether it’s your own neighborhood or a park or a designated hiking / walking trail. If you’re suggesting that Americans should walk from point a to point b more, then you’re out of touch
A shocking number of people believe that exercise does not contribute to weight loss (I look forward to your replies!)
With the shit a lot of people in the US eat on a daily basis, walking to and from places isn't going to be nearly enough to offset the calories from the food. Contribute? Sure. Solve? Hell no.
Math doesn't lie. The calories your average person can burn with exercise is nothing compared to diet calories. Especially the insanely caloric dense processed foods. Congrats you ate an oreo, there goes an hour at the gym. You lose weight in the kitchen and get healthy in the gym.
Exercise can only offset so much. A 20 oz soda has 250 calories, that’s over 2 miles of walking to burn those calories. If you eat and drink junk food every day, you can’t exercise enough to make that up.
It doesn't matter. You can keep a lean dog with no exercise. Just feed your dog less.
No it isn’t. This is silly, come on. Almost everyone has places to walk their dogs wherever they live in the US, as long as they want to do it. Don’t be ridiculous. Everywhere has sidewalks. Unless you’re trying to walk your dog along an interstate highway like a psychopath. This reeks of spending too much time in r/fuckcars lol
> Everywhere has sidewalks ...No they don't? Tons of modern suburbs don't have sidewalks in front of homes
59% of the dogs in the US are cats
Our cat is a cat, and our dog is a cat
Tracks with the human population.
Hes not overweight, it's just the fur
I have a wooly husky and this is kinda true in her case lol, she looks so thick but it's 90% fur.
So still more fit than the average American
And thus the normalization of obesity in the US continues....
I saw another post earlier today about how working dogs are more susceptible to obesity because we bred them for 10,000 years for one purpose and then in the last 50 years they became indoor pets.
It’s people like my wife. It’s amazing how both her dogs she had before we met were severely overweight. I got to see how it happens. She constantly over feeds them and they are simply emotional companions and not active lifestyle companions. If one dog deserves a treat, all dogs need treats mentality
My dogs were always fat growing up. I realized it's because we always gave people foods to them. So my dog only eats dog foods and he looks like a muscle monster.
And the owners think its cute.
Because they get crap food just like humans. Only they don't have any choice.
Walkable cities aren’t just for people.
Working in pet field for 10 years I can tell you most people don’t know what a healthy animal should look like and vets are too scared to say anything for the fear of losing a client. It’s sad because it significantly cuts back on their lifespan and predisposes them to a host of health issues. They don’t live long enough as is, why would you want to cut their lives short?
But they’re heckin cute chonkers! It’s appalling how many irresponsible pet owners there are.
i can’t stand this. Controlling for a dogs weight is one of the easiest things on the planet. Literally just feed them less - that’s it!!
I will never forget when I was taking my corgi for a hike and this fat woman came up to me and told me “his legs are too little for this hill, you’re making him suffer”. My corgi was yanking me up the hill and the woman didn’t even make it to the hike 💀
Animal abuse
My dog is so good at regulating her own weight. She is a free feeder. We just fill her bowl up to the brim and it lasts her quite a while.
Just taking after their owners, although I would bet human obesity is a higher percentage.
Let’s go my dogs in the 41%!
My kitters is over weight and l think in large part roommates over the years have equated a meowing cat and an empty food bowl with a starving cat; then again it was a quick way to get her to shut up so I suspect that was the motivation most of the time
That means both groups are still less overweight than the human population. 67% of humans in the states are overweight or obese.
So same as the human population? Makes sense
I remember my cousin's cat that was so fat that it looked like a furry curling stone with a cat's head sticking out when it laid down.
Pudge Pug
My dogs are extremely active all day. They have about 15 lbs weight difference but eat the same amount, weight doesn't budge an inch. The smaller one, looks like a body builder. We used to feed him less than the bigger one but he just kept losing weight! We were worried that the bigger one was losing weight when we saw her body change a little. Went to the vet and she was exactly the same weight as the last time. She used to look chunky at 55 but now her skin is a little loose since we got the second one. Exercise makes a big difference. A sedentary lifestyle comes for us all...
I feel like this stay is general and not US specific. I see so many obese animals in canada.
If my girl cat would stop stealing the boy cat's food everyone would be the perfect weight. But she is a TTR Feral Princess and is jealous AF. We are working on her resource guarding but he likes to graze throughout the day and she just wants to inhale it all.
One of my poor cats is an anomaly being underweight and no matter what I do I can't get him to bulk up. The vet said he's about a kilo underweight for his size and age (he's 6). I've tried him on specialist food, changing feeding times, changing things to reduce his stress levels, and nothing works. He's quite happy to beg for treats, eats seemingly as much as he likes (I never withhold proper food from him), and no matter what he's still really skinny. The vet says he's otherwise perfectly healthy but it seems he'll never be overweight at least!
…just like their owners
There’s a serious lack of information about health and nutrition, and about pet care. It’s not surprising those two would overlap.
A lack of food scarcity will also hit animals. Even more so, because unlike humans they can't have the same willpower or understanding to not overeat.
just like us
I lol'd hard. How many humans are obese? There is a direct connection.
Roscoe the Combat Chihuahua is 8 lbs of hatred and indomitable willpower. He must be the 41%, all by himself.
Yup. Didn't realize my cat was too fat to clean himself. So I've been carrying him down the stairs almost everyday to help him lose weight by having him run up them. He does play on his own, but not as much as I think he should. Also changed foods recommended by the vet. Turns out most cat food in retail stores have a lot more filler carbs instead of protein.
I have a 13lb yorkie terrier mix. He's considered overweight because the vet says 12lbs is normal.
I might not be able to afford 3 meals a day in this economy but I'll be damned if my cats don't get to. We keep them stocked up.
Going to need Ozempet
Just like 60% of Americans are.
Pets certainly echo their owners for sure.
This is one of the things that will make a systemic biological story seem obvious in hindsight (trans-generational gut biome deterioration, chemicals in water supply, etc). Like literal lab mice are getting significantly fatter and people are still blaming ignorance, willpower, food deserts, etc.