DIABETES, arthritis, other chronic diseases — obesity takes a toll on your health and can rack up huge medical bills. Dogs and cats are just as vulnerable. According to a new report from the U.S. Association for Pet Obesity Prevention (APOP), an epidemic of feline and canine obesity is affecting half of our pets, and it’s costing owners up to US$1,200 per year. “We’re seeing a greater percentage of pets that are classified as obese, and that’s where these horrible expensive diseases occur,” says Ernie Ward, founder of APOP and owner of Seaside Animal Care in Calabash, North Carolina. “It will cost US$1,200 to US$1,500 per year to manage adiabetic cat, whereas a healthy diet is just a couple hundred dollars,” he says. And it’s just slightly less for dogs, who usually succumb to arthritis and hip problems when they pack on the pounds.

    What’s causing our pooches to get pudgy and cats to get fatter? The same thing that’s affecting us humans: bad food and no exercise, says Dr. Ward. And he points the finger at pet food manufacturers. “In terms of caloric density, our pets are eating more calories per volume than ever before,” says Dr. Ward. Just like people-food manufacturers, pet-food companies are pumping foods, in particular pet treats, full of sugar, which dogs love. APOP analyzed popular dog treats a few years ago and found that sugar was nearly always listed as one of the top three ingredients.

    Another problem is that pet-food companies aren’t required to publish nutrition information on packages to tell owners what the calorie and sugar content of a certain food is, but they are required to publish feeding guidelines, which Dr. Ward says are confusing and often lead to overfeeding. These feeding guides tell owners to, for instance, feed a dog two cups of food if the animal is 40 pounds. “But unfortunately, these guides are based on the most demanding life stages — pregnancy, lactation, growth,” says Dr. Ward. “Sedentary dogs and cats don’t need that many calories. If owners are following the feeding guides for a typical indoor spayed or neutered dog or cat, they’re already feeding it 20 to 30 percent more calories than they need.”

    Owners can’t be left off the hook entirely, either. We keep our pets’ bowls full all the time, so it’s like they’re at an all-you-can-eat buffet, and we don’t give them enough exercise.

    If you want to keep your pets fit and trim, you need to be proactive in feeding a healthy diet and getting them lots of exercise:

    1. Know the calorie count of your pet’s favorite food

    The only way to know the calorie count is to call the manufacturer, Dr. Ward says. Once you know, you can talk to your vet about how much a pet should be eating. “Your vet knows your lifestyle and will be able to make good recommendations that are more accurate than the feeding guides on the package,” he adds.

    Learning to make your own healthy homemade pet food and pet treats allows you to control the quality and the calorie content of what your pet eats.

    2. Measure the food

    “Very few owners actually measure out the food,” Dr. Ward says. “They just eyeball it.” And that leads to mindless eating, just like with people. “People think that dogs will stop eating when they’re full. But that’s not the case,” he adds. “If you put food in front of them, they’ll eat it.”

    3. Exercise with your dog

    Exercise is particularly important for dogs, says Dr. Ward. “With cats, weight is influenced about 90 percent by diet, 10 percent by exercise. With dogs, it’s 60 percent diet, 40 percent exercise.” And just like people, dogs need between 30 and 60 minutes of physical activity every day. Take him outside for a walk, to catch a Frisbee — whatever it takes to keep your dog moving; if you need ideas, watch our video on how to exercise with your pet. Don’t just open the back door and let him play alone in the back yard, though. “People think they can just let a dog outside for an hour each day, and it’ll get exercise. But the dog goes out there, sniffs around, and then just lies down because there’s nothing to do,” Dr. Ward says.

    4. Entertain your cat

    Cats have different evolutionary instincts towards activity than dogs do, Dr. Ward says, so exercising them requires a different approach. “Cats don’t move around much. They stalk their prey and then do a full-on sprint, leaping and lurching, in these 90-second bursts of activity,” he says. So you have to engage their natural predatory instinct. Have a laser pointer that they can chase on a wall, or get your kid’s remote-control car and have the cat chase it. Balls and wadded-up pieces of paper that they can stalk are good exercise tools, as well. Dr. Ward recommends playing with cats two to three times a day for about five minutes at a time. That will give them all the activity they need.

    (SD-Agencies)