Obesity with Dogs is a Serious Problem
Research has shown that over 50% of the dogs in the United States are overweight. Poor feeding habits and lack of exercise are the primary causes of this condition. Obese dogs are more likely to develop serious medical conditions at a much earlier age than healthy weight dogs. Diabetes, Cardiac disease, Cancer, and Joint problems are just a few of the disorders that overweight dogs are more susceptible to. Overweight dogs are prone to deteriorating health and death at a much earlier age than an active well conditioned dog.
The Problem with “Light / Low Calorie” Foods
Most of the “Senior” and or Weight management diets found on the market are most often promoted as “Low Calorie” or “Light” diets. AAFCO defines a food labeled as such to contain energy levels not to exceed 3100 ME kcal/kg . Most of the foods you will find on the market with this claim are very low in both Protein and Fat. What they don’t advertise to the dog owner is how many carbohydrates the food contains. Relating this back to human nutrition for a moment, this would be like us trying to lose weight eating a daily diet of Pasta! Sounds crazy, yet, this is exactly what dog owners are doing every single day they feed these “Light” foods to their overweight dogs. Trying to lose weight with a high carbohydrate diet is simply not the healthiest choice for the dog! It is difficult if not impossible for the dog to consume enough protein to support muscular development and maintenance with this type of high carbohydrate diet. The last thing you want to happen is for your dog to lose muscle rather than fat!
Victor Super Premium Senior / Healthy Weight Formula
Uniquely formulated with: 26.5% Crude Protein / 11% Crude Fat / Balanced with only 42% Total Carbohydrates! Like all Victor Formulas, this Senior / Healthy Weight food is free from Corn, Wheat, Soy, Gluten, and contains multiple additives from Alltech along with Chelated Minerals and Antioxidant Vitamins that work together promoting excellent digestive and immune system health. Also included are excellent levels of Glucosamine and Chondroitin that work together to support long term joint health. L-Carnitine is an amino acid added in this food at the rate of 200 mg/kg. L-Carnitine helps the body burn additional fat, making it an ideal ingredient to be included in this food. All said this is an excellent choice for the older, less active dog and or dog of any age that is need of reducing weight.
ME 3332 kcal/kg which equals about 368 kcal of energy per cup. This may be slightly higher than the “Light” foods on the market, but not by much and each cup contains approximately 26 Grams of Protein! You can feed less of this food, which will result in lower calorie intake, while still maintaining excellent protein levels for the maintenance of healthy muscle tissue!
Feeding For Healthy Weight!
There are so many factors that go in to determining the amount of food necessary to “Maintain” weight for a particular dog. The key is balancing calories burned, with calories consumed! Factors such as Age of Dog / Breed / Climate / Pregnant or Nursing / Activity Level all add up to a daily calorie requirement for a particular dog. This number can change dramatically from week to week! Use the Daily feeding chart as a “Starting Place” based on weight of an adult dog. This is simply a best guess based on the daily calorie requirements of an “Average” adult dog. It is a great idea to weigh your dog and chart this number on a Weekly or Monthly interval. Make small adjustments to daily feeding amount until you find the perfect balance of food intake to energy burn resulting in zero weight change!
Feeding For Weight Loss
Here is a rule of thumb that will come in very helpful to you. There are about 3500 calories in a pound of body fat on a dog. This food contains about 370 calories per cup, so burgundy about 10 cups of food (3700 calories) over or under the predetermined “Maintenance” feeding level will result in about one pound of weight change. It is really very simple math once you determine “Maintenance Feeding Level”. You can take it fast or slow, but as soon as the dog consumes about 10 cups less food than it takes to “maintain” weight, the result will be 1 lb of weight loss! The weight didn’t get on your dog overnight, so don’t get in a hurry. The important thing is to recognize the problem and develop and implement a plan to get the dogs weight back to a desired level. As a rule of thumb, reduce the predetermined maintenance feeding level by about 25% and the weight loss per day will be at a healthy level.
