MAKING NEW YEAR’S DIET
Don’t Forget Your Pets!
BY MELANIE SWITZER REILLY
Now that the season of indulging on holiday treats is over, many of us have made a
resolution to shed a few pounds. While it’s a great personal goal, you might want
to take a look at your pet’s waistline, too.

Recent studies show that a whopping 59 percent of cats and 54 percent of dogs
in the U.S are overweight or obese. We sat down with Alexandria-based veterinarian
Dr. Katy Nelson to discuss this surprising trend. She off ers some great advice on
helping our furry friends fi ght the fl ab.

Q&A WITH DR. KATY NELSON
HOW CAN WE FIRST
TELL IF OUR PET IS
OVERWEIGHT? While humans rely on the
body mass index (BMI)
scale to measure fi tness, we
use what is called the body
condition score (BCS) for pets.

The BCS has a scale from one
to nine. If your pet scores
a one, they’d be emaciated,
while a nine would mean
severe obesity. The sweet spot
you want to aim for is a fi ve.

If I see any pets that are a six,
I urge my clients to address
it immediately before it gets
even worse.

26 January 2019
WHAT KINDS OF HEATH
CONDITIONS CAN PET
OBESITY LEAD TO?
Sadly, it can have so many
repercussions on their
entire life. We used to look
at being overweight as just
a fat storage issue, but we
now know that fat cells
washingtonFAMILY.com are actually tiny hormone
factories that produce
almost 60 diff erent kinds of
dangerous hormones. And
by allowing them to sit and
breed in our bodies and our
pet’s bodies, we are lett ing
them wreak havoc by causing
infl ammation, which can lead
to cancer and diabetes. It can
also lead to arthritis, heart
disease, hyperthyroidism,
breathing and joint problems
and more.

WHAT ARE SOME BAD
FEEDING HABITS PET
OWNERS ENGAGE IN?
Just like we control what goes
into our mouths, we have
to remember that we also
control what goes into our
pet’s mouths. Unfortunately,
we are often overzealous
in the ways we feed them.

“Rounding out the food” may
make it easier for you and
your busy day, but it’s doing
Cat: IStock/Getty Images Plus/iridi; Other: Provided
WHAT DEFINES
PET OBESITY?
Ideally, you want to see that
waist tuck, which means
that you want to be able to
diff erentiate between their
ribcage and their hips. If
you’re looking down at
their back, and it’s “totally
tubular,” you probably have
a fat pet on your hands. For a
quick and easy test, take your
two hands and press down
on their rib cage. If it takes
some pressure to feel the
bones, they probably have a
signifi cant fat layer, and that
could spell trouble.