If your cat is becoming overweight, it is definitely a reason for concern as it could be a sign of different disorders. Overweight and obese cats are growing in number and as a result, the number of cats under normal weight is significantly low. Obesity in cats can be a premonition of high blood sugar, arthritis and hepatic Lipidosis. But if you are willing to put your cat on a diet, then it must be pursued very carefully so that it doesn t lead to undesirable results.

In a study conducted in 2011 by the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention, it was found that more than 50 percent of cats were overweight and obese. It is important to consider the reason behind sedentary obesity and the most obvious factor that comes to the fore is that any mammal that consumes more calories than it can burn. Any cat that has become overweight or obese should be put under comprehensive health checkup with blood and urine tests and exact weight measurement.

It is also important to check the hormone levels and to ensure that the cat has no metabolic or physical dysfunction. In case the cat is under normal physical function other than being overweight or obese, then a gradual weight loss diet can be implemented to achieve desired results.

Getting started:
The most crucial responsibility of the cat owner is to limit the calories that the feline consume on a regular basis. The general rule is that if the cat is 10 pounds, it must consume around 200 calories in a day according to the guidelines of the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention. Here are some of the tips that you can follow in general to help your cat lose weight.

Measure the daily intake of food and divide the targeted amount of calorie into 4 to 6 small meals. Supply your cat with ample amount of water and consult with your veterinarian to set a weight loss goal. When the cat is becoming too fat, you should avoid giving treats and foods for human beings as that can cause obesity and diarrhea. Also, you should never allow your cat to eat dog food.Cats have their own cat foods commercially available. Every cat must consume those in order to maintain a standard body weight & stunning health. These foods are fortified with essential fibres,proteins or amino acids, micronutrients, vitamins and a very low quantity of carbohydrate. One should not feed any carbohydrate or starch like rice or bread to cats as this is practically not required. A too low amount of carbohydrate in daily diet of a cat is enough. Extra carbohydrate or carbohydrate mainly diet chiefly is responsible for sedentary life and extra pounds in body of the cats which make them prone to many lifestyle diseases like diabetes melitus etc.

Bottom line:
Veterinarians suggest that any new diet is required to be implemented slowly as there is high chance that your cat would stop eating altogether if you give her new foods all of a sudden. And the bottom line is, if you want your cat to control its weight through diet, then you must cut off calories in proportion to the level of physical activity that the cat indulges in. According to the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention, losing 1 pound in a month is a healthy option.

Obesity In Cats - What Should You Do?

5 Tips to maintain your Dog’s Dental Health

It is fairly easy to keep your dog’s teeth and gums healthy provided that you regularly take care of your pet and go for frequent health check-ups. Moreover, conducting regular checks at your home will also go a long way in identifying a problem in its nascent stage. 

Here are five tips to ensure that your dog’s dental health remains perfect.

1) Prevent tooth decay - If your dog frequently consumes plaque-forming food products, it can lead to subsequent build up on its teeth and ultimately lead to certain problems such as tooth loss, gingivitis and receding gums. Ensure that you clean your dog’s teeth on a daily basis in order to avoid any form of tooth decay.

2) Check your dog’s breath - Although dog breath is usually not pleasant; if your dog smells unusually foul, you should get a check-up done. Moreover, observe if this foul breath is coupled with other issues such as vomiting, excessive urinating or sudden loss of appetite.

3) Encourage your dog to play with chew toys - Chew toys assist in providing stronger teeth to your pet, while giving a perfect massage for its gums. In addition, continuous chomping helps remove soft tartar and thus keeps teeth clean. Nylon, rubber and rawhide chew toys are the safest for your dog.

4) Identify signs of oral disease - A number of oral diseases can be prevented or controlled if they are diagnosed at an early stage. Major symptoms of almost all oral diseases are loose teeth, swollen gums, foul breath, excessive drooling, tumours in the gums and cysts under the tongue.

5) Carefully examine your dog’s teeth and gums - Healthy gums of a dog are indicated by the fact that they are pink in colour and have no signs of swelling. As for the teeth, they should not have any traces of tartar. Carry out this teeth and gum examination each week by lifting your dog’s lips and observing carefully.

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5 Tips To Maintain Your Dog’s Dental Health

Your body cannot sustain without food and nutrition because it needs to be productive and healthy. What you consume on a daily basis will determine how your health will be in the present and future. But the current generation, despite knowing so much about healthy eating follow extremely unhealthy diets. One of the biggest reasons why the young generation has such unhealthy food habits is because they are busy almost all the time and this serves as an excuse for not having proper meals.

The percentage of young people eating unhealthy food has risen by 35% and overall obesity by 44%. The kind of food you put in your body when you are young will mostly stay on for the rest of your life. So, it is incredibly important to follow a healthy and nutritious diet.

Complications and dangers due to lack of good nutrition
Lack of poor nutrition translates into making your body vulnerable to a host of illnesses. It will greatly affect your overall health and lead to a lot of health complications which you may not be able to undo once you get older. Some of the health risks are:

Type-2 diabetes
Weak teeth and tooth decay
Cardiovascular diseases
Inflated blood pressure
Increase in cholesterol level
Obesity
Stress
Depression
Bone decay leading to osteoporosis
Eating disorders such as bulimia, anorexia, pica, rumination and binge-eating disorder
Acidity or heartburn
Improper sleep
Long standing ailments such as arthritis and cancer
Why following a nutritious diet is beneficial for you?
Following a healthy diet can go a long way in ensuring that you stay in optimal health not just when you are young but also when you get older. What you consume today will have a direct effect on your body in the future. Some of the benefits of a nutritious diet are:

Immune system- Good diet will strengthen your immune system, which in turn means you, will have to deal with less illnesses. Consuming proper amounts of vitamins B, C, E, A, iron, selenium and zinc helps a lot in ensuring this. You will feel stronger and healthier and will have a lot energy.
Healthy and strong teeth and bones- Calcium is an ingredient that helps in maintaining, developing and having strong teeth and bone health. You can get calcium not just from dairy products but also from fruit juices, salmon, sardines, broccoli, soya products and kale. Vitamin D rich foods like fish oils can also give you a lot of calcium since this type of vitamin helps in your body in absorbing calcium.
Lowers risk of type-2 diabetes- Eating high-fibre and low-fat foods contribute towards decreasing your risks of getting type-3 diabetes and also helps in preserving a healthy weight and BMI (Body Mass Index).
Management of weight- Having a lot of fruits, vegetables, protein, carbohydrates, vitamins and healthy fats helps in controlling your weight. Having nutrient-rich food keep you full and stops you from binging on things that are high in sugar and fats.
Cardiac health- Fishes like salmon, hilsa, anchovies etc., filled with omega-3 fatty acids are heavily beneficial for ensuring a healthy heart. These foods also cuts down the risks of heart disease. Apart from oily fishes, low-fat milk products and fruits and vegetables also help in keeping your cholesterol and blood pressure in check.
No matter how much you exercise, nothing can substitute a good and nutritious diet because as you get older you may not be able to work out but if you follow a proper diet, it will ensure that you stay in good health and good spirits. You can have junk food once in a while, but always remember that a good diet will always enrich your life and health.

Today's Youth And Nutrition - Where Is The Current Generation Going Wrong With Their Diets?

Dehydration is a common disorder in dogs and humans equally. It occurs when an excess of fluids continuously get eliminated from the body irrespective of the amount of fluids your dog intakes. Water working as the "potion for life" is essential for dogs too as it keeps them hydrated and makes sure the biological processes take place smoothly in them. Dehydration is a serious disorder and may result in as serious consequences as organ failure or even death. To know if your dog is suffering from dehydration, learn the symptoms carefully make a move as quickly as possible.

Symptoms of dehydration in dogs:

Depression
Dryness in the mouth and sticky gums. Often dehydration results in sticky gums and dry mouth in dogs as the water content of the body gradually falls down.
Sunken eyes. Sunken eyes can be considered as a pronounced symptom of dehydration.
Loss of appetite. Appetite is related to dehydration as the digestion, metabolism and other reactions in dog's body need water to successfully take place.
Abnormal sleepiness. Dehydration causes Depression and abnormal rate of sleeping in turn.
Abnormal urination. If your dog is suffering from Dehydration, it will either urinate too little or too much. This abnormal sign in urination speaks a lot about the dehydrated state of your dog.
Less elasticity of skin or tightness of the skin coat. This can be determined by a simple skin test. Pull your dog's skin and if it does not spring back in 2 seconds, your dog is dehydrated.
If you face problems with determining the level of dehydration, kindly take it to a Veterinarian. He/she will readily note the symptoms and apply proper treatment which should be the prime step in order to save your pet from such situations. Delays will only narrow its chances of surviving. It is also important to understand what causes Dehydration in your dog. This would certainly help you from bumping into such situations further in future.

Causes of dehydration in dogs:
The major reason or cause of Dehydration is illness and overexposing to the sunshine. An ill dog is more prone to get dehydrated than a healthy one. Several diseases like,

Fever
Diarrhoea
Vomiting
Renal failure
Diabetes mellitus
Diabetes insipidus
Gastrointestinal problems, etc. can affect your dog on a large scale and trigger off Dehydration with time.
To take care of such situations from taking place, you should keep in mind a few guidelines. The following tips will certainly prevent your dog from being dehydrated again if taken into account.

Prevention of dehydration in dogs:

Protect your dog from being overexposed to heat.
Make it drink as much water as it can every time. Always put a small bowl of water at the corner of its room. Monitor its water intake capacity and keep it hydrated.
Keep the toilet lid closed in order to prevent it from plunging its mouth inside. This will keep it away from bacteria and viruses which would affect it and make it fall sick.
If you go for exercising in the evening with your dog, bring extra water so that it stays hydrated.
Consult with a Veterinarian if its drinking less amount of water.

How To Manage Dehydration In Dogs?

Depression in humans is well-known and well-documented, but depression in dogs is less known and studies have not been extended up to a deep level till now. As we say dogs are better known as "humans", it is natural for them to feel low and depressed at times. Some of the dog owners must have noticed that all of a sudden their dogs start acting in a way which is very unlike them. Sometimes, they find places to hide constantly or are spotted to be sleeping all day long.

The reasons for such depression are more or less the same in every species and can be interpreted as the following:

Abusing: Just like humans, dogs get psychologically affected by the way their owner treats them. If you abuse your dog in a way in which it was not raised up, it is sure that your dog will slip into depression and in a few cases, might display some signs of aggression too.
Critical depression: Critical depression occurs due to some changes in the dog's body. Chemical imbalances may provoke certain behaviors; one of them could be depression. In such situations, it is recommended to take your dog to a Veterinarian in order to seek professional help.
Grief: If your dog's companion or its known faces drift away, it affects the dog s behavior massively and may result into depression. This is because with time, the dogs develop strong emotional bonds and it gets hard for them to handle themselves in their absence.
Aging: Aging is another reason behind your dog's depression. It is very simple to know and understand too that your dog will not be as energetic as it was in its young days. Also, sometimes sensing that their lifespan is about to end may lead them into depression.
How To Deal With It?
By being compassionate, as most of the times your dog may feel depressed because of the treatment you offer to it. They always want to be loved and adored by their owners and this cures everything unnatural happening with them. Try to play with them whenever you come back home, feed them gently, run your fingers through their fur and be extra attentive. All of these will enlighten their mood. Alternatively, you may try out other methods like going out for a walk twice a day, let it socialize with others in the park, let it feel loved more than anything.

For critical depression and grief, it is better to take recommendation from a Veterinarian. Try being patient with your dog about everything. Not all dogs recover rapidly. Hence, before snapping at it again, give it some time and don't pressurize it for anything that comes from its master affects it the deepest. For more comfort, you may bring a new pet which would be its companion for the entire day. Be cautious about the situation and selection. Sometimes they become envious due to such occurrences. Make sure they both get along well.

Osteoarthritis is related with genetic predisposition, inherited problems or defects in bones & joints. This painful condition often requires veterinary pain killers, supplements which protects bones and joints, scientific measures like controlled exercise, swimming & physiotherapy under the veterinary medical supervision. As pollution related features can bring such disorders causing free radical damage, this problem can be managed and a quality living for the pets can be provided with the application of advanced medicines like glucosamine, chondroitin sulphate, MSM, micronutrients ete. Many commercial diets are available which can nourish pets skeletal system effectively and a good plane of nutrition can guard a pet from gaining extra body weight which aggravates osteoarthritis. A perfect dietary and lifestyle management therefore is highly essential for combating such painful disorders.

Depression In Dogs - How To Deal With It?

It is not unnatural to find some lumps or bumps on your dog s body, particularly when the dog is approaching its senior years. These growths are among the most common issues found in older dogs. But it can also happen to the younger ones. It is natural to be scared and have doubts whether it is a tumor or a lump or is it cancer. As a dog owner, therefore, you must understand the different types of lumps, bumps and growths on the dogs so that you can consult with a reputed veterinarian without delay.

1. Understanding the lumps, bumps, and growths: The veterinary doctor would refer to an unknown lump as a tumor in a general manner. This term do not indicate the malignity or benignity of the tumor. These terms typically indicate that an abnormal growth of tissues has taken place inside the body which has a shape or is a mass. There is no reason to panic in case your vet says that there is a growth or something of similar significance.

2. Getting the right diagnosis of the lumps on dogs: The dog owners are most likely to notice growth on the dogs while taking it for routine grooming or while petting it. When there is a new growth or tumor on the dog, it is safer to consult with the veterinarian who can carry out a thorough checkup. He would discuss the medical history of the dog which may include daily lifestyle, diet, signs and symptoms of illness and then a physical examination will be performed. It is important to note here that sometimes, the growth may not be noticeable and this is the primary reason why taking it out to an experienced veterinarian is crucial. The expert would be able to find visible masses while carrying out a routine examination.

3. Testing the mass or lump on the dog s body: When there is a lump or growth on the dog s body, it is important to carry out some tests such as complete blood count, urinalysis, radiographs revealing signs of metastasis and internal abnormalities, ultrasound, CT scan and certain advanced diagnostics.

In some cases when the lump can be easily accessed, the expert may recommend you to take your dog for a fine needle aspirate which is performed by inserting a small needle into the mass and drawing back the syringe. A little amount of tissue gets accumulated in the syringe which is then tested to determine the character of the lump. When the fine needle aspirate test is not effective, usually a biopsy is carried out under general anesthesia or mild sedation where it is cut out surgically or the entire mass is removed following surgical procedures.

Lumps Or Bumps Growth on Dogs - Why Visiting A Doctor Is Recommended?

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