Why Weight Matters.

Welcome to my first blog of 2025!

After all the festivities, you may be thinking about New Year’s resolutions to get healthier, perhaps lose weight, or simply exercise a little more. We are all often reminded about the rise of obesity, and while some of us may be tired of hearing it, weight and movement truly matter to our health.

Obesity has increased not only in people but also in our pets — dogs, cats, horses, and rabbits alike. It’s often how we show love, but overfeeding can have detrimental physical effects. We are also leading very different lives: we sit more, work longer hours, and live in environments that may lack outdoor spaces, all of this can contribute to gradual weight gain.

Being overweight increases pressure on joints (Bockstahler et al., 2009). Adipose tissue (fat tissue) causes increased inflammation in the body in both humans and animals (Barchetta, 2021). This increase in inflammation can worsen pain in conditions like osteoarthritis.

First of all, I understand that it can be hard to admit when your pet is overweight, but we need to be honest with ourselves. Maybe it helps to make the assessment more objective. When you stroke your dog, try to feel how many ribs you can comfortably count. If you cannot easily feel your dog’s ribs, this may be a sign that your dog is overweight. Also, look at your dog from above—does your dog have a visible waistline? If not, this may indicate excess weight.

If you suspect your dog is overweight, please speak to your vet or veterinary physiotherapist about changes to diet and lifestyle. I will also be posting another blog with some general tips to help your dog lose weight in the coming weeks.

Happy New Year everyone!

Barchetta, I. (2021). Expression of TGR5 in adipose tissue in relation to metabolic impairment and adipose tissue dysfunction in human obesity. Metabolism and Target Organ Damage. doi:https://doi.org/10.20517/mtod.2021.04.

Bockstahler, B.A., Hulse, D.A., Carmichael, S. and Marshall, W.G. (2009). A review of osteoarthritis and obesity: current understanding of the relationship and benefit of obesity treatment and prevention in the dog. Veterinary and Comparative Orthopaedics and Traumatology, 22(05), pp.339–345. doi:https://doi.org/10.3415/vcot-08-08-0069.

Image taken from https://www.petobesityprevention.org/pet-weight-check