Wir hatten diesen Dackel zärtlich ‚Schwabbel‘ getauft, als er zu uns kam“, sagt Davinia Fleuth. „Das Tier war beschlagnahmt worden und adipös. Meine Kollegen haben es auf Diät gesetzt, und es hat so viel abgenommen, dass wir an der Klinik schließlich eine Hautlappenresektion vornehmen mussten, ähnlich wie bei Menschen.“ Fleuth zeigt Fotos von dem Dackel auf ihrem Computer: Vorher-nachher-Fotos. Auf dem einen Bild sieht man ein unförmiges Etwas, das auf dem Rücken liegt und fast nur aus Bauch besteht. Auf dem anderen Bild läuft ein braun gelockter Dackel fidel über eine Wiese. Schwabbel – eine Erfolgsgeschichte.
Davinia Fleuth ist Tierärztin und eine von drei Oberärztinnen für die Station an der Tierklinik Hofheim, Europas größter Heimtierklinik, an der rund 13.000 Hunde und Katzen im Jahr behandelt werden. Sie kann Einiges über die Probleme dicker Tiere erzählen. „Etwa die Hälfte der Hunde und zwei Drittel der Katzen, die zu uns kommen, sind übergewichtig oder sogar adipös.“ Nicht alle werden wegen ihres Gewichts gebracht. Manche haben Unfälle, Knochenbrüche oder leiden an Krankheiten. Aber bei übergewichtigen Tieren ist das Risiko ungleich höher, dass sie zum Arzt müssen. Sie erkranken, weil ihr Skelettsystem das Gewicht nicht trägt. Und auch, weil das weiße Fettgewebe schädliche Prozesse auslöst.
More than half of the approximately ten million dogs and 15 million cats in Germany are too fat, a problem in other Western countries too. Veterinarians, research institutes and animal welfare organizations have therefore joined forces in organizations such as the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention in Great Britain to campaign for obesity in animals to finally be recognized as a disease – and for owners who feed their animals until they are sick to do so penalties will be imposed.
So far, the only rule of thumb is that a dog or cat that weighs ten percent more than the ideal weight is fat. The owners often don’t even notice it because the layer of fat gradually becomes thicker. And some people think it’s cute when Bello or Mietzi are a little chubby. “Obesity in dogs and cats is socially accepted,” says Davinia Fleuth. But excess weight reduces both the quality and duration of the animal’s life. How can you prevent your loved ones from getting fat – and how do you get a fat little one thin again?
When it comes to pets, a key to health is nutrition. This is impressively demonstrated by a long-term study that researchers led by veterinary doctor Dennis F. Lawler started in 1987. On behalf of the feed manufacturer Purina Nestlé, they selected 48 Labrador puppies and formed sibling pairs. One puppy was allowed to eat as much as he wanted. The other received 25 percent less food than his sister or brother had eaten the day before. One was allowed to eat, the other was on a diet – otherwise the dogs’ lives were no different. They had the same amount of exercise, were allowed to sleep the same amount, and were given the same tasks to keep them busy. Veterinarians monitored their lives, recording blood values and fitness indicators. The study ended in 2001: the last Labrador had died.
This research provided a lot of data. An expected result: The dogs that were allowed to eat as much as they wanted were fatter than the diet dogs. What was more surprising was that their risk of diseases such as acute and chronic joint inflammation was significantly increased. On average, they even died one to two years earlier than their respective sibling dogs. “Two years is a long time for dogs,” explains Britta Dobenecker, veterinarian and academic director at the Chair of Animal Nutrition and Dietetics at the LMU Munich. “If you extrapolate that to a person with an average life expectancy of 75 years, it would be a good twelve years of life.”
Fat tissue promotes inflammation
It is not yet fully understood why obesity affects dogs and cats so much. But some connections have been explored. The weight puts a mechanical strain on the skeletal muscle system, putting strain on joints, tendons and ligaments. Overweight and obesity also result in a number of secondary diseases. “In overweight dogs, for example, we often see torn cruciate ligaments,” says veterinarian Davinia Fleuth from the Hofheim Animal Clinic. “Fat tissue promotes inflammatory processes in all organ systems. For example, the cruciate ligament is thinned out fiber by fiber – until it finally tears. Inflammation flares up throughout the body, cells die, and cancer can develop.
The consequences are excruciating: Obese dogs and cats suffer from cardiovascular diseases, have high blood sugar levels and even diabetes mellitus, their skin is flaky or inflamed, and it is difficult to breathe. They must be cared for by a veterinarian and treated with medication. In the worst case, they end up in a clinic where orthopedic operations and internal treatment have to be carried out. The four-legged patients are then threatened with physiotherapy and aqua aerobics to loosen and strengthen the cramped muscles and make their joints supple again.
“In cats that are overweight or obese, we often see urinary tract inflammation or even a urinary tract obstruction, which can be fatal.” Davinia Fleuth sits in front of her computer and shows a video: a gray and white cat dragging itself across the floor. The head is so greasy that it looks like a plush ball. You can hardly see the nose. “We treated this cat in the clinic with a catheter for several days because of the urethral obstruction, but he was in very bad shape.” He had fatty deposits all over his body, the layer in the abdominal area was eleven centimeters thick. As a result of obesity, an undetected heart disease worsened dramatically. “Two months after he was given medication and released from the clinic, he had to be put down.” In cats, she says, obesity is often underestimated. “If a cat gains a kilo, it doesn’t sound dangerous at first. But a kilogram is a quarter of your normal body weight.”
Why do dogs and cats eat so much? For dogs, this is part of their evolutionary history, explains LMU veterinarian Dobenecker. Their ancestors hunted large prey and gorged themselves on it in one sitting. Since they have relatively few stretch receptors in their gastrointestinal tract, there is hardly any satiety signal triggered when their stomach is full. “Dogs can expand their stomachs to an almost grotesque extent in order to take in a lot of food at once.” With a full stomach, the animals can go for several days without new prey. They mobilize their fat reserves and thereby cover their energy needs. But if these hunger phases are missed because the bowl is well filled every morning and evening, then body fat increases.
“People used to say you couldn’t feed cats fat,” says Dobenecker. “What a misconception!” However, the kitty’s metabolism is actually a little more complicated than that of dogs, explains the veterinarian. They naturally tend to feed on lots of small prey, mice, beetles and birds – on a regular basis. “Starvation is very dangerous for them because they cannot switch well to a ketogenic metabolism.” If they starve, fat is then mobilized from the depots. However, protein breakdown is not reduced. If protein is missing from food, muscles are broken down to produce energy. If the liver does not have enough protein available, it cannot remove enough fat. The cat develops a fatty liver and the organ no longer works properly. “A life-threatening condition.”
The course is set for growing animals
If you want to give your dog or cat the longest, healthy life possible, you should do everything in your power to avoid excess fat. “And you have it in your hands,” emphasizes Britta Dobenecker. The first few months of puppies’ lives are particularly crucial. If the animals are fed too much during the growth phase – for small dogs it lasts up to nine months, for larger dogs even up to 14 months – the risk of becoming overweight in adulthood is high.
Science cannot yet provide an explanation as to why oversupply during the growth phase poses such a risk for the adult dog. “There is a hypothesis that fat cells that are created in youth promote obesity in old age. But epigenetic factors could also play a role.”
There are tables on the food bags as an indication of how much food a growing animal needs. However, they are collected under laboratory conditions: If a new food is developed, test dogs are fed. However, they do not live in a family that is stressed out every day, which reduces walking to a minimum and drops a slice of sausage every now and then – but in groups of several animals and with six or seven hours of exercise a day. Manufacturers derive the quantities from these ideal conditions.
Growth curves as a guide
If you want to keep your dog or cat slim, it is better to use growth charts from breeders or veterinarians. Experts recommend weighing the animal once a week and comparing the values with the tables. If the puppy or kitten grows too quickly – i.e. becomes heavy too quickly – the bowl can be filled less. The so-called Body Condition Scoring (BCS, see graphic) can also help to assess the body condition of dogs and cats – even when they are fully grown. Can the costal arch be felt? Are the vertebral processes visibly protruding or are they barely noticeable? Can you recognize the hip bones? And when viewed from above, can you see the waist of the animal, or does it have an oval, round shape?
And then? If your dog or cat has become too fat, the first step is to determine how much the animal actually eats. Does it really only get its given ration – or does it accumulate additional calories because it gets a treat here as a reward and a little meat there for a shiny coat? And who gives small rewards – just the owner or also children, friends and acquaintances?
Sometimes it’s enough to leave out the treats. But often a diet is necessary. In consultation with a veterinarian with nutritional expertise, the ideal amount of food, including treats, for the individual animal can be determined. You should weigh this out and when it is used up, you won’t eat anything until the next day. In this way, the animal will not starve – but it will remain or become lighter. “To monitor success, you should weigh the animal regularly,” says Dobenecker.
Davinia Fleuth from the Hofheim Animal Clinic walks a lot with her dog; exercise is good for his metabolism. The Hovawart mix maintains its ideal weight. She says she has already been asked why he is so thin. “My heart often breaks when I see overweight dogs while out walking,” she says. “Many people have no idea how much chronic stress the animals have to endure. There is so much pain attached to it, so much suffering.”
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