50% of US dogs and cats are now overweight

The latest report from the Association for Pet Obesity prevention shows more than 50% of US dogs and cats are now overweight or obese, according to an article by Gwendolyn Bounds in the Wall Street Journal.

Conducted in partnership with Banfield, the line of pet hospitals owned by Mars, the survey also indicates pet owners deserve the main share of blame, Bounds writes, because they regularly overfeed their pets, don't give them enough exercise and are not educated about the serious health consequences of pet obesity.

The article goes on to highlight products designed to help combat the problem, including, of course, petfoods formulated to help reduce weight. But the focus is on owner awareness and education, because, as Steven Budsberg, director of clinical research at the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine is quoted in the article: "I never met a German Shepherd who could open the refrigerator or food bag and pour himself another bowl."

Which makes it all the more essential, I believe, for petfood packaging and labels to include calorie content information and -- perhaps even more importantly -- feeding directions and measurements that are clear and easy for the average pet owner to understand and follow. That means directions in terms of common measurements such as cups or portions of cans. (Let's face it, most people cannot interpret and apply things like kilocalories per grams.)

In January the Association of American Feed Control Officials moved one step closer to mandating that such information be included on all dog and cat food and treat labels, via an amendment to the AAFCO Model Regulations. The amendment still has several hurdles to clear in the AAFCO approval process; if it passes them all, the earliest it could be approved would be 2012. Then a grace period to allow manufacturers to comply would likely mean another year or two before the information was available to pet owners.

Yet to me, it's good to know at least the movement is still under way. I understand some people and companies in the industry have what they consider valid reasons for fighting this amendment. But can you really argue against a 50%+ overweight/obesity rate in companion animals?

It's true that providing the information is no guarantee that pet owners will follow it; you could argue that human food labels have been required to include information on calories, fat, sodium and all sorts of other substances for a while now, and the overweight/obesity rate in humans (at least in the US) keeps climbing, too. But unless and until such data is available for petfoods, veterinarians, other experts and conscientious pet parents trying to combat pet obesity are fighting without what could prove to be the most valuable weapon of all: information.

Cats prefer food similar to their natural prey

Research finds cats prefer food similar to their natural prey
Cats self-regulate protein, fat, carbohydrate intake
Release Date: February 28, 2011 Comments(2)
According to research carried out in collaboration with Professor Steve Simpson at the School of Biological Sciences, University of Sydney, Australia, and Professor David Raubenheimer at the Institute of Natural Sciences, Massey University, New Zealand, healthy pet cats regulate their protein, fat and carbohydrate intake to mimic the types of food they would eat in the wild.

The research, carried out over a two-year period at the Waltham Centre for Pet Nutrition, demonstrated that cats have an intake target that equates to approximately 52% of their daily calorie intake from protein, 36% from fat and 12% from carbohydrate. “This is a fascinating discovery and we are intrigued to know more about why cats have the ability to do this,” said lead study author Dr. Adrian Hewson-Hughes. “It is particularly remarkable that, even after thousands of years of domestication, cats still select a diet nutritionally similar to their natural prey.”

Waltham intends to pursue further research in this area and will now focus on the selection of these key nutrients in other cat lifestages including gestation, lactation and growth, as well as in dogs.

Wellness Recall!

The PetsitUSA Blog

Pet Food Recall: Wellness Canned Cat Food
Posted: 01 Mar 2011 06:49 AM PST
New recall, this one’s from Wellness, due to insufficient levels of thiamine in their canned cat food:

WellPet is committed to delivering the very best in pet food nutrition, as nothing is more important than the well-being of our dogs and cats. So when we found through product quality testing that specific product runs of our Wellness canned cat food might contain less than adequate levels of thiamine (also known as Vitamin B1), we decided to voluntarily recall them.

Please know, the vast majority of products tested had the appropriate levels of thiamine; however, with the number of recipes we offer, we did not want to make this more confusing. Therefore to avoid confusion and in an abundance of caution, we have decided to recall all canned cat products with the specific date codes noted below. Cats fed only product with inadequate levels of thiamine for several weeks may be at risk for developing a thiamine deficiency. If treated promptly, thiamine deficiency is typically reversible.

Though the chance of developing this deficiency is remote, withdrawing these products is the right thing to do and we are removing it from retailers’ shelves.

The lots involved in this voluntary recall are:

Wellness Canned Cat (all flavors and sizes) with best by dates from 14APR 13 through 30SEP13;
Wellness Canned Cat Chicken & Herring (all sizes) with best by date of 10NOV13 and 17NOV13.
If you have cat food from these lots, you should stop feeding it to your cats. You may call WellPet at 1-877-227-9587 to arrange for return of the product and reimbursement.

You’ll find the info on the Wellness website here.

Thanks, Wellness, for not waiting until Friday evening to post this recall! You done good.