From the Sun: Pet obesity is a big, fat problem

Adapted from the August 22nd edition of the Woodford Sun: 

Pet obesity is a big, fat problem
By Beth Oleson, Education Coordinator

Often overheard at the adoption center: “Ohh, I just LOVE fat cats!”  That phrase is such a mixed bag for us.  We always have overweight pets who need homes, and it’s nice to know that people are interested in them.  But pet obesity is a huge problem, and the thought that someone might take an overweight pet home and not make an effort to get it healthy - or worse, take a healthy pet home and deliberately let it become obese - is cringe-worthy.

According to the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention, 53% of dogs and 55% of cats in American homes are overweight or obese.  Overweight pets suffer from severe arthritis (particularly declawed cats, whose joint alignment is already compromised), skin infections, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and kidney disease.  Even their cancer risk is high compared to pets of healthy weight.  An overweight pet’s lifespan is reduced by an average of 2.5 years; their quality of life, as they struggle through the pain of all of the aforementioned medical complications, is reduced the moment we allow them to become overweight.  Intentionally or not, it is unkind to cause or perpetuate a painful lifestyle for your pet, and obesity is no exception.

Katie the cockapoo was 17lbs overweight

The driver of pet weight problems is – surprise! – diet and exercise.  We once took in a cocker spaniel/miniature poodle mix that weighed 42lbs; “healthy” for her body structure was 25lbs.  When asked what she was fed, the owner replied that the dog got whatever she wanted – mostly cheeseburgers.  An over-fed pet is not a well-fed pet, nor is a pet that is allowed to eat junk food, whether that’s low-quality, grain-filled kibble or the cheeseburger off your plate.  Get in touch and we’ll be happy to provide you with our guide to pet nutrition so that you can make good choices at the pet store; once you know how to read an ingredients list, it’s easy to do.   

Exercise is the other half of the equation, and it can’t be ignored – diet alone is often not enough to take off those extra pounds.  It’s up to us to take an active role in our pets’ exercise routines; just putting them out in the yard does not count.  Play fetch, take longer walks, have a play date, take a hike – there are lots of options.  As a rule of thumb, you should spend at least an hour a day exercising your dog.  For cats, exercise is all about toys; but again, just having toys around the house does not count.  Keep an arsenal of toys that move, bounce, or crinkle, toys that you wave, throw, or roll, and spend at least half an hour a day engaging your cat in the hunt.

is the other half of the equation, and it can’t be ignored – diet alone is often not enough to take off those extra pounds.

If your veterinarian tells you that your pet is overweight, don’t be offended; see it as a call to action to help your live a longer, happier life.  Open a dialog about healthier choices, make some changes, and help your pet slim down.  You’ll be happy you did.  Get in touch with us at 859.873.5491 or manager@woodfordhumane.org if you need some suggestions - we're here to help.

Oh, and in case you're wondering how we do our part to help out the chunky pets in our care, never fear - we're all over it!  Our largest cat colony room is a fitness club for overweight cats; they're on a strict diet and have space, toys, shelves, and furniture to get them moving...and, of course, a core of awesome volunteers to keep them on their toes.  Overweight dogs are a little less common around here, but they get the same treatment: strict diets, and lots of exercise with staff and volunteers.  We've seen great results, but it's up to the adopters to keep the ball rolling. 

Hilda (top) and Tavia (bottom) have slimmed down in our kitty fitness camp

From the Sun: Cleaning up after your pet

From the August 8th edition of the Woodford Sun: 

Cleaning up after your pet
By Beth Oleson, Education Coordinator

One of the first things you learn as a pet owner is that accidents happen.  Puppies, kittens, dogs, cats…nobody’s perfect (although some are a little closer than others).  Eventually, you just have to reach that state of zen where you can take a deep breath, remind yourself that things are just things, clean up, and move on.  After all, who could stay mad at those cute faces? 

Cleaning up after a pet can be trickier than it seems, though, and it’s all because of those sensitive noses.  Pet use urine to mark territory, and their noses are fine-tuned urine-detecting machines – much more so than ours are.  That means that, if urine has been somewhere – in the litter box, or on a potty pad, or on the carpet – your pet knows it, and it’s a big deal.  It’s usually a big enough deal that your pet, or other pets in the house, will want to “go” there again and again, which is fine if it’s in the litter box or on a potty pad…but less fine if it’s on your carpet, bed, or furniture.  

Busting the chain reaction of accidents requires you to stop thinking about what you can smell, and start thinking about what your pets can smell.  This is why cleaners that mask odors and add perfumes don’t typically succeed when it comes to pet stains; you might think your carpet smells like flowers, but your pet thinks your carpet smells like flowers…and pee.  And that’s an invitation.  What you need instead is a cleaner that gets rid of urine by physically breaking it down instead of covering it up.  Look for an enzyme- or enzyme-and bacteria-based cleaner like Nature’s Miracle or Unique Pet Odor and Stain Remover; the enzymes break the urine molecules down and the bacteria clean up what’s left over, effectively removing the urine – and the urine smell – from your home.  Another great thing about products like these is that they’re safe; you’re not putting harsh, toxic chemicals into your home where they could harm your pet.

Finding a great, effective pet stain cleaner isn’t the solution to all potty problems.  For that, you have to go to the source: a strict house training routine and a vet visit to make sure there’s not a physical problem – like a urinary tract infection or diabetes - causing trouble for your pet.  But it sure helps keep things on track when your pet is in the “accidents” stage.  If you can help your pet learn by removing those smelly distractions, you might do something much more important than save your carpet; you might save your pet from winding up homeless down the road.  Every year, dozens of pets are surrendered when their person’s patience for pee runs out; how many of those might have been prevented with the right tools and techniques to correct the problem?  Our goal, first and foremost, is always to keep a pet in a good home if it has one, and we hope this info can help that happen.

From the Sun: Training a Pet? Think positive

From the August 1st edition of the Woodford Sun:

Training a pet?   Think positive
By Beth Oleson, Education Coordinator

When I was a kid, my parents gave me a few bucks a week as long as I did my chores.  I am not a natural chore-doer, so that little incentive made a big difference; in fact, I wish someone would offer me the same deal now.  My house would probably be neater.  In this respect, training a dog is a lot like training a child: a little bribery goes a long way.  That’s why positive reinforcement training is the most effective method around.  

Positive reinforcement is, in a nutshell, a method focused on rewarding good behavior instead of simply punishing bad.  Don’t get us wrong, it’s important to correct and discourage bad behavior as soon as you see it.  But think about when you were a kid; sometimes, getting in trouble didn’t mean you learned your lesson…you just learned how not to get caught the next time.  The other half of the battle is making good behavior rewarding, and when you’re trying to train a dog, the best rewards you can offer are praise and food (again, dogs are not entirely unlike children).  

That brings us to the first step of positive reinforcement training: find out what your dog loves to eat and keep the treat bag ready.  You don’t want to overload your pet with junk food, so the ideal training treat will be something that’s very appealing (AKA stinky), but very small.  The small size will also leave your dog wanting more, which works in your favor.  Be sure to always couple your food reward with praise, too; a “Good boy!” will go a long way, especially down the road when you’re not giving treats every single time.

Use short, simple commands when training – sit, down, come, off, leave it, etc. – and give your dog a reward immediately when he does the right thing.  If you wait more than a few seconds, he may not make the connection between what you’re saying, what he’s doing, and the treat in his tummy.  The same goes for correcting bad behavior, by the way; if you don’t do it immediately, he won’t know what he’s being punished for, just that he’s in trouble.  

When you’re first teaching a new command, reward your dog every time he does it right.  It’s not necessary to keep that up forever, but you want to make sure that your dog really knows the command and will respond reliably before you start tapering off the treats; otherwise you’ll end up with a frustrated pooch and a command that won’t stick.  Positive reinforcement can and should be used anywhere, anytime – not just when you’re having a training session.  Make your dog sit before you go out for a walk, or before a meal, or during playtime, for example, to send the message that commands matter no matter what else is going on.  

Got training questions?  We’re here to help!  Drop us a line at 859.873.5491 or manager@woodfordhumane.org.  If you're really stuck, we're happy to recommend some great local trainers!

From the Sun: Crunchy vs. Squishy

From the July 18th edition of the Woodford Sun:

 

Crunchy vs. Squishy: The pet food debate
By Beth Oleson, Education Coordinator


If you feed your pet a raw diet or cook for him every night, you can feel free to skip right over this article if you wish.  But, for those of us who can’t pull that off, one pet-food related question that comes up time and again is the crunchy vs. squishy debate; which is better, canned food or dry? 

The short, enigmatic answer is both.  Need some explanation on that one?  Good, here we go! 

The truth of the matter is that there’s no single correct answer; both canned food and dry kibble have their benefits and detriments.  Dry kibble is easier to store and feed, since it has a long shelf life; it’s also lower-calorie and the crunchiness helps chip a little tartar off the teeth.  Canned food contains much more moisture (obviously), which is beneficial for pets who are bad drinkers; it’s also more enticing (AKA “stinky”) for picky eaters and can help underweight pets put on a pound or two.

So…canned food or dry?  For healthy adult pets, we typically recommend a little of both – just not mixed together.  A premium quality dry food makes a good basis for a pet’s diet, particularly if you’re trying to manage weight or if you have a pet who likes to graze at the food bowl throughout the day.  But it’s a good idea to keep a little canned food in their diet, too; the extra moisture and omegas keep skin, coat, heart, and digestive tract happy and healthy.  We don’t recommend mixing canned and dry together, though, because it can encourage pets to eat too fast, resulting in vomiting or bloat; instead, just keep a separate dish handy for canned food goodies.

There are a few exceptions to this rule, of course.  One is male cats, or cats of either gender prone to urinary tract infections.  Cats are often in the “bad drinker” category, and if they don’t get enough moisture their diet it can throw off the composition of their urine – sometimes enough to cause crystals or blockages in the urinary tract, which can become a deadly problem in a hurry.  Feeding a canned food diet ups your cat’s moisture intake and helps keep things working properly.

Another exception can be made for pets with bad or missing teeth.  As most pets age, there will come a time when those teeth just aren’t what they used to be, and that typically leads to weight loss when eating becomes painful.  Canned food is easier to eat, and makes a great alternative diet for pets who struggle to eat hard kibble. 

If you still have questions in the crunchy vs. squishy debate, or you want to know more about what goes into a healthy pet food, drop us a line!  You can reach us at manager@woodfordhumane.org or 859.873.5491. 

From the Sun: Fix your feline friends

From the June 27th, 2013 edition of the Woodford Sun: 

Fix your feline friends

By Beth Oleson, Education Coordinator

Rabbits get lots of credit for their reproductive speed, but cats aren’t far behind.  They can reproduce at just four months old, and have two or more litters a year.  Average litter size is six kittens.  The math gets a little overwhelming, but think of it this way: in just seven years, a single cat, her mate, and their offspring become 420,000 cats.  Or, think of it this way: for every person born, 45 kittens are born. 

There’s no question about it; cats are seriously overpopulated.  Millions of them enter shelters in the United States every year, and while we’re proud to maintain a placement rate upwards of 90% every year at Woodford Humane, that is far from the norm; on a national scale, only 30% of homeless cats are ever adopted.  Spay and neuter is the one way that those placement numbers will ever rise, and the euthanasia numbers fall, so you can see why it’s such an integral part of what we do and what we teach. 

As important as it is for all of us, as cat owners, to make sure that our cats are spayed and neutered, it’s equally critical that we do the same for the cats who are nobody’s pets.  Feral – or wild – cats are easy to overlook.  They’re not snuggly, they don’t curl up by your feet at night or purr when you pet them.  Heck, you might not ever even get to pet them.  It’s easier just to leave them to their own devices.  And for that exact reason, ferals are the biggest drivers of the cat overpopulation problem.  Every year, we take in hundreds of kittens from feral moms – barn cats, or strays – who haven’t been fixed, because they’re nobody’s pet. 

So whose job is it to take care of these feral cats; to have them spayed and neutered and reign in cat overpopulation?  The answer, really, is all of us.  It’s crucial for the cats and kittens already waiting for homes, and for the feral cats themselves, but the benefits reach farther than we might realize.  Keeping the feral cat population under control reduces the spread of fatal diseases like feline leukemia and FIV to our pets; it eases the pressure on cats and kittens already waiting for homes in shelters; it even benefits the nature lovers concerned about cats’ impact on bird populations, and the gardeners who are tired of roaming cats using their flower beds as litter boxes. 

Help us help these cats, and every cat in our care: if you know of one or many feral cats who need to be spayed and neutered, contact us at 859.873.5491 or manager@woodfordhumane.org and ask about the TNR – trap, neuter, return – program for feral cats.  We can help with pet cats, too, so get in touch if yours isn’t fixed.  By working together to help the cats in our community – even the ones that are nobody’s pet – we can truly make a difference.