Have you looked at your dog and wondered why he is gaining weight? It is actually quite possible to unintentionally overfeed your dog – here’s how:
- Free-feeding You keep your pet’s food bowl topped up all day. Animals don’t always know when enough is enough, so if the food is there your pet will probably eat it. Measure the amount of food required for breakfast. Don’t add more food to the bowl until you add the measured amount for dinner.
- Food scavenging Your dog may scavenge food that may have fallen from trees in the garden, such as nuts or fruit. They may also scavenge for food in the neighbourhood dustbins if left to wander around.
- Stealing food If one pet in the family nicks food from another pet’s bowl, separate them at feeding time. Some pets even steal food from a human’s plate. If your dog is sneaky around food, put him away during family mealtimes.
- Double meals To avoid pets getting fed twice, make sure all family members know who is responsible for feeding the pets and on which days.
- After sterilisation Sterilisation slows the metabolism and increases appetite. Sterilisation itself does not make animals fat, but overfeeding after sterilisation will lead to weight gain. Speak to your vet about decreasing kilojoules after sterilisation.
