Q: Is too much fat bad for our pets?
A: Let’s start by explaining what fat is. What we call ‘fat’ is medically referred to as ‘white adipose tissue’, but until about 10 years ago, we thought fat stored excess energy and just made your pet ‘big’. The idea was that fat was physiologically inert.
But then scientists discovered that fat plays an enormous role in the body as producer of hormones and inflammatory agents.
Fat also produces hormones such as angiotensinogen, which plays a role in increasing blood pressure, and suddenly a host of diseases enter the picture.
Being overweight (having excess body fat stores) is a marker for a shorter and unhealthier life.
Lorren Barham, animal hydrotherapist at Pet Wellness Worx
