The local paper here, reports every Wednesday on different issues and topics coming from the Cumberland Valley Animal Shelter. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I just started volunteering there last week. This past week, they did a report on the weight problems that they are seeing with cats and dogs. "There's been a trend recently of overweight pets and we've seen them at the shelter - pups and cats who are well over what their healthy weight should be. We had a cat recently who weighed 28 pounds. While he was quite a conversation piece, that much weight can cause a lot of health issues". Jennifer Vanderau, who wrote the article, says that any kind of food (human or pet) given in large amounts can be very unhealthy for any pet. I totally agree with her. When I was at the shelter last week with my daughter, we chose a very hefty male cat to spend quality time with. He really was a handful to carry. I noticed just how many big cats were there. My old neighbor had an extremely overweight pug. That dog looked like a little blimp on four legs!! He did try to take the dog for walks. I sincerely believed they gave that dog human food and perhaps way too much of it. The biggest cat I know of weighed in at a whopping 40lbs. I even saw a picture. It looked enormous. Just like humans, being overweight for dogs and cats can cause all kinds of health issues. Jennifer reports, "It can cause a host of ailments, which can include thyroid problems; diabetes; hygiene issues (cats and dogs who can't clean themselves); joint, bone and ligament problems; issues with internal organs; heat intolerance; and even skin issues".
contributions: Shippensburg Sentinel - Jennifer Vanderau, reporter-Cumberland Valley Animal Shelter
Thursday, March 26, 2009
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