By Dr. Dawn Martin, DVM, DVSc, DACVIM, Internal Medicine of Critical Vet Care
Just like people, dogs and cats will live a longer and healthier life if we teach them healthy habits. The training that we offer when they are young will evolve to an older animal with good lifestyle habits. Luckily for us owners, young dogs and cats like to be active. If we can encourage their play, it will be positive for us as well as for them. Living in Florida, we can take advantage of the weather and walk our dogs outdoors all year round, which will also have the added bonus of providing us with fresh air and activity.
In the summer months, we should avoid walking pets in the hottest part of the day. If we have an older pet or a pet with medical conditions, it is best to start slowly and build the duration of the activity over time. Many studies have established the benefit of the human-animal bond and the benefits of being in nature. Combining these two amazing ‘treatments’ will have a huge added health benefit for us 2-legged creatures!
Diet is an equally important part of this discussion. A very simple but elegant study showed that if we maintain dogs at a 25% caloric restriction based on the calculated daily caloric requirement, these animals lived significantly longer! Studies in other species are similar, including rodents and primates (including humans). As a general rule, we can determine how many calories our dog or cat needs per day with the following simple formula: For a dog: 30 multiplied by the body weight in kilograms, plus 70, equals the total daily calories. For a cat: 30 multiplied by the body weight in kilograms, plus 80. Example: A 10 kg dog would require 10*30+70=370 calories per day.
If we feed a commercial dog food, the number of calories in a cup or can of food should be easily accessible on the bag or through customer service at the food company. Using this information, we can calculate exactly the quantity of food that is required per day. One of the best things that we can do for our pet’s preventative health on a day-to-day basis is so easy and costs us nothing: maintain this caloric input! As a pet owner, we have the ability to restrict the amount of food we offer to achieve this goal.
But what should we do about treats? The most important thing to remember is that any treats that we provide must be incorporated into the daily caloric requirement. We would like to provide healthy, low calorie treats and subtract the total number of calories from the total required calories that we calculated above. Some examples of low calorie treats include carrots, unsalted unflavored rice cakes, or frozen vegetables. If your pet has any disease or medical condition, it is important that you ask your vet to recommend which of these options might be the best for your pet. Under no circumstances should grapes, raisins or any product with sorbitol be offered as treats; although these are low-calorie, they can cause serious illness in pets. The bottom line is to limit snacks and don’t hesitate to involve your veterinarian in this discussion.
Finally, using the body condition score is an excellent method by which you can assess the positive effects of your diligent exercise and diet regime. The chart below was developed by Purina to help assist us with assessment of a pet’s weight. 
It is based on a scale of 1-9 and can be used to determine whether your pet is over-, or under-weight. You should be able to easily feel your pet’s ribs and when viewed from the top, your pet should have a visible ‘waist’. Don’t forget that if your pet is overweight, he or she added this weight gradually and will take it off gradually. As with us humans, appropriate diet and exercise will lead to long-term gains!
If you are interested in getting active with your pup – join us at the Get Fit with Fido Meetup. Once a month we are walking through Sarasota County dog-friendly parks with large and small dogs. It’s a great way to meet people and socialize your dog!