“Obesity continues to be the greatest health threat to dogs and cats.” states APOP Founder, veterinarian Dr. Ernie Ward. “Obesity is a disease that kills millions of pets prematurely, creates immeasurable pain and suffering, and costs pet owners tens of millions of dollars in avoidable medical costs.”
This quote comes from the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention. The most recent statistics show that about 54% of dogs today are considered overweight or obese which measures out to 41.9 million dogs. Yes, 41.9 million! What are we doing about this?? Feeding them food that is titled “weight loss” but really just filled with a lot of low quality fiber ingredients that just make your pet poop more and think they are full.
Here is a quote from Dr. Karen Becker; “Too much fiber acts as a mechanical barrier, preventing trace minerals, vitamins and antioxidants from getting to and through the walls of your pet's gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Fiber may make your pet feel temporarily full, but he's not being satiated at the all-important cellular level. Your pet’s biological requirement for fiber and carbohydrates (starch) is small, which means when fiber replaces protein in the diet, he can end up obsessively searching for more amino acids.”
As you can see here what Dr. Becker is saying is that these weight loss foods are really just a lot of BS. Sorry for the directness but there’s no good way to say it. We are filling our pets with insoluble fiber to just make them feel full and poop more. This is not nourishing your pet. If you take the weigh off yourself in a very unhealthy way you won’t feel well, if you eat the right foods and exercise you will. It’s the same concept for our dogs. We want to make sure their bodies are nourished in a healthy way and they are removing the weight. This is something that can be accomplished very easily by giving your pets a raw diet and ensuring the get a healthy amount of exercise. They will get what their body needs and not just feel full but be full!
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