"How much should I feed my pet?"
I get asked that question every day and it is a hard one to answer. I'm sure that my clients are expecting an answer in the 'cups per meal' format. When I was a kid and I asked my Dad a question expecting an answer, I always cringed when he replied with a question back to me, or perhaps with the dreaded, "Let's look it up" reply. I would roll my eyes and think, "Why can't he just give me the answer?" Usually because there was more than one right answer or because it was complicated. I try not to make my clients roll their eyes, and I usually give them a 'cups per meal' answer eventually, but it is just not easy to get there.
Ideal Body Condition Overweight
Body Condition Score
Before I even enter the exam room, my technician has already started by assessing the pet's body condition score and noting a target weight in the medical record. This is not done with the eyes alone. Fluffy dogs and cats often look heavy but until you put your hands on them, it can be very hard to tell if they are overweight. We feel along the spine and over the ribs on the sides of the chest to see if there is a thick layer of fat, or if the bones are palpable under the skin. We should be able to feel the ribs and spine in a pet with an ideal body condition score. The pet should also be thinner in the abdomen than in the chest when viewed from above. Cats are sometimes tricky to evaluate. They might look thin from the top but will often have large fat pads in the belly area. Sometimes these fat pads even drag near the ground, swinging from side to side when the cat walks.
Treats Anyone?
My technician also asks what kind of food is being fed and if treats or table food are common. We are really concerned about total daily calorie intake, not just what is in the food bowl. Many people are shocked when they find out the number of calories in each treat. Even with the low calorie treats we use in our office, four treats is like 1/4 cup of food!
Mealtime
By the time I am in the exam room doing the physical exam, we are ready to talk about how much food is in the bowl at meal time. Sometimes clients tell me they just keep the bowl full all the time. How can I give them a cups per meal answer if they don't even know how many cups their pet eats in a day? Another difficulty is that when some owners say they feed one cup per meal, they are talking about a large coffee cup or other vessel that holds more than 8 ounces! This is when I pull out the free souvenir 8-ounce measuring cup for them to take home.
Food Choices
Next, we open our pet food notebook and look up calories per cup for the brand of food they feed and compare that to the recommended calorie intake based on ideal body weight. If the pet is constantly begging for food, we might recommend a lower calorie food so there can be more volume fed without increasing calorie intake. Kind of like a person eating salads and low fat foods versus eating a high fat desert for their main meal. Some pets beg, but will take attention or exercise instead of food. Unfortunately it is easier and less time consuming to give a treat than to give exercise or attention so the pet gets the treat. This adds up over time.
Blood Tests
Sometimes we draw a blood sample from dogs and run a chemistry profile or thyroid panel to see if there might be a medical reason for weight gain. Screening labwork is almost always a good idea to check internal organ function since pets are experts at hiding illness.
Exercise
Lastly, we discuss exercise. Most people have good intentions of increasing exercise for themselves and for their pet. I do think exercise is extremely important for both physical and mental health in people and in pets. It's just hard to walk a Labrador Retriever on a leash and get them enough exercise. Even running on a leash at our pace is too slow for many dogs. Dog parks are wonderful for getting off-leash exercise. You can almost see the calories getting burned as they run. Exercising cats is more difficult. Remote control mice are fun and there are even laser toys that shine a dancing light on the wall for cats to chase. Type of food can also be very important for cats since they are "obligate carnivores", meaning they must have meat. Low carb, high protein diets are very important for maintaining healthy weight in cats and can even help in treating diabetes.
So how much should you feed your pet?
The short answer is, "if your pet needs to lose weight, feed less and exercise more" and the long answer is "bear with us while we ask a few questions, examine your pet, and do some math".
