However, the plight of one particular pooch that was brought to my attention this morning was such that I thought there was no harm in repeating an old message –
"Don't kill your pets with kindness!"

Obesity is a subject that we are all aware of because of the problems seen in our own society with many of the resultant clinical conditions directly mirrored in our pets.

A recent study showed that the life expectancy of an obese dog can be reduced by as much as a third. Yes, one third!
I've heard all of the old excuses: "They were neutered when they were younger and all spayed dogs are fat" or "They hardly get anything to eat, they must be living on fresh air" and the most common, "When they look at me with those doleful eyes, I just can't stop myself from giving them a treat".

I'm sorry, in my book there are no excuses for obese, over-weight pets.
All right, I'll grant you that the metabolic rate of neutered animals does slow a touch and hence if these pets are fed the equivalent food intake to an entire animal they are likely to gain weight, but that's why we always advise to cut their meals down after the operation.
As for the little barrels that "live on fresh air", we should be studying these cases for the advancement of science – they could be the answer to the global energy crisis!

If they are genuinely remaining obese without any food intake, then they must be creating matter from nothing! Now there's a clever trick!
It is a physical impossibility for animals to gain weight unless they are taking in more calories than they are using – fact. They're fat because we feed them too much.

In nutritional terms, the foods we feed our pets can be broken down to the broad components protein, carbohydrate, fibre and fat; unless you feed a wet food in which case about 80 per cent of it is water. The often-advertised minerals, vitamins and trace elements are very important but actually make up a very minor proportion of the diet.
Of course, like the criticisms levelled at our own food producers, there is a degree of confusion associated with the labelling of pet foods that a cynic might think was deliberately designed to make it difficult to compare different products.

In fact, there is a huge difference between diets in both the amount of calories provided and the form in which they come.

Unfortunately, the long and the short of it is that most of us don't stop to look at the label anyway, generally being wooed by the picture of a cute dog or cat on the front of the packaging.

As you might imagine, what we feed our pets is vitally important. Though ultimately the control of how much goes into the food bowl lies squarely with us the owners, we can make life much easier for ourselves by choosing the right food in the first instance.

It seems fairly obvious that if our pet is over-weight the last thing they need is an energy (calorie) dense food that doesn't provide satiety.

In truth, choosing the appropriate diet (which may initially not meet with Fido or Felix's approval as it is not laced with large amounts of salt to make it more palatable) should be the hard part. However, the bit we are just as likely to get wrong is the amount we feed.

I can understand the difficulty of mastering our own will-power; walking past the fridge without opening it even though the urge to make a snack is great. In the case of our pets though, that physiological urge isn't there.

It's not us that feel hungry so why do we insist on over-filling their bowls or feeding them ad lib treats? Be strong! Don't kill them with kindness.

Oh yes, the pooch that has got me on my soap box; a nine-month-old Labrador pup already weighing in at 44kg! I can see the programme now – "My half tonne pet!"
By Dominic Plumley, Alnorthumbria Veterinary Group