American Pets Are Fat

American dogs are fat.  90% of the dogs I see in the clinic could stand to lose at least 5 pounds, and practically all the dogs I see have a weight gain over last year.

Like their owners, American dogs eat too much and don't get enough exercise.  And just like their owners, the ultimate results of being chronically overweight can be the same:  Diabetes, joint problems, breathing problems, heart disease.

I noticed Science Diet has a type of "Jenny Craig" program for dogs - pre-packaged portions in a box.

The host of TV's The Biggest Loser has come up with her own weight-loss program for pets, after being informed that her Boston Terrier could stand to slim down.

"Everyone wants to fix the problem without having to change habits," she said.

I agree.

Fat dogs and cats are SO alarmingly common that many people who have pets in the normal weight range come to the clinic with concerns that their pets are too skinny.  Of the 10% of people who have animals with a healthy weight, more than half of them will express concerns that they think their companion isn't eating enough, isn't eating a food with a high enough calorie content, or that something must in some way be wrong with them because they believe their pets are underweight.  What's even more shocking, to me, is the fact that all of them, upon being assured by a veterinarian that their animals are at a great, healthy weight, express disbelief.

It's interesting to me that in a culture where body image issues are so prevalent, and we have more people than ever being diagnosed with eating disorders because they think they are too fat is the same culture that can look an obese pet and see nothing wrong.

Weird.

The flip side of the problem is the fact that pet food companies try to make a One-Guide-Fits-All feeding table on every formula, and it doesn't work that way.  It causes confusion, which often leads to overfeeding.

I hope the Biggest Loser Pets program raises awareness about pet obesity.  So many companion animals could be living much longer, healthier lives with less money spent on chronic health problems if their average weight was, well, average.  It's really very sad to me when I see someone who has an obese Labrador and they proudly announce, "My dog weighs 140 pounds!"  As though it is something amazing, to be boasted of when really the poor dog is about 70 pounds overweight and can barely move.  The American Bigger is Better myth pervades, and it is costing our pets years off of their lives.

Oldest American Domesticated Dog Was Dinner

Samuel Belknap was looking for food and diet data of ancient peoples when he made an unintended discovery:  The fossilized remains of the New World's oldest domesticated dog to date.

The skull fragment and foot bone of the dog was part of someone's dinner 9,400 years ago in what is now Texas.

The remains lead researchers to believe that the dog was cared for by people before it was butchered for food, meaning that it was domesticated.  Analysis at the University of Oklahoma confirm that the remains are indeed dog, not wolf or fox.

Competition

During my month-long hiatus from the blogging world, I noticed something at work.

We were getting a lot puppies from a place I'd never heard of before.  

As it turns out, a new puppy selling store has opened in the farmer's market down the street.  I'm not sure if they are referring customers to us or if people are just finding the closest veterinarian within a ten-mile radius and we're it, but for some reason a high number of them are coming through the clinic.

The puppies we've seen so far are in good health.

The myriad of breeders the dogs are coming from are all from PA, and mostly from Lancaster.

One year after the legislation meant to shut down the puppy mill capitol of the world, the puppy mill capitol of the world is still producing puppies.  It doesn't logically follow that just because all these dogs are from Lancaster, they must be coming out of puppy mills, or at least not out of puppy mills as most of us who are aware of them think of them.  For all I know, the puppy millers have just downgraded their operations.  One of the other tricks they use is to use family members as owners.  "Oh, I don't own any dogs.  These are my son's dogs.  Those are my daughter's dogs.  Those are my wife's dogs.  Those are my dad's dogs."  And so it goes.  There are loopholes in everything.

What really bothers me is that a lot of people who put their voices against the PA puppy mills have gone silent, thinking that last January's law had solved the problem.

So what now?

I Love Scrubs

One benefit about working in a medical field is the attire.  You get to wear the comfiest clothes ever to work.  I'm a big fan of sweats and PJ pants around the house, but I get uncomfortable even just running to the convenience store in them.  Scrubs have the same comfy quality as PJs, but you don't feel like a slob walking into the bank wearing them.

It's great.

I'm also a big fan of pockets.  I love pocketses.  My one girly guilty pleasure is purses and bags, because I cannot resist a bag of nifty pockets.  I just can't.  I'm a stasher, what can I say.

I have a pair of Dickies scrubs with just a giant cargo-style side pocket on the right side. Love those, except that I feel like I'm reaching halfway down my leg for my pen.  I like scrub tops with the big wide double pockets in the front.  Not a fan of the shoulder pocket.  It's pretty much useless.

Unfortunately I live about spitting distance from a hospital, so there are many stores also within spitting distance where I can indulge my new scrub habit.  I went to one the last week of December with some gift money, fulling intending to buy a pair of Grey's Anatomy scrubs (oh yeah, they have those).  I couldn't find a style I liked in a color that I liked in my size.

I was really disappointed, until I turned around and saw a rack with a neon NEW sign on it.  A brand called Wink was hanging on them.  I went over to inspect them, and I ended up buying a pair.  It was the pockets that did it, I'm not gonna lie.  The Wink Origins Charlie style top has the big double lower pockets I like, with an outside pen loop AND a mesh pocket within one of the pockets.  Guess what that's for.  If you guessed dog treats, you're right!  The Romeo style pant has six pockets - a cargo style on the leg and regular hip pockets like a regular pair of jeans.  And inside the cargo pocket is ANOTHER mesh pocket.  So I have options on where I'm stashing treats.  I can put moist treats in my cargo pocket for small dogs and larger biscuits in my shirt mesh pocket for larger dogs.  They're the best things ever.  Seriously.  

I just thought I'd let you guys know, because I know that among you, there are trainers.  Casual trainers of only pet pups, slightly more serious trainers of foster and rescue dogs, and possibly a few professional trainers, too.  Those pockets are seriously handy.  Really.  Think about it:  Treats in the mesh pockets, poo pick-up bags in one of the outer pockets, cell phone and you're ready for a really productive walk.  Without having a silly bag hanging off of your waist that you never use the drawstring on anyway because the clip falls off when you try to pull it.  I know.  I've used them.  They're dumb, although in theory they sound good.

So even if you DON'T work in a medical setting, consider some scrubs.  They're cheap (compared to most clothes) and they're great for all sorts of things.  I clean the house in the ones I don't use for work anymore.

Oh, and randomness:  I discovered roundworm eggs on a fecal flotation today by myself.  This is a first.  Usually the slides have nothing exciting on them and the ones I don't look at have all the good stuff.  This time I pulled the slide, and found the good stuff.  Eureka!