Search Results for ‘obesity’

This time of year, many of us are thinking of our New Year’s Resolutions.  Maybe you are going to quit smoking, make a commitment to hit the gym more often, or spend more time with your kids.  New Year’s Resolutions aren’t just for people, though.  Your pet may have some life changes to make as well!

Did you know that approximately 54% of the nation’s pet population is overweight, with the number getting larger every year?  About 20% of these pets have owners who do not recognize that there is a problem.  We see a lot of these pets here at Oakland Veterinary Referral Services because obese pets are at a higher risk for type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, breathing problems, kidney disease, exacerbation of osteoarthritis, and a shortened life expectancy.  Many pet owners are either not aware of these health risks, or they find their pudgy pets cute and don’t address the problem.

Here is a different way to think about your pet’s weight according to the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention:

• A 95 pound Golden Retriever is equivalent to a 5’4” human female weighing 184 pounds or a 5’9” male weighing 214 pounds.
• A 10 pound Chihuahua is equivalent to a 5’4” human female weighing 242 pounds or a 5’9” male weighing 282 pounds.
• A Domestic Shorthair cat that weighs 15 pounds is equivalent to a 5’4” human female weighing 218 pounds or a 5’9” male weighing 254 pounds.
• A pig ear fed to a 40 pound dog is the equivalent of an adult human drinking 72 ounces of Coca-Cola.
• A regular dog biscuit fed to a 20 pound dog is similar to an adult eating 2 Keebler Elf Fudge Double Stuffed cookies.

Check out your pet’s Pet-to-Human Weight Equivalent Translator and get tips on safe weight loss in dogs and cats, at this site. It is important that you discuss your pet’s need for weight loss and your plan for accomplishing it with your veterinarian to ensure a successful outcome for your pet.  Please contact us today with any questions or concerns, and have a happy, healthy 2013!

When something is wrong with our pets, it creates stress we are not used to dealing with. Understanding your pet’s diagnosis can be challenging because it is tough to hear and accept the news, in addition to hearing complex medical terms you may or may not understand. We want to help you understand some of the more common complex medical terms you might hear. 

In a perfect world, our dogs would live forever. The truest of companions, dogs add so much love, joy, laughter, and acceptance to a person’s life. Whether you are considering getting your first dog or are thinking of adopting a new breed, or making health decisions for an existing dog, knowing an average dog lifespan for various types of dogs can help you choose wisely.

Illnesses that last at least three months and might progressively worsen over time are known as chronic diseases. Unfortunately, these long-lasting diseases can reduce the quality of life for our pet friends. If you have a pet with a chronic illness, he or she will need a little bit of extra attention to lessen symptoms and live more comfortably. These tips will help with managing chronic disease in pets:

Summer is perfect for outdoor parties, grilling, and sampling delicious food. However, pets can become seriously ill with pancreatitis after eating many common barbecue foods at summer parties. With some attention and effort, you can prevent pancreatitis this summer. 

A diabetes diagnosis can be scary for a pet owner to hear, but it doesn’t have to mean that your pet can’t enjoy a good quality of life. With a little bit of care and attention, pets with diabetes can remain healthy for many years with their favorite human. In order to do this, however, it is vital to monitor and control blood sugar levels in a diabetic dog or cat. The team at Oakland Veterinary Referral Services is here with some tips on keeping your dog or cat’s diabetes in check:

Diabetes is a disease that occurs when the body cannot properly process glucose. While glucose is vital to powering the cells, if not properly regulated, it can lead to significant health issues. In fact, untreated diabetes in pets can lead to organ failure, blindness, coma, and in extreme cases, death. Luckily, with proper management, a dog or cat with diabetes can live a relatively normal (and healthy) life. Here are some tips on how to keep your pet’s diabetes at bay:

When it comes to selecting the best puppy food, or best senior dog food, the choices seem endless. It can feel overwhelming, especially now that we have additional offerings in grain-free, raw, organic, and homemade. Where do you begin? One factor that should always guide you to the best food for your dog is their age. 

Your dog’s nutritional needs change with age and your choices will impact the quality of their development, health, and well-being. This is why Oakland Veterinary Referral Services wants to explain what goes into determining the dietary needs of your puppy or senior dog based on their life stage. 

When a pet owner hears that their dog has arthritis, they tend to assume that their pet is just “old” and that’s what comes with aging. That’s not always the case. Old age can bring with it a number of pet ailments, from diabetes to cancer. But aging is not a disease and with the right preventive care, most pets can age gracefully. 

When we see arthritis in dogs, we often see a different reason for joint conditions like arthritis…and it isn’t their age. Read on to learn more about Oakland Veterinary Referral Services’ overview of arthritis in dogs.

One of the more common medical questions we get at Oakland Veterinary Referral Services relates to bumps or lumps on dogs. Many dog owners fear the worst when they find this anomaly on or under their fur friend’s skin. Sometimes it appears suddenly or seemingly overnight. 

Most of the time the lump is benign (which means it is noncancerous). There are several types of tumors, cysts, and abnormal skin growths that affect cats and dogs. This is why we want to give you an overview of skin lumps on for greater awareness and instruction, should you find one.