Dog Obesity and Overfeeding

Medical Update – The vet phoned dad and said that there was no indication of deep infection and to start the steroid prescription. Since then my groin has healed and the lumps on my chin and beside my nose have started to shrink in size. Unfortunately I'm still losing weight. Dad will be taking me back to see the vet tomorrow, so hopefully he can come up with a solution to the weight loss. (This is the exact opposite of today's blog topic, which as the title says is obesity.)

An alarmingly high proportion of dogs, these days, suffer from obesity. The primary cause of this is due to over eating and lack of exercise.

Most dog owners, now-a-days, have very busy lives with many work related and social responsibilities. As a result, their dogs don't get taken for as many walks as the should. Many days their food is either left down all day, like mine, or care is not taken in measuring out the proportions recommended for the size or breed of their dog.

Some breeds are more prone to becoming obese than others. Cocker Spaniels and Labrador Retrievers are two breeds which are very susceptible to obesity. On the other hand, Terrier breeds are the least susceptible breeds to becoming obese.

If your dog shows a tendency to having a weight problem, ensure that she only eats what you give her. Do not allow other family members or well meaning neighbours to give her treats or special tidbits. Please have your dog examined by a veterinarian (vet) before considering putting her on a diet as there may be an underlying medical problem that is responsible for your pet's weight gain. As mentioned last time, in multiple dog families, you have to be vigilant that food guarding or food gorging is not taking place. This is a jealousy or psychological type problem that needs to be discussed with your vet so that you can find a safe and satisfactory solution.

The one downside to having your female dog spayed, or your male dog castrated, is that hormonal changes take place which alter their weight regulating mechanism. This means that the same amount of food after the operation may result in weight gain. If this occurs, discuss it with your vet to arrive at a sensible solution. It may be necessary to reduce the number of calories in the food provided. This may involve switching to calorie reduced food, or adding more bulk to your dog's current food to make it seem more substantial.

One method that has proved fairly successful with a number of dogs is providing them with uncooked carrots as treats instead of dog biscuits. Uncooked carrots can also be chopped up and added to your dog's regular food to provide extra bulk when the amount of food is reduced to lessen the calories consumed. As well as reducing calorie intake, these vegetables are good for aiding the teeth cleaning process. Some dogs are satisfied with the carrots just being washed and the tops and tips being removed, while others prefer to have their carrots with the tops, tips and skin removed.

Since cold winter weather increases a dog's appetite, adding bulk without increasing calories is necessary at this time of year. Where I live in northern Canada, winter is long and cold – temperatures in the minus 30 to minus 50 degree Centigrade* range, often accompanied by a wind, makes outdoor exercise impractical much of the time. As a result, reduction of calories is essential or weight gain at this time of year is inevitable.

Until next time,

Teia

* Centigrade or Celsius temperatures are scales where water freezes at 0 degrees and boils at 100 degrees – in the Fahrenheit scale, water freezes at 32 degrees and boils at 212 degrees. At minus 40 degrees, all three scales are in synchronization.

Simple Tips for Taking Care of Fish in a Home Aquarium

Mom used to have a lot of aquariums, and at one point she had ten of them. However, she began eliminating them about 5 years ago. She got rid of the last few when auntie moved home a couple of years ago. Watching the fish swimming around in their aquariums was fun.

An aquarium in your home can add beauty as well as fun to your living area. Psychologists claim that watching fish swim in an aquarium is one of the greatest stress relievers there is. That is probably why so many doctors’ offices now have aquariums. If you are going to install an aquarium in your home, there are a few simple tips you need to keep in mind if you're going to be successful at this intriguing endeavor.

1. Choose an appropriate aquarium for your home.

Don't purchase an aquarium that is extremely deep unless you're prepared to do a lot of extra work. If you own a deep aquarium and one or more of your fish dies, the water may become polluted before you even notice any dead fish.

In a deep aquarium it's difficult to get the plants you may wish to introduce to grow properly since the light has to go all the way down to the bottom. If you want an extra large aquarium, you need to purchase a 48-gallon aquarium that is 48 inches long by 12 inches wide by 12 inches deep. Get one that comes with a flourescent light canopy as this will be capable of illuminating the large aquarium's bottom. Because the aquarium is only a foot deep, your plants will get adequate light and you will have no difficulty seeing all parts of your aquarium. If you get a 48-gallon aquarium, make sure that you get a filter that will be large enough to adequately filter that volume of water.

2. It's best if you purchase all needed aquarium supplies before you set up your aquarium. Let the aquarium sit for at least one week full of water with the filters going before putting any fish into it. Then only put one or two in at a time with at least a three day to one week interval between each group of fish. In this way you won’t upset the biological balance in your aquarium.

Here are some supplies you're going to need:

* aquarium
* aquarium cover with a flourescent light bar
* heater
* aquarium filter
* gravel
* 5 gallon bucket
* strainer
* glass scrubber
* fish food
* replacement filter media
* chemical test kits
* plants -- natural or artificial
* decorations
* fish net
* aquarium vacuum
* aquarium stand - if you don’t have a piece of furniture capable of supporting over 500 pounds (480 pounds of water plus the weight of the aquarium, gravel, fish, filter, and decorations) you should consider getting an aquarium stand to put your aquarium on.

3. It's essential that you keep a close watch over your aquarium. Be sure to check the water in your aquarium for fungus infections, parasites and bacteria. There are parasites that can enter your aquarium through infected fish. Before you notice anything wrong, your entire aquarium could be totally infested. Therefore, be sure to keep close watch to see if any of your fish show signs of being infected and put them in a separate tank away from your healthy fish.

Before adding new fish to your aquarium, you should keep them in a separate tank for at least a week before introducing them to your other fish. You only need an inexpensive plastic tank with no gravel or plants to keep your new fish in to make sure they're healthy. Then add fish gradually so you don't get so many fish in your aquarium that ammonia problems arise, which can result in some or all of your fish dying. A good rule for the number of fish, is to have a maximum of one inch of fish for every gallon of water. Therefore, a 48-gallon tank could handle up to 48 inches of fish. Note! Fish grow. Before purchasing fish, check with the pet store you are buying them from to find out how big they will be when full grown. Overcrowding your tank will cause a lot of problems and spoil the fun of having an aquarium.

4. Take care of your fish by choosing them wisely. Not every fish is compatible with every other fish; so don't purchase fish that won't get along well together just because they're attractive. You'll be sorry if you do. A friend of mom’s did this. Three days later he only had his new attractive fish in the tank. It had eaten all the rest. Pet store staff should be able to tell you if the fish you are looking at is a candidate for a community tank (one with a variety of different fish in it). If they can’t, then go to a different store to buy your fish.

Educate yourself about fish at your local pet store before you make your purchases. You will want to learn what your new fish is like and what its habits are so you'll know how to take care of it. You'll also need to learn if it is compatible with your other fish. Check with the pet store to see if there is an aquarium club in the area. If there is, join it. You will meet a lot of knowledgeable fish enthusiasts at the club. They will gladly help you out and answer all your questions. Aquarium club members frequently have fish to sell or give away, so you can frequently get some good quality fish at very reasonable prices. Also, having someone you can call when you have a problem is invaluable.

5. Be sure that you don't give your fish too much to eat. One of the most common causes of fish dying prematurely in aquariums is overfeeding them. A good rule is to only put enough food in the tank so that your fish can eat it all in two minutes, with none settling on the bottom of the tank. It is much better to under feed your fish than overfeeding them. Provide a little variety in the diet of your fish. Just like you, your fish won’t be happy eating the same food every day of the week. Pet store clerks should be able to help you out in this regard. If they can’t, members of the aquarium club certainly will.

Now that you've read these five simple tips to help you successfully raise fish in your home, be sure to put these tips into practice. Then have fun as these marvelous creatures entertain you.

Until next time,

Teia

PS. The tank shown above is too deep. Mom had a lot of trouble getting the water to circulate properly and as a result, polutants from fish waste built up regularly causing the fish to become ill. She finally solved the problem by putting extensions on the intake tubes to the filters. In this way she drew in the water to be filtered from the bottom of the tank and emptied the filtered water into the top. Once she did this, her fish remained healthy and the tank ended up being in biological balance. She never had this sort of problem with her 48 gallon tanks.

PPS. When buying a tank over 10 gallons, always buy a tank with thick walls. The glass should be one-quarter of an inch thick or thicker. There is much less chance of the glass breaking and spilling a large volume of water onto your floor. Also, the pressure of the water will not make the sides of your tank bulge out. If this happens, your tank cover will not fit properly and your glass will always be under stress.