Over 45 million cats and dogs in the United States are considered overweight.

There’s no difference in how a human gains weight or how your pets gain weight. Too much caloric intake and not enough physical activity equal weight gain.

Healthy Pet Nation.com provides charts that show how many calories are burned as a result of common activities such as walking, jogging or strenuous playing with your pet.

Pet Exercise Tips Take your dog to the tennis court with you to retrieve your tennis balls or if they don’t know how to retrieve, let them just chase your serves.

Let your dog be your running partner! Bring them for all or part of your daily run.

Take your dog to the park throw a hard rubber pet exercise ball for your pet to chase after makes a great fun workout.

Cats are a lot more difficult because they are mostly indoor pets. Appeal to their hunting instinct by hiding treats and toys around the house. Give them multi level climbing ramps and hang play balls full of catnip at the top.

Pet feeding Tips and suggestions

Avoid feeding table scraps and snacks while you’re eating. Your pet will start developing bad eating habits and will tend to overeat. In addition, it will prevent your pet from eating their nutritionally well-balanced foods. Many dogs and cats love eggs, fruits and vegetables, so mixing these types of foods with your pet’s meals at times as a treat is fine. Remember, everything in moderation!

Don’t let your animal "help" with food prep. Keep 'em in a different area of the house while preparing and eating meals, especially if you over indulge them with table scraps.

The goal of Healthy Pet Nation Program is to eradicate this devastating problem by being pro-active and by using preventative measures. The key to success is by properly educating both children and adults how to take proper care of their pets.

Operation Fitness created the "Healthy Pet Nation Program" and established an elite team of health experts that conduct seminars at pet stores throughout the country. It is just as important to focus on preventing obesity, as it is to alleviating this rapidly growing disease affecting our nation.

 

 

 

Playing with your cat is the simplest way to maintain your cat's overall health. Playtime helps increase metabolism, minimize weight gain, and boost circulation. To get your housebound kitty moving, try these CatAge-approved exercise activities:

Follow the Leader: If your cat likes to follow you, lead him or her on a walk through the house. Don't stop moving until your pet stops. Climb stairs or walk from room to room. This playful, low-impact exercise routine will benefit both of you.

Hide and Seek: Awaken curiosity and reward ingenuity in your inquisitive cat by hiding treats inside a favorite cat toy or in unexpected locations around your home. The thrill of this treasure hunt will get your cat moving.

Natural Instinct: Channel your pet's pouncing instinct by providing tempting prey made of noisy crumpled paper or colorful cat toys. Shoelaces can be stalked as they're dragged across the floor, and "cat-fishing" with feathers attached to a wooden rod can inspire very aerobic cat-acrobatics.

Home Alone: Left alone, many cats would happily sleep until your return. Encourage solo exercise by offering an irresistible challenge. Safely stacked-up books or sturdy boxes become a jungle gym leading to a favorite perch. Noisy, colorful cat toys reserved only for special occasions provide distracting fun while you are away.

Coming when called is perhaps one of the most important exercises that your dog needs to learn as it is not only useful but essential for his/her safety. The following are some exercises to strengthen and instill this behavior.

Home Exercises:

It is important to begin teaching the recall in a low distraction environment as the behavior is more likely to occur and thus be rewarded. The dog's own house also provides a familiar and safe environment whereby to begin.

1. Stand facing the dog, say ‘come' and back away about 8 feet while clapping your hands and praising the dog as he approaches. Stop, ask the dog to sit, gently take the collar and give him a treat. Once successful at 8 feet, increase the distance to 10 feet etc...

2. Call the dog from a distance of 8 feet. Praise him as he comes toward you. Stop, ask the dog to sit, gently take the collar and give him a treat. If the dog does not come or shows indications of not coming, give a verbal reprimand such as ‘ah ah ah ah' while going to get him. Take him gently by the collar and bring him to the spot where you called him from. Ask for a sit, take the collar and reward with a food treat. Increase your distance as reliability increases.

Change the activity by doing a recall through your legs. As the dog arrives, toss a ball or other toy through your legs. This will increase the dogs motivation to come to you. Alternate the exercises to keep him guessing as to whether you'll throw something through your legs as the reward or give a food treat for a sit!

3. Send the dog between two or three different persons in a room. Each person calls the dog, one at a time and asks for a sit on arrival, takes the collar and then rewards. That person then tells the dog to ‘go see (name of person)' The next person then calls the dog to him/her.

4. Call the dog ‘fido come' from different rooms within the house. If dog comes, does a sit and allows you to take his collar then give a food treat. If the dog chooses not to come, make sure you go and get him and gently bring him to the spot where you called from, ask for a sit and then reward.

5. Other exercises that can be done are as follows: Have one person with the dog's meal and call the dog toward you. If dog comes, then food bowl is put down as the reward.

Any situation whereby there is eagerness on the part of the dog, such as going out the door, getting a chewie treat etc.. are invaluable to do a recall away from. The reward then becomes entrance out the door or getting the chewie..

6. Once your dog can do all of the above exercises with good reliability, try practicing at other people's homes.

Outdoor Exercises:

1. If you have a fenced in backyard, have the dog on leash and practice your recalls by calling the dog toward you while you back up. Use plenty of praise. Ask for a sit, take the collar and food reward. Once he is reliable ‘on leash' you can practice the exercise ‘off leash'.

2. When walking the dog, turn around and call the dog toward you while you back up. Use plenty of praise. Ask for a sit, take the collar and food reward.

3. Take a long section of clothesline and attach firmly to the dogs collar. Go to an open area with no other distractions. Call the dog and praise as he is coming toward you. If he deters and does not respond, go get him and gently bring him back to the spot where you originally did the recall. Ask for a sit, take the collar and treat. Do not drag the dog toward you by the line. You want the dog to associate the experience as being pleasurable not unpleasant.

4. Once he is reliable in the above exercises, add more distractions. For example go to places where there may be other dogs or people. Repeat the same procedure.

5. Go to enclosed areas where you can safely have the dog off leash. Repeat the above by starting off with no distractions. Once reliable, add distraction.

6. Call your dog off a moving target such as a ball. Begin by doing so while on leash. Roll the ball and as he begins to go toward it, say ‘fido come' and praise and treat when the dog sits in front of you. Do not allow the dog to get to the ball as he will be reinforced for ‘not' listening to you. Once reliable, practice ‘off leash'. As mentioned in the home exercises, any situation whereby there is eagerness on the part of the dog, such as going into the dog run or park, are invaluable to do a recall away from. The reward then becomes entrance to those areas.

Remember the following:

a) the more you practice in all environments, the better and stronger the recall.

b) provide the verbal feedback the dog requires. Praise him throughout his coming toward you and 'verbally mark' him when he does not respond by saying 'ah ah ah'.

c) use ‘novel' food rewards along with praise. Extra special treats that the dog doesn't normally get such as liver treats, small pieces of cut up slightly cooked beef etc..

d) go slowly, don't expect too much too soon. Initially keep dog on leash and distractions at a minimum. Only progress when the dog reliably ‘comes' on leash before doing ‘off leash' exercises.

e) as with all training, make it fun for both you and the dog. Don't train when frustrated or in a bad mood. Keep training sessions short and pleasurable.

f) while continuing to verbally praise, begin to decrease the amount of food rewards by asking for two recalls for 1 treat, then 3 recalls for 1 treat etc.. Do not begin to do this until recalls are quite reliable. Do not have high expectations. Do this gradually over weeks.

g) make it happen. If you ask for a 'come' and the dog chooses not to, it is up to you to get the dog and bring him to where you originally called.

Just like humans, domesticated animals like dogs and cats are affected by the health hazards of modern living. Pollution, poor nutrition, stress and unhealthy lifestyles can lead to a variety of illnesses and conditions that are very similar to those experienced by humans.

These days, emotional and psychological problems like depression, anxiety, ADHD and behavioral problems are just as prevalent in pets as they are in their owners. Similarly, physical ailments such as diabetes, arthritis, chronic fatigue, digestive disorders, cystitis, kidney and liver disease, skin disorders, obesity, thyroid dysfunction and other problems are becoming more and more common in domesticated animals.

Many, if not most of these conditions can be prevented by helping your pets to live a healthier lifestyle. For pets already suffering from existing conditions, a combination of lifestyle changes and natural medicine can work wonders!

While it has its place, conventional medicine for animals and 'modern technology' have failed our pets in many ways. Most holistic veterinarians and animal health care professions list annual vaccinations and commercial pet foods as the major contributory cause in the rising rates of chronic illness in pets today.

Similarly, Michael Torchia, points out that contrary to the belief that mass vaccination and antibiotic use will contribute to a decrease in disease, the opposite has in fact proved true. Like their human counterparts, today's pets are becoming more and more vulnerable to chronic disease and ill health. This has led many veterinarians to search for alternatives and to utilize more holistic methods of keeping our pets healthy.

"In the wild, animals instinctively seek out healing herbs to help them when they are ill or undernourished. In fact, Asclepius, the ancient Greek god of medicine, respected dogs very highly for their ability to seek out and eat medicinal herbs in the wild. This ability is shared by other animals, including cats. We are coming to realize that nature often has the answers - but animals have always known this! Natural medicine can help your pet just as it can help you. While there is always a place for conventional veterinary medicine, natural medicine can compliment conventional veterinary care and in many cases cure your pets just as well - without the side effects and damage to health that can accompany synthetic drugs and antibiotics. I have applied the same care and research that have gone into our Native Remedies range for adults and children to the development of pet-friendly, safe and effective natural remedies for animals. As always, all remedies are formulated to the highest therapeutic standards and manufactured under strict pharmaceutical conditions for your peace of mind and the well being of your pets. " Michael Torchia".

"When a veterinary surgeon practices the use of homeopathic medicine and is asked why he does so, he may give one of several answers. The simple answer would be that the results are good, an emphatic answer would be that homeopathic treatment has no unpleasant or dangerous side effects, while still achieving successful results.