One of the major diseases to emerge this century has to be obesity, and this problem isn't exclusively human - pets are often horribly obese. As we age it is easier to get fat. I have found that since my 30th birthday, my relatively stable weight of the past two decades isn't so stable anymore. My daily routine of eating and exercise has not changed, but as I have aged it would seem my metabolism has slowed down as well; I seem to put on those extra kilograms much quicker than before.
The same applies to a dog or cat. There are two dangerous periods when weight gain occurs quickly and can get out of control. The first is around the age of one, when the growth spurt during puberty slows down and instead of growing bigger your pet just grows fatter with more food, especially if you continue to give puppy food at puppy amounts.
During the first six months of your pet's life, it eats more than it ever will and it is not unusual for a puppy or kitten to double its weight in six weeks.
It is ironic that during this first few months of extreme growth, owners tend to give too little food and malnutrition occurs. Many new owners have the misconception that, like goldfish, overfeeding will cause problems, and some are even silly enough to think that eating more produces more excrement and hence by feeding less, less mess is produced.
I debunk such falsehoods by challenging owners to imagine doubling their own weight in six weeks. I don't recommend trying it, but you can imagine you have to pretty much eat constantly to do this.
When a dog or cat reaches around six to seven months of age, much of the growth spurt of puberty has slowed drastically and this is when owners need to decrease the amount of food, which often doesn't happen. This is the first dangerous phase of a dog or cat's life where obesity can creep in.
There is a myth that this weight gain is caused by the neutering surgery that is coincidentally best done at this age. Neutering will cause mild weight gain, just like when people quit smoking or start taking birth control pills, but that alone will not cause obesity.
