Mike
Carruthers:
Being
overweight isn't just a human epidemic in this country; our pets
have the same problem.
Dr. Karen Halligan:
Forty percent of pets are overweight or obese - that
will definitely shorten your life span. The statistics are that
pets that are lean live fifteen percent longer than pets that
are overweight.
Veterinarian
Dr. Karen Halligan, author of the book What
Every Pet Owner Should Know, says food just isn't a big
deal to dogs and cats unless we pet owners make it a big deal.
Dogs have seventeen
hundred taste buds, cats have about four fifty - humans have
nine thousand taste buds. Food should be used just to maintain
their normal body weight and to get adequate nutrition.
Dr. Halligan
says it's important to feed pets pet food not people food.
Some of the big
ones: I say no on bones, no on cheese, chocolate is bad, grapes
and raisins cause kidney failure.
It's important
to brush your pet's teeth but use pet toothpaste, not human
toothpaste.
Eighty percent
of dogs and seventy percent of cats have some form of gum disease
by the time they're three. If you don't take care of their teeth
it will absolutely shorten their life span. It's just like when
you don't brush your teeth for a couple of days, your teeth
feel awful - imagine years of not brushing your teeth.
You can link
to Dr. Halligan's website
from ours: somethingyoushouldknow.net
I'm Mike Carruthers and that's Something You Should Know.
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