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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To wonder why petlovers overfeed?

87 replies

Ummmmgogo · 12/03/2017 11:29

Aibu to wonder why it is considered funny to shorten your pets life by overfeeding it? Why is making an animal fat funny but starving it is abuse? This is not a taat but is a bit inspired by other threads on here, and a bit inspired by the endless pictures of fat miserable pets I see uploaded to the internet. Surely responsible pet ownership is about giving your pet a long healthy and happy life? Can anyone help me to understand why people who would be up in arms at the idea of a dog being rehomed are cool with the idea of it being unable to have a happy and fulfilling life and dying early? I'm not a pet lover just something I was wondering on a boring Sunday.

OP posts:
Owllady · 12/03/2017 12:44

Set up a secret camera MissDallas.....could she be finishing off the other ones food?
I think that was happening in one of the secret camera houses

eddiemairswife · 12/03/2017 12:44

It's the way that they look at you with those pleading eyes. I have a rescue cat who is constantly after food, but I am very hard hearted; my son stayed for a few months and was constantly feeding her 'because she's hungry' and by the time he left she had quite a round little stomach. She is now back to her normal thin self.

AHedgehogCanNeverBeBuggered · 12/03/2017 12:46

No amount of reduction in his food will make him any less than 36.5kg

Sorry Mard but that's demonstrably bollocks. If he ate less of course he'd lose weight, you are clearly still over-feeding him or he's getting fed elsewhere. Perhaps you've lost sight of what a normal portion looks like? Could your DH or DC be giving him treats on the sly? Is he hoovering up leftovers?

gamerwidow · 12/03/2017 12:48

It is very hard to stop a fat cat from stuffing themselves unless you keep them indoors all the time. My cat has had tiny portions of (really bloody expensive) calorie controlled dry food for the last 5 years to try to curb his weight. He is if anything fatter than ever. I don't know what else we could do other than stop feeding him altogether?

Ummmmgogo · 12/03/2017 12:50

Thank you for all the responses. It's been quite enlightening so far.

As a pp noted, fat cats seem to be "funnier" than most other animals. I really don't know why!

OP posts:
Thefitfatty · 12/03/2017 12:50

Long periods of actual starvation can mess up humans metabolism, so I don't think it's silly to assume that it will mess up an animals as well. In addition, I do wonder if rescues or animals that were strays might not have been exposed to something that causes long term issues. Feline herpes blinded my kitty, I wonder what else it did?

AnUtterIdiot · 12/03/2017 13:01

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

IAmAGnu · 12/03/2017 13:28

My local FB group gets regular pics of perfectly normal sized cats with captions saying "does this cat belong to anyone? Seems very thin and is hanging around my house for food".

Inevitably they end up feeding the cat and the cat happily trots off to another 5 houses before going home for dinner.

And then it gets fat.

burdog · 12/03/2017 13:30

I'm proud that my golden retriever is perfectly lean. It feels like we feed her LOADS as well.

WatcherOfTheNight · 12/03/2017 13:38

I think a lot of pet obesity is down to manufacturers using crap ingredients & marketing it as healthy.
Half the crap that goes into commercial pet food has no business being there,it's not nutritional & is purely added to bulk up the pets stomach/firm stools.
A lot of owners do not weigh food out,relying on the eye to judge leads to over feeding the majority of time.

Also,the label states that the amounts on the packet are only a guideline,most pets don't need anywhere near the amount advised on the pack. Plus If owners are feeding near the top range then you buy more of the product,win win for the brand!

We get stopped so often when out with our dogs & asked what we feed them,people are so used to seeing fat dogs they seem surprised by those who are a healthy weight.
One of ours is near the highest of the guidelines for his type/weight & the other is near the lower.
Plus we weigh out their food into tubs every few days.
Dogs just like people vary on what they require.

HerOtherHalf · 12/03/2017 13:45

It's not just the feeding but the lack of exercise. I despair at the number of owners in my area, the majority of them, who think a mile or two walking at slow human pace twice a day is remotely adequate for their dogs.

PageNowFoundFileUnderSpartacus · 12/03/2017 13:47

Ha, Watcher, we're weigh-outers too and PageDog is now conditioned to think he's going to be fed every time he hears the scales pan being put on the base. Makes him a proper nuisance underfoot when I'm baking!

Wallywobbles · 12/03/2017 14:30

I have a springer that goes round to our neighbor and has his own bucket of milk with the calves in the morning.

Medeci · 12/03/2017 14:35

My lab's got the 'obesity gene". He was part of this research (guardian link).
Its a huge effort to keep him at the right weight, he's 28kg.
He's raw fed, never gets treats. I give him his food and it's gone in 2 seconds and he looks so sad about it.
He spends all his time on walks looking for food, not interested in running or chasing balls unless he's bribed with food so I have to take some of his daily allowance for this.
He even manages to grab stuff when on the lead, banana skins, dead pigeon etc impossible to get it off him because its gone in one gulp.

Armadillostoes · 12/03/2017 14:42

I am trying to give you the benefit of the doubt OP. Obviously, over feeding an animal is not funny. However, I have a dog with a medical condition which means that her weight is a problem. The vet agrees with the strict feeding and exercise regime she is on and that there is nothing more which can/should be done. The thought of randoms seeing me out with her and assuming that I am stupid or careless really hurts. If people really are over-feeding judge away, but making assumptions is just nasty.

LucklessMonster · 12/03/2017 15:56

When my cat's kidneys were failing, I put him on a veterinary renal diet. He hated the renal food. Every evening he sat in front of me and yowled because he was hungry, and it broke my heart because my choice was to leave him hungry or feed him something that would harm his health. He died six months later from a tumour and I still hate that his last few months were made miserable on that diet.

Now we have two cats - one a perfect weight, one very overweight. The overweight one eats less than the slim one, and is obviously eating at other people's houses. The vet said if we cut her food down any more, she'll just spend more time wherever else she's eating. So she stays overweight.

So I find it very hard to judge people who give their pets too much nice food or too many treats.

MardAsSnails · 12/03/2017 16:34

Hedgehog

His food gets weighed every meal. He has no treats (apart from ice cubes which he loves, and I'm fairly certain they have no calories).

I have no DC. DH does not feed the dogs. Ever. This is so that their intake can be monitored, having had multiple rescues with various medical conditions, we find it easier that only one person is responsible for giving any form of food so that this can be controlled and any health patterns can be monitored against food intake.

4 months of reduced levels of one food. Vet told us for his weight not to go below a certain weight of food. We tried different food. Same result. We've tried home prepared food and raw diets rather than any commercial stuff. Similar issue.

As all this is being monitored by our vets, I'm fairly certain that this is not, in fact, bollocks. And if you'd ever met DH you'd know there were never leftovers Grin

I'm sure if I gave him 150g of food a day he would lose weight so in a way I suppose you're correct. Just like saying if a human ate only 200 calories a day we would lose weight. Its unsustainable and unhealthy in the long run. What I'm talking about is a level of food giving him the minimum requirement, and following the vets guidance on the minimum. We went below this once for around 10 days, not by much, maybe by around 50g of food. He became lethargic and sluggish (and no, not just sad because he's hungry), and his other conditions worsened, and it was a couple of weeks until his bowel and skin flareups settled themselves down and I got a bollocking from the vet . He probably wouldn't have been a fat lab, but I'd rather him be slightly overweight than him becoming worse with other problems, something which is agreed by my vets.

I spend significantly longer dealing with my dogs' diets than mine and DHs, because they don't have a choice and its up to us to make sure they get what they need, whereas if I want a burger for tea, that's my own decision.

He also ends up on steroids every so often, which if we're not quick off the mark reducing his food he'll gain weight, but will always return to the same weight afterwards.

Goes to prove the point I made upthread - its not always as simple as everyone thinks. I'm wondering if he may be one with the 'fat' gene mentioned by Medeci and the study.

In contrast, our recently departed girl was half his weight and could not keep weight on. She was on double his food, just to keep her from being too underweight. Slight reduction in food and she could lose half a kg in a day or two, which isn't good for an 18kg dog (who's ideal weight for breed and size should have been 21kg). She had an incredibly high metabolism that was equally difficult to manage, and I'm sure I had people judging me just as often when walking her when she was having a skinny week.

EmeraldScorn · 12/03/2017 16:46

My dogs do get extra food, I'll admit to that but they aren't overweight because they are taken on long walks with lots of running around twice a day.

They love food, their own food and human food but they are healthy and loved. I don't think it's anyone's business to judge to be honest. There's a black Labrador who lives near me and his daddy is an elderly man, the dog is a little overweight but it's very obvious that he is much loved by the old man - I would imagine that the dog just isn't getting exercised enough probably because the man isn't able for it. That's not neglect or bad ownership in my opinion!

Alfieisnoisy · 12/03/2017 16:50

The tortoise does not get overfed...he hates me but I do make sure he has the right foods etc.

The turtles on the other hand actively beg whenever I go near their tank Grinthey get an occasional extra dried shrimp which they take from my hand,

The cats don't get over fed...and despite what they say they are not underfed either.

geordiedench · 12/03/2017 17:03

It's not always clear cut. Our cat was 'sturdy' - a bit overweight, even though we fed him exactly what the vet suggested. Turned out he'd been doing the rounds of other local cats' homes and polishing off their dinner for them. He had a reputation among our neighbours. When two sets of neighbours changed their cat flaps so he couldn't access his mates' dinner anymore, his weight went down to normal.

StillMedusa · 12/03/2017 17:15

I have two slim cats..in fact one is bordering underweight, and one who is frankly quite fat..
They are fed the same but their personalities are VERY different. The thin one is very picky and not very interested in food, the slim one eats if she is hungry and leaves the rest. The fat one will, given a chance, eat his, eat theirs and I know for a fact that he eats at two more houses! If we feed him less here he eats more elsewhere. He is very greedy.We have asked neighbours not to give in to him but he is very persuasive.
The vet is well aware of this and isn't very concerned but when we had to have him clippered short in the summer (he is a Maine Coon and is not good about being groomed either!) his belly was frankly embarrassing!

I have had cats for 40+ years and this is my first fatty!

Borntoflyinfirst · 12/03/2017 17:17

Like a pp I have a fat lab. He's currently on hugely expensive prescription food the help him lose weight. However try as we might HE doesn't seem to realise the benefits of losing a few kilos and is constantly on the lookout for food. He's tall enough to reach the far side of my work surfaces and even on top of the microwave/toaster so occasionally does find himself a treat from there. We do our best to keep food out of his way but he's fast as lightening when he wants to be. We are not abusing him. He has long walks and is otherwise fit.

iloveuihateu · 12/03/2017 17:23

I agree TBH....I very, very rarely give my four cats snacks of any kind.

The fact that they go crazy about Dreamies just makes me think they must be pretty bad for them (I call them Cat Crack).

So my cats just have the recommended amount of food supplemented occasionally by a bit of chicken/meat/fish (by which I mean a couple of mouthfuls at most) from leftovers or licking an empty yogurt pot.

Other people say my cats are 'skinny' but in actual fact they are the perfect weight and every vet we've seen always says so.

A lot of people show love through food....I don't even think they realise they're doing it like my DM who is an absolute feeder

iloveuihateu · 12/03/2017 17:28

I however am morbidly obese.

MiaowTheCat · 12/03/2017 17:54

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.