PetLvr.com - [The Blog]

Dear PetLvr Mailbag,

My 4 month old kitten totally dominates my 8 year old Australian Shepherd.

The kitten, Freckles, is 4 months old. She’ll walk up to the dog, Luke, and he’ll freeze in panic. She’ll rub around his legs, purr, snuggle against him, and he’ll stand in one place with the most pathetic look you’re ever seen on a dog’s face.

Dinner time? If she’s in the same room, she runs to his dish and starts to eat his food, even if he’s already there. She’ll whap him on the nose, and start to eat his food. The kibbles are bigger than her mouth, but she’ll chew on one until it’s eaten, and them move on to another one. It’ll be a good 15 minutes of this before she’s finished and the dog can eat.

And no, I don’t under-feed her. She’s got a dish of her own Iams kitten kibble that’s kept full at all times.

Is my dog just a big wuss, or is there more to it than I’m seeing?

Signed,

Erich

More →

Sitting patiently by your side, your dog nuzzles your thigh and scooches closer to the kitchen table. His sniffing gets frantic as if he is trying to create a vacuum to suck up your evening dinner. You say “no” in a firm voice, but he can’t resist the smells coming from your dish so a bark escapes from his mouth, which ends in a whine. He looks up at you with those pleading eyes-how can you resist? Just a crumb of bread and taste of hamburger won’t hurt, right? But over time that crumb and taste turns into an entire portion or maybe even a double portion. Before you know it, your dog or cat is too heavy and tired to move and its face is hidden in the rolls bulging from its neck.

Maybe you think you have more self-control than that, but approximately 500,000 pets have become obese, and there has been a 10% increase since the previous year. Although you and your pet receive immediate satisfaction from extra treats, the long-term affects can be lethal to your pet’s well being. Obese pets often suffer from respiratory problems such as asthma as well as other ailments like arthritis, heart disease, diabetes, liver problems, etc.

More →