Obesity in Dogs? An Article by Robert Abady

     Maybe it's past my bedtime, but that article made absolutely no sense to me.

     Is the author seriously trying to imply that a dog's body will regulate itself & will stop eating/therefore not gain excess weight on a calorie dense diet? Overfeeding and lack of exercize (and in some cases thyroid deficiencies) create obesity. While carbo loaded foods obviously don't help the situation, a dog is nto going to reach the level of obesity if his rations are being regulated. But honestly, very difficult to respond to this article because it just rambled on and did not back up it's claims with facts. What self regulating mechanism prevents dogs from ingesting more calories then they require? Dogs are scavengers. They will literally eat themselves to death if given the chance.

"Based on these assumptions, Big Industry has flooded the market with a multitude of high-fibre, high carbohydrate, low-quality weight reduction roducts which bring about weight loss by drastically lowering the dog's intake of available calories and nutrients. the high level of fibre included in these products, according to the Big Industry, serves a dual purposes, it induces a feeling of fullness, while it reduces nutrients availability. These solutions to the problem of obesity can aggravate the already serious metabolic disorders potentially causing untold damage to dogs. "

 Umm, come again...?  I agree with Hound - this makes no sense. If dogs cannot possibly ingest more calories than they require... why are they obese in the first place BEFORE they are placed on the "high-fiber, high carbohydrate, low-quality weight.." foods?

 "Obviously they cannot"... yet I see them all the time, another question for the ages
 

Just a few articles from pubmed, there are hundreds more http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17567509?ordinalpos=26&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16772464?ordinalpos=78&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

Let me guess your response that "the industry" forced these brilliant scientists to write what they want right?

Why exactly does Abady think that obesity is such a big problem with companion animals? Nice avatar charlie, that explains a lot too

Why am I hearing music from the twilight zone? dee, dee, dee... This entire article makes NO sense at all.  None.

cc431

 It is a scientific fact that dogs consume only the amount of food needed to deliver the number of calories they require.

 Ok, so what this article is saying is that if my dog only needs 1500 calories per day.  He will only eat those 1500 calories?  I would definitely like to meet the "scientist" who determined that, because if I allowed access, my dog would eat an entire bag at one sitting.  Maybe, it's just Bevo who eats like that...

BEVOLASVEGAS

Why am I hearing music from the twilight zone? dee, dee, dee... This entire article makes NO sense at all.  None.

cc431

 It is a scientific fact that dogs consume only the amount of food needed to deliver the number of calories they require.

 Ok, so what this article is saying is that if my dog only needs 1500 calories per day.  He will only eat those 1500 calories?  I would definitely like to meet the "scientist" who determined that, because if I allowed access, my dog would eat an entire bag at one sitting.  Maybe, it's just Bevo who eats like that...

 

 

Amanda.. add JJ, Pru and every dog I have ever met to your list there... sorry Charlie.. I aint buying any of it.  

That article contradicts itself in logic.  Dogs are obese because they consume more calories than they need.  Yet this article claims they have a "self-regulating mechanism" that prevents this.  How does this mechanism get shut off then in dogs who are obese?  Or is this claiming that there is no such thing as an obese dog - that those lard-laden landsharks we see rolling down the sidewalks really NEED all those extra calories they're storing in their pendulously swaying guts??  MMMmm - I bet those 12 hour naps on the couch require great fat reserves....

It was a wonderful article..    I even read some more..... 

And am convinced Mr.  Abady  (cc431)   believes what he writes. But he goes about it all wrong..

All he had to say was that dogs being fed commercial diets today are undernourished.  That Robert Abady foods supply more important proteins, fats and minerals to make your dog perform better.

This man  believes  in his food.

At this point with Evo, NV Instinct, Orijen , etc that have such high protein levels I don't know what is right anymore. I am getting a headache  !  

miranadobe

That article contradicts itself in logic.  Dogs are obese because they consume more calories than they need.  Yet this article claims they have a "self-regulating mechanism" that prevents this.  How does this mechanism get shut off then in dogs who are obese?  Or is this claiming that there is no such thing as an obese dog - that those lard-laden landsharks we see rolling down the sidewalks really NEED all those extra calories they're storing in their pendulously swaying guts??  MMMmm - I bet those 12 hour naps on the couch require great fat reserves....

Well put.

I'm gonna have a talk with Kiara about this later....Gonna read her the article and tell her to stop stealing food!! It's not what all these normal dogs do in this "scientific study" She must be a rare breed of dog since I'm pretty sure she would eat till she popped then start all over again!

OK, so if I'd been feeding Lady the buff cocker who only LOOKED like a tootsie roll on legs, she wouldn't have stolen every bit of food in sight??  She wouldn't have waited until my squash and zuchinni were JUST the right size before stealing and consuming them from the garden?

Some dogs flat don't have a shut off mechanism, regardless of what they are fed.

Mr. Abady has never meet my beagle (nor, I suspect, any other beagle)!

The lack of logic in the article is actually quite amazing.

I have read this before on numerous very reputable sites, Purina and IAM's also state the same thing, they even site some studies, but I can't reconcile this with obese dogs, I think we are missing something but I am not sure what.

I found this regarding cats self regulating there food intake.

The trend of feeding dried food (biscuit, kibble) is also a contributory factor. Dried food is energy dense. A small amount contains all the calories a cat needs. Unfortunately, this small amount is not filling. Although the cat has eaten enough calories, it continues to feel hungry because its stomach has only registered a small amount of food (the stomach has "stretch" receptors that detect bulk). So it begs for more or it goes scavenging or begging elsewhere in order to fill its stomach so it feels full. The solution is a "light" diet where the biscuits contain fewer calories. The problem is that dried food is convenient for owners, but cats are not designed to eat dried food alone. They are designed to eat prey that is less energy dense than the convenient kibble provided by the owner. Canned food is much bulkier and the cat feels full much earlier. 

cc431

 It is a scientific fact that dogs consume only the amount of food needed to deliver the number of calories they require. Calories are the body's fuel, they needed to fuel growth and reproduction. Animals must receive the number of calories they require to run all of their bodily functions and to fuel the production of all of its tissues and processes. When energy is undersupplied in a ration, the body will use the energy reserved for tissue-building to make up for the shortfall, potentially damaging the body.
A self-regulating mechanism prevents dogs from ingesting more calories than they require over the long-haul. Based on these incontestable scientific facts, how can dogs become obese as a result of the over ingestion of calories. Obviously, they cannot. 

Complete article found here: http://www.geocities.com/abadysingapore/weight_reduction.htm

CC.

ROFLMAO!!!!!!!!    That article references no study, and obviously the author has never seen a dog eat his way through a 40lb bag of food, and possibly has never been around a dog at all.