Why a Healthy Weight Matters for Your Pet
Keeping your pet in a healthy weight range is important for their long-term health and wellbeing. Just like us humans, managing a healthy weight can be crucial for long term health and wellbeing. Being overweight or underweight can give rise to several health complications that can significantly impact their life span and could lead to higher vet bills for us pet owners.
Each pet has a unique, ideal weight based on a number of factors, such as; breed, age, sex and size – there isn’t a “one size fits all” approach we can take when it comes to keeping our pets at the ideal weight. It is recommended to consult your vet to help identify the best approach you can take for your pet.
Weight, Health and Life Expectancy
According to the veterinary charity PDSA, around 46% of dogs are considered obese, with a large number of pet owners being unaware of their pet’s body condition score – a system that helps determine their ideal weight. Not maintaining a healthy weight can give rise to a number of health conditions like, arthritis, diabetes, heart disease and cancers. As well as physical symptoms, poor weight management can leave our pets feeling anxious, depressed and make them less energetic and playful.
On the other hand, a healthy weight can help boost energy levels, happiness and mobility. Knowing your pets weight is something every pet owner should know as it can support their growth and development and can assist us when implementing dietary and exercise plans.
How you can weigh your pet at home
Weighing your pet at home can be quick and easy and can provide both you and your vet with beneficial data to support their long-term care and wellbeing. GPS trackers for pets Like Pawfit allow you to log weight changes on your smartphone revealing subtle weight changes which that may go unnoticed as we go about our daily lives. These subtle changes can help to identify any underlying health conditions, or to support their diet and activity management.
Recording our pet’s weight can be extremely easy requiring only a set of bathroom scales and a simple calculation. You can find out more about how to weigh your pet at home here.
How to Track Your Pet’s Weight and Spot Changes Early
Once you have identified your pet’s current weight, you can log it using the weight tracking feature in the Pawfit app. This feature allows you to set their target weight (provided by a vet) and can help you monitor changes in their weight over time.
Taking regular weight measurements and submitting them in the app allows you to visualise fluctuations across the week, the month, or the year. Additionally, the app will send you notifications to alert you of any sudden increases or decreases in weight.
Importance of regular exercise
Alongside proper nutrition, regularly exercising your pet is one of best tools for weight management. Regular exercise is essential for our pets to maintain both their physical and mental health. Exercise also reduces stress and can help prevent destructive behaviours. Not to mention it also dramatically improves the health and quality of life of our beloved companions.
Pawfit’s activity monitoring can help you to see how active your pets are during their day, shows resting times, calories burnt and progress towards daily fitness goals. Using smart trackers like this can add some fun and creativity how our pets time spent outdoors and great at helping us keep track of how our pet are doing.
Tracking our pet’s weight is a simple action that can have a huge impact in ensuring our pets live happy and healthy lives. It’s important to consult your vet to help outline the best diet, fitness, and health outcomes. With these insights and a bit of determination we can ensure our pets live a happy, healthy and fulfilling life.
Pawfit is here to support this vision every step of the way!
