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Every living being at some point of time seeks food to eat, so does your pet. Provided food in abundance than required is called overfeeding.
This might lead to several alarming results which you wouldn’t want if you own a pet. Even to the point that it could become a habit until it’s too late to stop.
Stop Pet from Overeating
In some cases, the severity reaches so high that a vet is required to be consulted especially during bloat. To stop a pet from overfeeding the below article will help you learn titbits of feeding your pet properly.
Reasons for Overeating and Overfeeding
All we can guess about eating habits is “eating is always the result of hunger”, right? But it is not true most of the times. Humans, as well as animals, consume food depending on variables such as mood, surroundings, health, taste, time, etc.
For better understanding, let’s say eating is a complex habit which is governed by several factors. Some of those are stated below:-
#1 Boredom
An article stated that animals tend to crave more in the boresome situation, otherwise some animals are more vibrant than humans that they’ve never learned to be lazy.
Reason for the boredom is increasing hectic working hours of the pet owners which leads to lack of attention for the pet. In that case, when animals are deprived of companionship, they start eating more often than they need.
#2 Central Nervous System failure
Central Nervous System (CNS) failure is a condition where the animal is incapable of control the senses and actions due to the nervous system breakdown which controls the motor actions of the organs. To cut a long story short, the signals to stop eating when the stomach is full are not processed and sent to the brain via the nervous system.
#3 Starvation
Starvation is a state where hunger reaches to the extent where a creature doesn’t have enough energy to sustain. In that condition, it becomes difficult to stop when food is available to the starved, which leads to overeating.
Note: Malnutrition may also cause overeating because quantity is consumed instead of quality food.
#4 Abundant meals
Many generous owners feed their pets more than required. Animals begging for food are cute but don’t fall for their cuteness because you might be feeding an unhealthy habit to your pet.
#5 Stress
Like humans, animals go through stress due to improper habitat, lack of companionship, lack of affection, improper diet, noisy conditions, etc. This leads to overeating, deterioration of metabolism, obesity and many more.
Methods used to Stop Overeating
You can certainly become a devil if you decrease the excess meal for your pet. Though you can use the following methods and solve the overeating problem without even getting noticed.
#1 Keep a check on the meals
In most cases, infant animals while growing are provided with more to eat than they might require. Even for elderly pets a certain prescribed amount of food shall only be fed.
#2 Avoid frequent treats
Pets are blessing to watch when taken for walks or while they perform some trick you taught them. But during that training period always take care that you don’t give them more treats than what is healthy for them for the sake of motivation. Don’t reward them with frequent treats, your pet wouldn’t die of a disappointment for not getting the treat after putting on the trick shows.
#3 Recognize overeating symptoms
Stray animals tend to finish the food off quickly in order to save their meal from getting snatched. Similar is the condition of the pets staying in mass at a place. Bolting is also a symptom of starvation, the period between two meals shall only be sufficient that the meal is completely digested through.
#4 Keep edible thing out of reach
Animals are like spies, they note every possible place where you store edible or inedible. Out of curiosity, they feed on inedible things in return just worsening their health.
Overeating Pet – Precautions While Practicing
We appreciate your concern for your overeating pet but don’t stretch it too far that your pet suffers badly. According to the pet trainers, owners usually start to control their overfeeding habit but don’t know exactly when to stop. Below stated are few points owners should take care while controlling the overfeeding habit:-
#1 Don’t starve your pet to malnutrition
Schedule the meal in such a way that sufficient amount of food enters the digestive tract which is a necessity for the pet. Never increase the period between two meals just to decrease the mass of meal, it will only cause malnutrition or overeating.
You should plan shorter and more frequent meals in a day
#2 Provide nutritional meals
There are various species which require specific nutrients. Visit a professional nutrition practitioner to learn so.
Remember Quality is always the requirement and never the quantity.
#3 Optimize the food quantity accompanied by regular exercises
Only decreasing the amount of meal will not be sufficient, regular exercising is also necessary. Exercise ensures the physical and mental well being of any creature.
So regular diet with regular exercise is the only way one can ensure the overall health.
#4 Feed appropriately when pregnant
When an animal is pregnant her motherly instincts are at peak. Understand the mood of your pet carefully and feed them nice and slow because the animal in that condition could behave differently than usual. But it becomes the owner’s responsibility to provide and care for the mother and expected infant with proper meals and affection.
Foods that Ruin Health
Animals are prone to consuming the everyday meal that humans consume, but in most of the cases, it is not the best one for them. Over the cycle of evolution, humans have successfully mutated and got accustomed to the foods in every form that we eat today. Even the medication and health research have facilitated humans like never before. On the other hand, for the animals, it is not the similar case.
Neither should they feed on the foods that generally humans feed on nor should they consume heavy synthesized edible products. Below shown are some of the foods that are way too harmful to animals:-
- Raw/Undercooked Meat, Eggs and Bones
- Sugar and synthetic sweeteners
- Avocado
- Macadamia Nuts
- Dairy products
- Onions, Garlic
- Alcohol
- Salty
- Citrus
- Fermented yeast
In this article, we explained possible reasons for overeating as well as the methods to avoid the same. This article will be helpful for you to banish foods affecting your dog’s health.
We hope, now you could help your pet get into better eating habits. Consistency and patience are the qualities that will help you succeed.
Comment below, if you have further queries regarding this topic and we will guide you through.