WEIGHT MANAGEMENT
It is a well-known fact that the incidence of excessive weight and obesity are increasing rapidly in the human population, fuelled by high calorie foods and snacks and a reduction in energy expenditure. Over the past 10-15 years the same trend has been seen in the pet population and particularly in certain breeds of dog.
FEEDING BEHAVIOUR
Although our pets have evolved considerably during the thousands of years that they have been around man, many of their ancestral feeding behaviours can still be observed today.
In the wild cats will generally obtain food by hunting prey through the night and day, consuming their meals whilst they are fresh and warm. Besides domesticated cats prefer to eat small, frequent meals of freshly served food. Cats are also generally able to moderate their food intake to meet their energy requirements and therefore, so long as the food is nutritionally balanced and of high quality, they should not gain excessive weight.
Dogs, however, have evolved from scavenging animals that are opportunist feeders. In the wild they would usually consume the remains of prey that cats leave behind, or fallen animals that had died naturally, and so they had to consume as much food as possible in the shortest period of time, as competition within the pack is usually fierce. Again, we see some of these characteristics in modern dogs, where their focus is on consumption rather than savouring the flavour of the food and the speed and amount of intake is often increased when dogs are fed side by side.
Behaviour plays an important part in the maintenance of bodyweight, as we can adjust how, when and where we feed our pets to better suit their natural requirements.