This article came out about a month ago...must've missed it. But thought you guys would like to see it anyways:
http://www.dogchannel.com/dog-news/2009/02/23/number-of-overweight-dogs-increasing-study-finds.aspxArticle says that a study found that 44 percent of dogs and 57 percent of cats are now overweight. The study looked at 669 dogs and 202 cats, and it goes to say that the % of overweight dogs and cats has increased 1% and 4% respectively.
Dr. Ernie Ward says that obesity, for pets, is still the leading factor of death and illnesses such as arthiritis and diabetes.
An estimation in the study states that there may be around 7.2 million obese and 26 million overweight dogs, and for cats the number is higher with 15.7 million obese and 35 million overweight cats.
Last two interesting facts is that smaller dog breeds seem more prone to becoming obese/overweight, most likely because of a lack of exercise. And that 71.5% of cat owners as well as 60% of dog owners agreed with their vet's opinion about their pets being overweight, which means that the majority of pet owners
know that their pets have this problem...
Subject: Overweight Dogs and Cats Increases 
Tue Mar 16, 2010 7:01 pm
