Since Valentine's Day is right around the corner, show your pets how much you love them by helping them stay healthy. Make a promise to yourself, and your furry best friends that you'll:
1) Help them lose weight and get in better shape;
2) Be sure they spend more quality time with you and your family;
3) Protect their health by not exposing them to your bad habits, such as smoking.
Now, let's see how these apply specifically to our pets.
No. 1: 25 percent of pets in the United States are overweight, so the first resolution might be appropriate for your pet, too. The best ways to decrease your pet's weight are by decreasing daily caloric intake and increasing exercise. Talk to your vet if you're not sure whether your pet is overweight and to discuss choices for diets. Many over-the-counter brands offer "light" diets now.
Also, your vet carries prescription brands, such as Purina OM — one of my favorites. This food is high in protein, high in fiber and low in fat; and most pets like the taste.
For exercise, walking is good for you, and it's an excellent exercise for your pet. If your pet is difficult to manage outside the home environment, buy some helpful, yet humane, restraint tools such as the Easy Walk Harness or the Gentle Leader head collar.
These will help you keep a handle on your pets' hyperactivity, even when meeting other pets on the walk. This way, both of you can get some exercise, and you'll be working smarter, not harder.
Speaking of that: When I was in vet school, I had a springer spaniel puppy who needed lots of exercise. She had a weird quirk with chasing light beams — she was fanatical about doing so. Because of this, I used to take 15-minute study breaks during which I flashed the light beam up and down the hill in our back yard, and she would run like crazy. She loved it.
No. 2: Spending more quality time with your family members.
Did you know that pet owners live longer than non-pet owners and that pets have been shown to decrease blood pressure and improve the health of their owners?
That should be a great incentive to spend more time with your pet. So go outside and play more fetch with your dog, or pet your cat as he lies purring in your lap while you watch TV at night. These are great stress reducers, too.
No. 3: If, for instance, you smoke in your home, you're hurting your own lungs as well as exposing your pet to a large amount of second-hand smoke. Worse: Because smoke settles to the floor, due to gravity, it is more concentrated at your pet's level.
Also, being smaller, your pet's lungs receive a higher concentration of smoke. Thus, your habit might be killing your pet.
So here is yet another incentive to stop smoking: Your pet will live — and love you — longer.
