Just as in human medicine, it's often the case that a dog diet is necessary in order to keep your pet at a healthy weight or to help him to lose excess weight. Similarly, there are a number of potential solutions and helpful procedures that are found in both veterinary medicine and human medicine. However, the safety and effectiveness of some of these solutions which may be adequate for humans is questionable in certain dogs and other animals. Dog diet pills have recently become one of those potential solutions for dealing with a pet's weight. Here's a brief overview of the effectiveness of this means of controlling your dog's overweight and obesity issues.
Dog Diet Pills Overview
Dog diet pills function by two different mechanisms. Some of these diet pills work to reduce your pet's appetite. Most dogs are instinctively very food-obsessed. If given food, they will generally try to eat it. In many cases, a dog will continue to eat food until his stomach is so overfilled that he will vomit. Diet pills that help to reduce weight by these means will reduce your pet's food drive, thereby causing him to beg for food less and to eat less.
Other types of dog diet pills work by actually changing the way that your pet's body processes the food that he eats. In these cases, your dog may begin to digest his food in different ways and will not take the same calories from the food. This means that he can lose weight by continuing to eat the same amount of food.
Effectiveness
Dog diet pills can be effective at helping to lose weight. However, it's important to recognize the real causes and solutions to weight issues in pets. Dogs that are overweight are that way for one reason; they have ingested more calories than they have burned off through activity. In order to foster a healthy and sustainable weight, it's best to limit the food that your pet eats to healthy portions and nutrient-rich foods, and to increase his activity level accordingly.
Diet pills can put your pet's health in jeopardy. Pills of the first type (which attempt to limit food drive) are not entirely effective. Most dogs will continue to eat virtually any food item that is in front of them. The second type of pill is potentially very dangerous for your dog's overall and long term health. As your pet gleans fewer calories from the foods he eats, he also absorbs a smaller portion of the nutrients. This can lead to a host of other problems for his health.
Therefore, it's best to work with your vet to alter your pet's portion sizes, cut back on treats and table scraps, and increase exercise as a healthy and effective means of altering your pet's weight without using dog diet pills.