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When I was a kid you hardly ever saw a really fat dog or cat. If you did you'd tell all your friends about it because it was so unusual and life was dull back then. But nowadays I'm always seeing fat round cats that look like tribbles with teeth and dogs that look like they're being breed to serve as a replacments for pork products. What's going on? Why have pets let themselves go these days? Have they no will power? Or rather, have they no won't power? I mean surely it can't take much willpower to refuse to eat another bowl of dog or cat food. That stuff tastes foul. I find it hard to force more than a single tin. But I guess we can't blame the pets. It all comes back to us. Are our fat pets an indication that our culture's entire attitude towards food has changed?
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Never, ever, ever, blame a pet owner for anything... it's not PC. ![]()
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My cat's an indoor kitty. If he gained substantial weight, it would be because he could not go outside to play. However, as long as there have been housepets, there have been fat housepets.
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Gillian "Now everyone was giving her that kind of look UFOlogists get when they suddenly say, 'Hey, if you shade your eyes you can see it is just a flock of geese after all.'" "You can't erase icing." "I can't believe it doesn't work! I found it on the internet, man!" |
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My one dog seems fat, because she's soo fluffy (Sheltie, about 55lbs). My other dog I think is too skinny. Vet's say she's fine, a little on the skinny side but not bad. She's a boney little thing though.
But neither of them have willpower. Expecially the younger one (about 2 y/o). She'll do things that she knows she'll get in trouble for, but does them anyway. Like chew up my g/f's shoes. She knows it's wrong, because as soon as you walk into the room she'll run and hide, even before you find the shoe. But she does it anyway. Annoying, I tells ya.
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One of my girlfriend's friends is obese. Let's call her Amanda. Amanda's parents are also obese, and Amanda's mother is an LP nurse who seems to think that makes her a specialist on all aspects of biology. So, according to that family, they're all obese due to genetics (and deepfrying everything while their exercise regime involves getting in and out of their car has nothing to do with it).
Their cat recently died of diabetes. It was also quite obese. I'm not sure the "bad genes" argument can extend that far. At the very least, it would open a pretty big can of worms.
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"The plan does not involve mayonaise." "... I knew there was a catch." You can't take the sky from me. |
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At any rate, I saw something recently that I thought was pretty cool. This guy made an exercise machine for his cats. When the cats use the machine, they earn a reward in the form of food. It looks fairly easy to build. http://youtube.com/watch?v=f5Fg6KFcOsU |
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SeanF "Ask to understand, but don't challenge unless you have the knowledge."--NEOWatcher The contents of this post are ©2008 by SeanF and may not be copied or retransmitted in any form without the express written consent of SeanF |
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No; but I wasn't going to say anything because I knew people would start with the "weight loss isn't the only reason to exercize". I make enough smart remarks without fore-seeing the consequences.
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Numbers are not case sensitive. (me) |
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There is a cat that often scratches on my door wanting to be let in (a successful tactic), sleeps inside my house at its convenience, and eats food from a bowl that gets refilled. This is Angus. Previously Angus lived with a neighbour who passed away.
I declared the cat to be on a diet: "You fat feline, I'm sick of you coming in here like you own the place, expecting to be fed, and leaving without so much as a 'thank you'. You wanna eat? Kill that deer when it comes through the back yard! Get out!" So yesterday I saw Angus lounging on the deck, with a furry dead thing beside it - a rabbit. It was devoured some time later. Not quite the deer, and a small rabbit at that, but still . . . |
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However, since they're not rationally intelligent beings, your hypothesis is highly doubtful. It's far more likely that they're exposed to the same or similar xenohormones we are, and that's affecting their metabolisms the same way it's affecting human metabolisms, resulting in lethargy and obesity. I don't see nearly the obesity in other countries as I do in the US, and come to think of it (if memory serves me correctly), this probably holds true for animals as well as humans. It would be an interesting study, seeing if obesity among humans throughout developed nations correllates with obesity of their animals (indicating poor feeding choices), or merely among certain regions (indicating a possible external cause for both humans and their pets).
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I am Mugs, of the Alien clan of Usa, Nordamerica, a Terran, of Sol. A human. Whoever says "perception is reality" is daft. It's merely an abstraction, and often not a very good one. |
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well, pets do tend to take on the behaviors of their "owners".
if the humans in the house eat a lot and just lay around all day, then what is the pet gonna do? i'm not the most physically active person that ever lived, but i do like to keep somewhat active. i had two Siamese cats- mother and daughter- for about 10 years. i always kept their food dish full of good cat food (Iams dry) and they ate how much they wanted whenever they wanted. they were both skinny their entire lives. of course, they spent a lot of time chasing each other around. one time, when i lived in a trailer house, they kept themselves occupied for 3 days torturing a mouse they had captured. when it die, they lost interest.. but that's another topic.. they were indoor cats, and never went outside. for 3 years, i had a female German Shepherd that i raised from a pup. she was an outdoor dog that had an automatic feeder that dispensed as much Iams dry dog food as she cared to eat. she got to roam free about 12 hours of the day- the rest of the time in a 6X12 cage- and she kept active. she weighed about 75 pounds all grown up, and could run a good 35 mph (i clocked her with my car chasing her home one day when she jumped the fence and went exploring). in either case- the dog or either cat- if they had just laid around, they would have no doubt gotten fat.
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