An epidemic that is not seen does not mean that it does not exist. The word invisible simply means that we don’t see it even though it may be right in front of our eyes.
There are many reasons why obese pets go unnoticed in our homes. The main reason is that people don’t want to see it and love their pets.
Hill’s Pet Nutrition is making another effort to get people to try to lose weight in their pets. Why? If people lowered their pets to their ideal weight, wouldn’t they lose sales and revenue? The answer is a definite “no.”
Pet obesity remains the number one negative contributing factor to pet health. It kills more pets annually than most, if not all, communicable diseases in the US Overweight pets are a challenge for all vets and affect how much they can help in many health situations.
Pets that live within a normal weight range for their breed and age will live longer, healthier lives. As a result, Hill’s and others are able to generate more revenue. Who knows?
What Hill’s is doing is not new; others among the big three or four pet food companies have tried it before. The most visible in the last 20 years has been Purina.
Not only did they use social media when they became aware of the sterile landscape of human communication, they organized and toured multiple cities with veterinary nutritionists, local vets, vendors, and canine athletes performing demonstrations. These used to take place in parks or fairgrounds.
Purina also had generous samples of their products on hand, frisbees, collapsible food and water plates, and plenty of T-shirts and other trinkets to give away. These events were great. I went to one that was held at the International Fountain in the shadow of Seattle’s famous Space Needle.
There were more than 2,000 people there and almost twice as many pets. People lined up to receive gifts. And along with all this, there were messages designed to prevent or control obesity in pets.
People quickly learned to attend these events near the end of the day. You see, the exhausted vendors didn’t want to pack up all the remaining stuff they brought for the event and the giveaways got even more generous.
Attendees often made multiple trips to their vehicles to pick up all the food, treats, and free pet treats they could carry.
It is now unknown how many fat dogs and cats achieved a healthier weight. But you have to give Purina your back for trying.
It’s Hill’s time at the plate. They have developed an acronym for their End Pet Obesity campaign and it is LOVE.
The letters stand for: Locate your pet’s ribs, look at them from above, look at them from the side, and assess feeding behavior. Doing this as directed on their well-designed website (bit.ly/3iJiOpT) and printed materials will help pet owners determine if and approximately how much their pet is obese.
Hill’s joins the efforts of Vernard Hodges and Terrence Ferguson, stars of the National Geographic television show, “Wild’s Critter Fixers: Country Vets.” This is a great move as both doctors obviously love the work they do and represent the profession well.
No word yet on whether or not Hill’s will host any community events. They are giving $5,000 to one lucky person who completes their simple online pet obesity survey.
Yes, they are using the contest to get email addresses.
Powell is the retired public information officer for the Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine. This column reflects his thoughts and no longer represents WSU. If he has any questions or concerns about animals you’d like to read about, please email charliepowell74@gmail.com
