Obesity
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One of the most devastating and potentially serious diseases to affect our dogs is that of obesity. Thankfully, it's also one of the most easily prevented and treatable diseases. Usually the result of neglect or misinformation, oftentimes all it takes to reverse the adverse affects of obesity is education and a willingness to help your dog improve his or her quality of life.
Obesity is a condition in which your dog's percentage of body fat is significantly higher than it should be, resulting in their carrying around a lot of extra weight. This extra weight affects the entirety of your dog's health. It places them at a much greater risk during any surgeries that might be necessary for other diseases; weakens their joints and cartilage, leaving them prone to injuries; and creates an incredible amount of stress on organs and bones that are surrounded by thick walls of fat. [...]
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Besides hip dysplasia and eye problems, Redbone Coonhounds, like all coonhounds, also have a tendency to suffer from obesity. They are active dogs, needing a good amount of exercise, but they all too easily will adjust to a sedentary lifestyle if their owner does not provide them with activities to vent their energy; if deprived of exercise, they will also develop behavior problems. Also like many hounds, the Redbone has a tendency of overeating if given half the chance and these factors contribute to somewhat of a predisposition for gaining weight in the breed. This may not seem like a life-threatening disease, or as painful as something like entropion (inward turning of the eyelid), but obesity in dogs, as in humans, is not to be taken lightly. Obesity can lead to a variety of medical complications and can even contribute to shortening your dog's life, so measures must be taken to prevent your dog from becoming obese or getting him back to his proper weight. [...]
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Overweight or obese horses are at the same types of health risks as overweight humans, dogs and any other type of animal. Since in the wild horses would be continually required to graze and forage, the chance of a horse in the wild becoming obese is almost non-existent. In captivity, horses are restricted to small areas, fed high carbohydrate, protein and fat diets, and only exercised for small periods of time per day, all leading to obesity problems.
Obesity puts more strain on all the various aspects of the horse's body from breathing and respiration through to digestion and cardiac functioning. The more weight the horse is carrying the greater the stress will be on the cardiac and respiratory system, especially when the horse is being exercised. Since obese horses rarely get routine exercise, this difference in respiration and heart rate, especially in hot or humid weather can quickly lead to heat stroke and heat intolerance. The excessive body weight will also prevent the dissipation of heat in the natural body cooling process, further leading to problems with heat stroke and stress. [...]
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For any number of reasons horses can begin to gain weight. Often horses that have been hard working or regularly exercised horses that suddenly find themselves turned on pasture, retired or even recovering from an injury will begin to put on weight due to the body's inability to change the metabolism to account for the decrease in calories burned.
Ponies are often very prone to weight gain due to being bred to have slower metabolisms. Many of the pony breeds excelled and thrived in areas where horses would have starved and over generations have adjusted to be able to live on very small amounts of low quality feeds. In modern, domestic environment with lush pastures and daily grain, these ponies simply pack on the pounds, even with regular exercise. Some horses and ponies are also given a huge number of treats, supplements and feed additives that are simply not needed or even healthy for the horses. Sugary treats, treats high in carbohydrates and fats can all lead to adding weight to your horse if they are fed in moderate to excessive amounts. [...]
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Digestive disorders, also known as gastrointestinal disorders, occur in dogs as well as in every other animal. In dogs digestive problems are often very challenging for people since they result in messes in the house, serious health conditions but also just socially unacceptable behavior such as excessive gas, burping and vomiting. Each of these conditions may be normal depending on what the dog has consumed, but when the conditions continue they can be very serious and even life threatening, especially for young puppies and dogs that already have their health compromised. [...]
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Regardless of what type or breed of dog you may choose, all dogs need regular, routine exercise. It is also important to note that while some breeds are naturally more active or energetic, no breed of dog has been bred to be a complete couch potato. This means that even the toy dogs that love to just sit on their owners laps still need to get out and go for a walk, a run in the park or play games that encourage physical exercise. [...]
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Like most of the hound dogs and dogs that were bred for an active, robust lifestyle with their owners, the Dachshund is typically a very healthy pet. Like any dog breed there are health issues that are associated with the Dachshund, several which are genetic while others are more likely to develop with poor diet and lack of exercise. [...]
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All of the American Hounds are considered to be coonhounds, which means this is the primary game they have been developed to hunt. All of the dogs can also hunt virtually any other animal as well, with a history of hunting deer, rabbits and even predator animals such as bear and coyotes in many of the different breed histories. As such these dogs have been developed to be very healthy, athletic and strong animals and they are remarkable free from most of the major genetic issues that can be found in other purebred dog lines. [...]
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Basset Hounds, perhaps because they were originally developed by using dwarf lines found within Bloodhound and other hunting hounds, tend to have slightly more health concerns than most of the other hound breeds. They have also had significant spikes in popularity throughout history, leading to poor breeding practices by many backyard types of breeders only in it for the money. Reputable breeders and kennels have maintained very healthy and genetically sound Basset Hounds that have few of the health issues listed below. [...]
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Obesity
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