The Obesity Epidemic

Somewhere in the region of 80% of Britains’ dogs are overweight, which is a frightening statistic, especially when you relate it to the associated health risks.
Whilst many of these cases are due to providing excess food and treats, a ‘killing them softly’ approach, I regularly hear of owners who are strict with rations, but cannot seem to shift the weight from their beloved pet.
The truth is that many of these animals are given foods with high starch content (see ‘The Starch Reality’), which prevents digestion of other ingredients, leaving the animal nutritionally starving; the dog therefore has no choice but to eat more of what is being provided in an attempt to self-medicate and attain the missing nutrients, this is interpreted as the dog being keen to eat the food given, and therefore ‘liking’ and even ‘enjoying’ it. This unfortunately is a vicious circle leading to obese, but nutritionally deficient pets.
On a positive note, to date I have never met an overweight raw fed animal, in fact if provided with too much food, as the animals are nutritionally sated, they tend to bury leftovers for a later date. Yet another positive reason to raw feed.