We’ve heard it all… My dog is “fluffy”. My cat is big boned. I love them no matter what they look like.

We used to think of fat as an inert glob of tissue that just sat on the muscles and bones and provided energy when an animal needed it. We now know a whole lot more.

Breakthroughs are leading the veterinary community to embrace obesity as a disease, rather than a cosmetic flaw that some pets get and other pets do not.

Fat is scientifically known as adipose tissue. The greatest breakthrough research has made is proving that fat is active in the body and it does secrete chemicals that influence several areas of an animal’s physiology- metabolism and hormone secretion & activity.

We have now learned that fat comes in two forms: brown & white. It is the white fat that is of concern as it is more universal in animals and it is the fat that accumulates throughout the body as weight is gained leading to obesity. It is this accumulation that has been shown to have significant adverse effects on the body.

The group of chemicals that are released by white fat is known as adipokins. There are 3 main ones that this article is focused on: Leptin, Adiponectin, & TNF-alpha. This current research shows the individual role of these chemicals impact the animal’s body in very negative ways.

Leptin’s normal behavior is to regulate appetite. As fat builds up the leptin levels build up. The normal action of appetite suppression is altered. The additional leptin actually changes the animal from not feeling hungry to feeling hungry all the time. As the fat increases the appetite increases, creating a vicious cycle for pet and owner.

Adiponectin’s normal behavior is to regulate insulin within the blood stream. In normal situations it would be part of the process in removing glucose (the energy needed by the body) from the blood to the cells which need it for them to function. When weight is increased these chemicals actually decrease in production and therefore can not regulate insulin properly leading to increased glucose in the blood. When blood glucose levels are too high it is diagnosed as diabetes.

TNF-alpha is an inflammatory chemical. Current knowledge indicates that inflammation is the primary source of pain in animals. Chronic inflammation in joints leads to arthritis; inflammation in the pancreas is known as pancreatitis. If you have experienced either of these with your pet you will understand the amount of pain they are suffering. 

TNF-alpha levels increase with weight. The current assertion is that TNF-alpha causes inflammation and weight gain creates more TNF-alpha. Therefore, obesity represents a chronic inflammatory process in the animals body.

The research also followed animals as they began to lose weight. They have shown that these levels do reverse and go back to normal when normal weight is achieved.

The pysiological changes that accompany obesity have shown that weight loss for animals may be more difficult. Obesity-related changes in their bodies make it harder for some dogs to eat less and lose weight.

For all of these reasons, our clinic is addressing overweight & obese patients with a great sense of urgency.