Tips in Fighting Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Obesity

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By Be Dog Savvy

Cavalier Getting Brushed

Insufficient exercise is one of the causes of canine obesity.
Insufficient exercise is one of the causes of canine obesity.

Many dogs suffer obesity nowadays, including the toy dog Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. This nutritional disease for dogs is mainly caused by a pet's lack of exercise, hormone issues and slowing metabolism. Improper feeding techniques, specifically eating too fast is also a major cause of obesity.

Eating too fast does not only cause obesity in dogs; it can powerfully increase a dog's chance of choking and developing vomiting issues. So in order to prevent such problem to happen, make use of these safe preventive measures to save your Cavalier King Charles Spaniel from getting doomed.

Hand-feeding your pet is the surest way to slow down his eating speed, although it is also the most time consuming and tiring. This is the best feeding way for smaller breeds of dogs like Cavalier King Charles Spaniel that is less likely to get carried away when eating food from your fingers.

A dog's dry kibble added with a small amount of water can make the food stick to the sides of the food fish. In this manner, the dog will have to work harder to get those bits stuck on the side. It also creates a paste-like substance in their mouth which encourages the dog to work it in their mouth longer before swallowing. But this option may not work if your pet is fussy about the type of food he eats.

Making the dog's food less accessible is the best approach to prevent a dog from eating too fast, therefore saving it from a possible life of obesity. Although domestic dogs, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel still had the predatory instinct to gulp down a meal before another animal comes and tries to steal it. This is a very profound reason why dogs eat fast.

Because of this eating problem, dog owners have to think of some ways to make the food hard to get by their pets. Some of them put a large rock or weighted ball into the center of the dog dish, big enough for the dog not to eat and heavy enough that it won't be simply pushed out of the bowl This barrier will force your Cavalier King Charles Spaniel pet to eat around the bowl and work harder to finish the meal.

Some companies produce silo-esque contraptions, a modified dog food dish that creates the barrier for you. It allows the dog to eat a set amount of food at one time. But the problem is that the effective models of these containers often run on batteries or require an electrical outlet, making dog feeding more complicated.

There are also dog food dishes that produce the same results but with a simpler construction. These dishes have separate partitions that allow the dog to see and smell the food at the bottom but the dividers only allow it to consume half a cup at a time. A Cavalier King Charles Spaniel can finish a complete meal easily but is obliged to slow down by the limitation of space created by the partition.

Fighting against obesity is one of the best things you can do for your Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. But despite of being a fixable issue, talking to your vet about this issue is important. Consider implementing one or more of these ideas into your dog feeding routine to keep your Cavalier healthy and bubbly!

Comments

Judith Gill profile image

Judith Gill 2 years ago

Thanks for the info. I have 3 Cavaliers and also had weight problems with them - but not anymore. Once we stopped feeding them titbits between meals, the weight of all dogs dropped dramatically and has continued to stay that way.

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