Obesity affects over half of companion dogs and cats in many countries and is associated with reduced lifespan, chronic pain, and significantly lower quality of life. Understanding the welfare consequences of overfeeding reframes obesity as an animal welfare problem.
Pet obesity is a welfare problem that has been euphemised into acceptability by cultural norms around feeding as love and a widespread failure to recognise overweight animals. An obese dog carries a burden of chronic welfare costs: joint pain that limits mobility and causes ongoing discomfort, respiratory difficulty that limits exercise and causes distress, heat intolerance that restricts activity, and metabolic disease that reduces lifespan. These are not minor concerns — obesity is one of the leading preventable causes of companion animal suffering in wealthy countries. The cause is primarily human: overfeeding, excessive treating, and insufficient exercise driven by misplaced good intentions. Reframing feeding practices around metabolic need rather than emotional expression of affection is the cultural shift that companion animal welfare most needs in affluent societies.