Following veterinarian’s suggestions are the best way to keep your dog or cat healthy. During visits to the veterinarian, your pet will usually get some vaccinations or a check-up, but there will probably also be some advice given to the pet owner that is intended to keep the pet healthy and happy. One of the issues that cause many problems with pet health is the people not following the instructions. A good example is controlling the weight of your dog or cat because it is not healthy for them to be overweight. Veterinarians will go as far as prescribed diets and weight management plans in order to help animals shed the pounds, all in the name of reducing stress on the pet’s joints, helping with heart and liver health, and avoiding injuries and illnesses that being overweight contribute to. Once the pet and the owner are at home, however, many times the diet and feeding amounts go out the window because the animal begs for food. The compassion of the pet owner gets the best of them, and they start feeding treats to the pet of human food, giving them “just a little more” to eat at mealtimes or mixing in “better tasting” food if the pet seems to not like the flavor of the reduced-calorie diets. Even though it seems as though you are being good to your pet, this is actually bad for them in the long run and is not aiding them in being healthy and happy. The short-term happiness of the owner giving treats to their friend compromises the long-term goals of weight loss for health reasons.

What you need to understand as a pet owner is that you know better than your pet does what is best for them, and your veterinarian is giving you plans on how to best help your pet for their own good. Your dog or cat is always going to beg for food, and it is your responsibility as the parent to make them stick to their diet. This type of mentality goes with everything that is prescribed by a veterinarian, none of which the pet is going to do willingly. If treats did not taste good, the animal would not beg for them. It is a rare occasion where a pet will beg for medications as pills are generally not the best tasting things, but as a human, you must keep the pet on the plan that the veterinarian has mapped out for their eventual better health.

Veterinarians can only create the plans to better health that pets need in order to live happy lives. The failures of these plans are usually because the human parent deviates from the course because the pet wants it that way. The best way for you to show love for your pet is to follow the veterinarian’s advice, and not give in to the habits that put them at risk…..even if they seem to want it that way.