Pet obesity — are there links to human obesity?

I'm often asked as a consulting nurse how I deal with owners of overweight pets that are also overweight themselves. Some veterinary nurses struggle with discussing obesity with owners that are overweight, and initially I struggled myself, but as an overweight person, I soon realised that being in that position meant that I could really sympathise and empathise with that client on how difficult it is to lose weight. Discussing the pet's obesity with an overweight owner is actually quite easy as they do understand how it makes you feel. There are difficulties with mobility, exercise intolerance and feeling hungry (even when you might not need food). Just because they might not have been able to lose weight themselves, does not mean that they won't achieve it in their pet.

There have been numerous studies looking into the behaviour of pet owners as a caregiver to the animal and comparison to childhood obesity. Obesity is a very complex condition; it is not just about what you eat. There are so many overlapping elements of food, exercise, emotions, social economics, and learned feeding behaviours.