A surprising number of the dogs and cats we see in Gurugram are carrying more weight than is healthy for them, and it rarely has anything to do with neglect. Here's why it happens, and what actually helps.

India's Pet Obesity Epidemic: Why So Many Urban Pets Are Overweight

By Dr. Brajmadhuri, TruVet Pet Care Clinic, Sector 79, Gurgaon

One of the most common things we notice during routine checkups has nothing to do with an illness at all. It is weight. A steady, growing number of the dogs and cats we examine in Gurugram are carrying more body fat than is healthy, often without their owners realising it, and often despite genuinely loving, attentive care. This is not a story about neglect. It is a story about how easy it has become, in Indian households especially, to overfeed a pet without ever meaning to.

How common is this really

Estimates from veterinary surveys suggest that roughly a third of pet dogs in major Indian cities are overweight or obese, with certain breeds, Labradors in particular, showing especially high rates. This lines up closely with what we see in our own daily practice. It is genuinely one of the most frequent health concerns we raise with pet parents, right alongside vaccination and parasite control, yet it gets far less attention because an overweight pet does not look sick the way a pet with an infection or injury does.

Why this happens so often in Indian homes

The biggest driver is not a mystery, and it is not really about the pet food itself. It is table food, and the way food functions as an expression of love and closeness in a lot of Indian households. Sharing rice, roti, curry, and other home cooked food with a dog or cat is such a normal, affectionate gesture that many owners do not think of it as feeding at all, simply as including their pet in family life. The trouble is that these foods are often calorie dense, high in carbohydrates or fat, and easy to overfeed in quantities that feel small to a person but add up to a significant portion of a much smaller animal's daily needs.

On top of this, many pets in dense urban housing get considerably less exercise than they would in a more spread out setting, since walks are shorter and less frequent when there is no easy access to open space. Treats and snacks between meals, given with the best of intentions, add up quickly too, especially when there is no clear sense of how many calories a small biscuit or a spoon of curry actually represents relative to a pet's small stomach and slower metabolism.

Why it is worth taking seriously

Extra weight is not just a cosmetic issue, and it genuinely shortens a pet's life and reduces its quality along the way. Overweight dogs and cats face a meaningfully higher risk of joint problems and arthritis, since extra weight puts constant additional strain on joints that were never built to carry it. Diabetes becomes considerably more likely, particularly in cats, where it is strongly linked to excess weight. Heart and breathing strain increase too, and something as ordinary as playing, walking in the heat, or recovering from a minor illness becomes noticeably harder for an overweight pet than a lean one. Anaesthesia and surgery, when they are ever needed, also carry higher risk for an overweight pet, which matters more than most owners realise until it becomes relevant.

How we actually assess this at a checkup

We do not rely on a number on a scale alone, since a healthy weight varies enormously by breed, frame size, and individual dog or cat. Instead we use something called body condition scoring, which involves feeling for how easily we can find the ribs under a light layer of fat, looking at whether there is a visible waist when viewed from above, and checking whether the abdomen tucks up behind the ribcage rather than hanging level with the chest. This gives us a much more accurate, individualised picture than weight alone, and it is something we walk owners through during every checkup so they can start noticing it at home too.

What actually helps

The good news is that meaningful weight management rarely requires anything drastic. A few consistent habits make the biggest difference over time:

• Measure meals with an actual cup or scale rather than estimating by eye, since portions creep up gradually without anyone noticing
• Treat table food as an occasional extra rather than a daily habit, and keep any shared food to small, plain portions
• Keep treats to no more than about ten percent of your pet's total daily food intake, factoring in every biscuit and snack across the day
• Build in a consistent daily walk or play session rather than relying on occasional bursts of activity
• Weigh your pet periodically, ideally at the same time of day, and track it over months rather than judging by appearance alone

None of this means cutting your pet off from family meals entirely or making mealtimes joyless. It simply means being a little more deliberate about portions and frequency, which tends to be far easier once you can actually see where the extra calories were coming from.

The TruVet takeaway

Pet obesity in Indian cities is common, understandable given how food and affection are tied together in so many households, and genuinely worth addressing early rather than waiting until it becomes a bigger problem. If you are not sure whether your dog or cat is carrying more weight than is healthy, that is exactly the kind of thing worth checking at a routine visit, since body condition scoring takes only a few minutes and gives you a much clearer picture than guessing.

TruVet Pet Care Clinic is located at Shop No 4-6, opposite Bestech Park View Altura, Sector 79, Naurangpur, Gurugram, Haryana 122051, with Dr. Brajmadhuri conducting every consultation personally. We are open all seven days from 10am to 8pm for OPD consultation, vaccination, deworming, surgery, and health checkups for dogs and cats. WhatsApp us at +91 98710 10355 to book a weight check for your pet.