Pudgy Pooch & Fat Feline: There’s An App For That!

Reported May 2011

ITHACA, NY (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Do you have a pudgy pooch or a fat feline? Keeping your pet healthy is important, but many pet owners aren’t sure how much is too much to feed Fido, on top of keeping track of check-ups, vaccinations and flea and tick meds. We’ll tell you about a new way to track your pet’s health.

For pet owner Mark Riccio his dog, Bella, is like a family member.

“My favorite part about Bella is that she’s very loving, very energetic and makes me happy,” Mark Riccio, Pet owner told Ivanhoe.

Bella looks fit now, but she hasn’t always been that way. Fifty percent of America’s pets are overweight. Now, a new iPhone app can help owners have healthier pets.

“I was surprised when I first starting using the app that I was overfeeding a little bit,” Riccio said.

Many people guess the amount of food to feed their pets. The CU Pet Health app, developed by veterinarians at Cornell University, takes the guesswork out of feeding and calculates a healthy diet for your pet.

“So it allows you to sort of enter all that data in, then it gives you a target calorie range that your dog or cat should be eating,” Joe Wakshlag, D.V.M, Ph.D., Veterinarian at Cornell University told Ivanhoe.

The app is also more than just a food tracker. It’s an overall health monitoring system to keep track of vaccinations, medications and vet visits. Reminders can be setup to give flea and tick medicines or a monthly heartworm tablet, and best of all it’s a click away.

“Very often we forget that our companions need to be updated for their vaccinations or that they need to be, need to get a refill on a medication they’re on, so it’s really kind of a convenient thing,” Dr. Wakshlag added.

It’s a hands-on approach to keeping your pet in shape and around for a long time.

“It’s very important that I keep her as healthy as I can,” Riccio concluded. There’s an app for that.

A recent study has shown that Labrador retrievers can live an extra two years longer if fed the proper amount. The app is compatible with the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad and can be downloaded from Apple for $3.99.

Click here to Go Inside This Science or contact:

Stephanie Specchio
Media Relations
Cornell University>
Sas6@cornell.edu

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