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How do I help my overweight pets lose some weight?

First, dehumanise your feelings towards them. Cats that are treated like family members or children are more likely to be fat, German researchers found. Chubby pets’ masters use food, not play, as a reward. (USA Today found that 69 per cent of pet owners think of their animals as furry people.) Many underestimate how overweight Tabby is. Get tough. No dinner table scraps. Quit with the treats, or at least cut back, says the Humane Society. Not every “roll over” needs a reward; one in three will still cement the response. And beware of treats made of dehydrated raw salmon and beef, which can carry salmonella, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the US. “People are getting sick but not attributing it to contact with pet treats,” says Fred Angulo, an epidemiologist at the CDC.