Baby Boot Camp

I love springtime. The fat baby birds, rabbits, calves and all sorts of critters are everywhere

We took a quick trip recently and my foster mom was pulling out the camera taking pictures of all the baby animals. It appeared that most of the babies had one thing in common: they are exceptionally… plump. (Okay, they’re FAT but I was trying to be polite.) This includes domesticated (word of the day) animals (dogs and cats) as well as many wild animals. For example:

Baby seals

Baby owls

Now that I think of it, the new human my neighbors brought home is a little on the heavy side. Jet, my foster mom, says Body fat in human babies provides three forms of insurance for brain development that are not available to other land-based species:

(1) a large fuel store in the form of fatty acids in triglycerides - Storage fats

(2) the fatty acid precursors to ketone bodies which are key substrates for brain lipid synthesis - Ketogenesis

(3) a store of long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, particularly docosahexaenoic acid, needed for normal brain development. Phospholipids & Fats & The Brain

Jet also says that although plump babies can be cute, it is important for pets and humans to remember that staying heavy is not healthy.

Which brings me to the lesson of the day.

In general, babies don’t need a boot camp to get fit. Adults do. Humans and animals need to be active. Riding a Roomba versus pushing a vacuum sweeper doesn’t count as exercise. If you’re not sure what I mean, note lazy cat video below.



Monitor how much you and your critters eat and be careful of what they eat.

Parents, listen up! Kids will eat just about anything and always seem to be hungry. Set a good example and serve up healthy snacks and meals.

Jet used to teach aerobics and kickboxing as well as provide healthy eating ideas easy for busy executives to prepare. Her advice about food was:

The longer the shelf life of the food you eat, the shorter your shelf life; the shorter the shelf life of the food you eat, the longer your shelf life.

Makes sense.

Okay, here’s the question of the day from Ajax who asked: Why does dad yell at me when I eat stuff he leaves on the floor? I especially like leather belts, rubber bands and paper. If it isn’t supposed to be eaten, why leave it out for me?
Dear Ajax:


A bit of trivia for you: One of the most common items consumed (eaten) by dogs: socks. It’s amazing what we can ingest (eat). – Sorry, practicing the use of my new words. If you don’t believe me, take a look at these X-rays of items that dogs have managed to swallow.

I’ll never understand why big humans insist that pets and kids pick up their toys but they don’t have to pick up their stuff. Seems unfair. Look, if the human doesn’t call it a toy, leave it alone. And for heavens sake, don’t swallow anything but food. The objects you see in the X-rays (above) eventually have to come out, one way or another. Think about it Ajax.





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