Is it Behavior or Genetics?

Epigenetics. Check it out sometime.

When scientists in the field of epigenetics observed rat mommas that were nurturing, that licked their babies, in comparison with those that took a paw-off approach and did not, they noted the following:

The unlicked babies had higher blood pressure. Their bodies were flooded with more of the stress hormones that actively promote heart disease, obesity and diabetes. When the unlicked babies were later placed with licking moms, and compared with those that stayed unlicked, they grew up to have far less health problems. Through nurturing behavior, the moms sculpted the genome of their babies.

In turn, there is some evidence that "Genetic Memory" does indeed exist in some form. That our ancestors' life experiences impacts our health, has been proven incontrovertibly. For instance, if one's great-great-grandparent experienced the Irish potato famine, generations later this will impact how one processes food, whether one is overweight, and whether one can or cannot withstand fasting.

What your grandmother was exposed to gets passed down to you – stress, smoking, pesticides. We have a responsibility for shaping our epigenome and passing it down to our kids - preferably improved!

The exciting thing to think about is that: We can change. So can our dogs and cats. And if we change, they certainly will too.

Now, let's get them out in the open air to walk, maybe even play!