Is Your Pooch 'Pleasantly' Plump?
July's column is nonseasonal, but close to my heart as a practicing vet: obesity. Statistical reports of companion animal obesity vary from 25 to 50
percent.
In my experience, over half of patients are overly robust, and around 10 percent are obese (greater than 20 percent overweight).
My three goals for this column are to explain why excess weight is harmful to your pet, to help you recognize appropriate body condition score (BCS)
and your pet's BCS, and to give some tips to help obtain and maintain proper BCS.
Excess weight has long been related to the seemingly obvious problems -- stress and damage to joints and heart, labored breathing, and mechanical
issues such as animals unable to groom properly. Recently, fascinating research has shown that excessive adipose tissue (fat) also acts in many
metabolic ways. The link between obesity and insulin resistance is proven. Now research is focusing on the negative whole-body inflammatory
effects of even moderate excess adipose. In 2002, a breakthrough 15-year lifespan study by Purina on sibling Labradors showed that calorie
restriction led to longer and healthier lives (by about two years on average!); the first time that this was proven in mammals larger than rodents.
In short, keeping your pet slender is probably the most important thing you can control to keep them healthier longer. No other single factor can help
you decrease the likelihood of diseases such as osteoarthritis, cancer, diabetes and heart disease.
Despite good intentions, if you don't work in the veterinary field it can be hard to recognize desirable body condition. In the U.S., overweight pets
have become the norm, to the point that my clients with healthy-weight dogs often tell me that friends, family and even strangers accuse them of
underfeeding their pets. A properly fed, exercised, and otherwise healthy animal should have ribs that are just visible, or at least easily felt. A waist
should be visible behind the ribcage from above, and an abdominal tuck when viewed from the side.
I also evaluate for appropriate muscle mass. A good place to check is the muscles that run along both sides of, and should mostly conceal, the spine.
I like the 1-9 BCS system popularized by Purina. Charts and tutorials may be found at www.purina.com
At this point, you may be congratulating yourself on your pet's BCS, or perhaps you are wondering how to improve it. If your pet is underweight, or
seems to be more than 10 percent overweight (BCS greater than 6, or you have difficulty feeling their ribs), I strongly encourage you to consult your
veterinarian about a nutritional plan. If only mildly overweight, try cutting back on treats, increasing exercise, decreasing regular food by 10 percent
or switching to a diet food, and re-evaluating in one month.
What and how to feed may be the subject of another a column. Here I simply emphasize that weight change equals calories in versus calories out. It
is important to get the whole household on-board your pet's diet plan: Real difference can be made by controlling treats, people food, and extra
meals, and by adding in more exercise.
For dogs, I find feeding dry food floating in water or out of a dispenser toy seems to make them feel more satisfied. For cats, timed food dispensers
are useful.
Until next month, thanks again for caring for your pet!
Maia Tcheng Broussard's columns appear on the first Sunday of the month. She has worked in the veterinary field in Durham since 1994. Dr.
Broussard is a general practitioner at Westside Animal Hospital, a certified canine rehabilitation practitioner, and has a special interest in behavior
medicine. Contact her at MaiaBroussardDVM@gmail.com. Is your pooch 'pleasantly' plump? Some tips