Wrong eating habits and low level of physical activity, so more and more dogs and cats become fat if not really overweight.
The obesity of pets
it is increasingly widespread, parallel to that of humans, especially in the West, arriving according to recent data to exceed 50% among dogs and 45% of cats and significantly reduces their quality of life and predisposes them to diabetes, joint diseases and cardio-respiratory diseases.
According to a study by Purina - in collaboration with experts from five different universities - weight-related problems often reside in the beliefs and incorrect behavior of owners which, if modified, can become the very solution to the problem.
According to the study, carried out on a sample of 3,399 dogs in five countries (France, Germany, Italy, Russia and the United Kingdom), 33% of owners considered the weight of their dog to be ideal, while in reality they were overweight or even dogs. obese.
Only one in two interviewees (51%), on the other hand, was able to recognize if their pet has the correct weight.
In recent years, the problem has grown more and more, and in these times, with the spring lockdown and the new current prescriptions that have caused and continue to cause changes in the daily routine, eating habits and the level of physical activity have changed. of pets.
Furthermore, widespread obesity among dogs and cats increases parallel to that of humans recorded in the Western world, and reached 51% in dogs and 44% in cats in 2018, + 2% in three years.
The importance of offering owners from the first months of the pet's life precise indications on the management of the ideal weight had already been highlighted by a previous study by the brand, which had shown that dogs that maintain a correct weight have an increase with a lifespan of 1.8 years.
Guido Poncini (Purina Veterinarian) explains how “it is important to educate owners on the control and management of ideal weight.
Knowing how to manage the weight of your pet from the first months of life and being able to maintain it also increases the life span of up to 1.8 years.
To help pet owners with weight management, it is important to provide them with tools such as i
l Body Condition Score
(BCS) - a tool that works like the BMI for humans - which allows owners and veterinarians to recognize the first signs of obesity in dogs and cats ”.
Thomas Webb, Professor of Psychology at the University of Sheffield, UK, explains that: “Psychology provides useful tools to help us understand how owners' beliefs and behaviors are associated with obesity in their dogs.
In addition to the fact that the evaluation of the right weight of your four-legged friend is difficult, the research also showed that those who own a pet who are not overweight or obese often:
- can count on the support of friends to carry out the physical activity of their pet;
- recognizes the fact that having a dog is also challenging from an economic point of view.
These new indications emerging from the study add to the knowledge we have on the causes of obesity ”.
Among the existing tools to assist owners in identifying overweight in a pet, there was emphasized by Dr.
Poncini, the
Body Condition Score (BCS
).
It can be performed without specialized tools and with ease even by the owners themselves, presenting the utmost attention and sensitivity, they take advantage of sight and touch.
Here's how
:
BCS is a system for evaluating the fattening status of an animal based on its observation and palpation.
The scale is not enough, the weight alone is not an exhaustive indicator of body condition: it is important to evaluate ribs, bony protrusions of the pelvis, vertebrae and abdomen.
How is the BCS established?
The vet assigns each dog or cat a BCS score ranging from 1 to 5: a value of 3 indicates an ideal body condition, scores less than 3 indicate that your dog or cat is underweight while scores greater than 3 indicate a condition of overweight.
