As with humans, obesity can cause health problems for your pets making it important that their weight, more importantly BCS (Body Condition Score) is managed for optimum health.
๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ฑ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด?
BCS is a management tool that can be used to evaluate the nutritional status of animals. Body condition, or fat cover, is an indication of the energy reserves in an animal.
BCS for dogs and cats uses a range from 1 to 5. Healthy dogs and cats should have a body condition score between 3 and 4. Dogs or cats with a body condition score of 1 or 2 indicate a management or health problem. Body condition scores of 5 indicate an excessive amount of condition that could be detrimental to the dog or catโs health.
๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฟ๐ผ๐น๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ท๐ผ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ?
Joints are junctions between two or more bones which bind the skeleton together giving structure and binding muscles to move bones to undertake various actions.
There are many types of joints the most common of which are joints which are freely moveable, examples being the knee, hip, elbow, shoulder, and fingers. Other joint types have no movement or those which have very little movement.
From this you can see obesity can and does have negative effects on the joints.
๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ผ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐๐?
Obesity is a nutritional disease that is defined by an excess of body fat associated with eating more calories than the pet is using. Your pet could be eating more than he/she should (scraps from the table and frequent treats can make the problem worse).
๐๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ผ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ป ๐ป๐๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป
However, it is important to note that an increase in weight could be related to a health problem and causes include hypothyroidism, insulinoma, hyperadrenocorticism (Cushingโs Disease).
Obesity is ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ๐ญ๐บ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐บ๐ฑ๐ฆ 2 ๐ฅ๐ช๐ข๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฆ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ค๐ข๐ต๐ด ๐ญ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ, as well as presenting a severe risk to the liver in cases whereby the cat may not eat for a few days.
Excess fat/weight in young-middle age animals is the biggest cause of arthritis issues later in life. However, it is not just the weight, but the fact that ๐ง๐ข๐ต ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ด ๐ข๐ด ๐ข ๐ด๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ง๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐น๐บ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ณ๐ข๐ฅ๐ช๐ค๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด which can lead to joint degeneration.
๐๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐๐๐ผ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ผ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐๐
DOGS: health issues include diabetes, heart disease and arthritis.
CATS: health issues include diabetes like diabetes, cancer, arthritis and skin problems.
๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฝ?
– Consider taking your pet to the vet who will conduct a thorough examination and provide advice based on their assessment of your pet.
– Start your kitten or puppy on a programme to maintain a healthy body mass.
– You can also check your petโs BCS HERE, as this will allow you to see if your pet is needing intervention regarding obesity or not.
Addresses and contact details for our Vetshops nationally https://savetshops.co.za/contact-us/
SOURCES:
Cummings Veterinary Medical Center
Michigan State University
PetMD
Sharecare โ Joshua J. Stone on behalf of National Academy of Sports Medicine Fitness
