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Currently, 55.8% or more of dogs are overweight or obese.* Having an overweight body condition increases the risk of developing cardiopulmonary disease, diabetes, osteoarthritis, liver disease, pancreatitis, and even some cancers.
KEEPING A LEAN BODY CONDITION SCORE HAS BEEN SHOWN TO EXTEND LIFESPAN BY ALMOST TWO YEARS.
Despite this, obesity is often underdiagnosed in our busy veterinary practices today.
Our goal with this video is to support veterinarians and veterinary technicians in assessing a body condition score and calculating an ideal body weight. This will help us work towards maintaining an optimal body condition or targeting a reduced more healthy weight, reducing disease incidence and improving quality of life for our dogs.
*2018 Pet Obesity Survey Results. Association for Pet Obesity Prevention, 12 Mar. 2019. petobesityprevention.org/2018
Muscle condition scoring (MCS) takes body condition scoring (BCS) one step further. BCS assesses the animal’s fat stores, while MCS assesses the animal’s muscle.
MCS is assessed by visualization and palpation of the spine, scapulae, skull, and wings of the ilia. Muscle loss is typically first noted in the epaxial muscles on each side of the spine. Muscle loss at other sites can be more variable.
MCS is graded as normal, mild loss, moderate loss, or severe loss. Palpation is especially important when muscle loss is mild and in animals who are overweight.
Muscle loss can be the result of aging, injury, or illness. Overweight pets can have significant muscle loss, just as thin pets can have normal muscle mass. This is why assessing both BCS and MCS on every animal at every vet visit is important.
