Weighty Issues: Body Condition Scoring

So, now that we have discussed that obesity is a disease that is preventable and manageable, it’s time to figure out where each of our pets fall in the spectrum of obesity. To do that, we need a few different pieces of information: a weight, and a body condition score.

The first thing most people do when bringing their dog to the clinic is to pop them on the clinic scale. When cats come out of the carrier, the first place they land is on the cat scale. This is a vital piece of information for the veterinary clinic, as it allows us to accurately dose your pet should he or she need any medication, and we can also track the weight over progressive visits to monitor weight gain or weight loss.

But veterinarians and technicians are also assessing a body condition score. When we give your pet a good rub down in the room, we aren’t just being friendly. We are feeling fat padding, muscle tone and the prominence of bones like ribs and hips. Based on this tactile assessment and also a visual look at the waist and belly, we assign your pet a body condition score. Body condition scores can be out of 9 or 5, and this allows us to translate whether that 10kg dog is healthy, overweight or underweight.

You can do body condition scoring at home. It takes a bit of practice, and keep in mind that body condition scores are subjective analysis of your pet. Don’t be surprised if you and your vet disagree slightly in the scoring – we all tend to be a bit more optimistic regarding the health and weight of our own pets, where as your vet likely has a more critical eye. Personal experience can also affect how we view weight issues – what we perceive as normal will be very different depending if we spend all day at the dog park watching pudgy labs play,  versus spending time at a sport-dog competition where pets are typically more trim.  

To perform a body condition assessment, start with feeling your pet over its chest area, using light palpation. You are gauging how prominent the ribs are. Ideally, you should not have to dig too deeply to be able to feel your pet’s ribs.

Next, move your palpation down to your pet’s abdomen. You are feeling for the presence of a waistline and also a “tummy-tuck”. Now run your hands down your pet’s spine, hips and tail, feeling for excess fat accumulation. Cats in particular are prone to developing a fat pad in front of their hind legs. If your previously-overweight cat has been on a weight-loss program and is doing well, don’t be surprised if this fat pad remains longer than you’d like. It’s often the last evidence of obesity to disappear.

Compare what you feel and see to the scoring charts – there are different ones for toy, small, medium, large and giant breed dogs and also cats: http://www.pet-slimmers.com/pet-obesity/how-to-tell-if-your-pet-is-overweight.aspx

If you’ve done this scoring and feel your pet is anything other than ideal (4-5/9), call your veterinarian today to discuss what you can do to get your pet in its optimal body condition.

Vanessa Tonn, DVM
Bowmanville Veterinary Clinic