Is your pet over-weight?

• Obesity is defined as an animal weighing 15% more than their ideal body weight.
• Weight often creeps onto your pet over several months or years, so it can be difficult to notice at first.
• Obesity is now considered a serious medical condition, as it can mean your pet is at risk of developing other problems.
• In a minority of cases there is an underlying medical condition which causes the obesity, but in most overweight pets, the problem is caused by a combination ofover-feeding and a lack of exercise

How do I tell if my pet is over-weight?

• For most breeds of dogs and cats there are recognised ''ideal'' weights, to which your pet can be compared.
• These ideal weight charts can be usually found in your veterinary surgery, or on the internet.
• However, there is a large variation between individuals of the same breed, so the weight charts can only be used as a guide.
• Also, for cross breeds, it can be difficult to determine an ideal weight as these charts deal only with pedigrees.

Weight charts are usually available in you vets, they are a good place to start when determining your pets ideal weight.

• This is one of the best ways of determining of whether your pet is the ideal weight or not.
• Using the techniques below, each animal can be assessed individually to determine if it is over weight or not.
• There are 3 main things to look at when condition scoring your pet;
  • Ribs and spine - run your hands along your pets sides and along their back. You should be able to easily feel the ribs and spine under a light covering of skin.
  • From above - you should see a waist behind the chest, where the ribs finish and the abdomen begins.
  • From the side - you should see a a nice 'abdominal tuck' where is body slopes upwards from the chest to the abdomen

Place your hands on your pets chest, you should be able to feel the ribs easily.	There should be an obvious 'abdominal tuck' behind your pets ribs.	From above, your pet should have an obvious waist.

• There are several different body condition scoring charts available and these can be used to determine if your pet is over or under weight, and if so, by how much.
• 9 point condition scoring chart - this uses a 9 point scale, number 5 is considered the ideal weight.
• 3 point condition scoring chart - this is a simpler method which uses only 3 points, under weight, ideal and overweight.

These 2 charts show the 9 point body condition scoring systems for cats and dogs. Number 5 is an ideal weight
Reproduced from Nestle Purina


This chart shows the 3 point body condition scoring system, dogs are shown here but it works for cats as well.
Reproduced from Nestle Purina