The epidemiology of canine and feline obesity
Updated:
MAR 01, 2006
Read
Marianne Diez
PhD, Dipl. ECVCN, Master of conferences of Animal Nutrition
Marianne Diez graduated from the University of Liège in 1989. She joined the Animal Nutrition Unit in 1991, after a short period in small animal practice. She was awarded a PhD in 1998 and became a founding Diplomate of the ECVCN (European College of Veterinary and Comparative Nutrition) in 2000. Since 1998, she has been developing a practice in clinical nutrition at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Liège. She has been a lecturer in general animal nutrition and clinical nutrition since 2000. Her research interests include dietary fibers, prebiotics and obesity in companion animals.
Patrick Nguyen
DVM, MS, RDH, Dipl. ECVCN
Patrick Nguyen graduated from the Veterinary School of Alfort (France) in 1977. He was Assistant Professor at the Nutrition department for 2 years before moving on to the newly founded Veterinary school of Nantes. In 1982, he gained the “aggrégation” in Nutrition and became Professor. He also received a Research Habilitation from the University of Nantes and became a Diplomate of the European College of Veterinary and Comparative Nutrition. Since 1996, he has been head of the Nutrition and Alimentation unit and head of the Biology and Pharmacology Department since 2001. His research interests include obesity and insulin resistance in companion animals (in collaboration with the Human Nutrition Research Center of Nantes). He is also involved in applied research projects like those on consequences of neutering in cats and on digestive sensitivity in large breed dogs. Patrick has published more than 100 papers and research abstracts. He has been President of the European College of Veterinary and Comparative Nutrition since 2004.
Key Points
- The frequency of canine and feline obesity is at least 20 % in industrialized countries
- The number of risk factors is high in both species, with age being particularly important
- In the dog, breed, gender and inactivity are major risk factors
- In the cat, obesity is related with inactivity and neutering in both genders
- Excess food intake is always observed in both species. This is mainly due to an anthropomorphic behavior of the owner
- Many diseases are associated with obesity in both species
Introduction
The treatment of obesity in small animals is a major challenge for the veterinary profession. The efficacy of prevention and treatment of obesity relies on a sound knowledge of the risk factors and a thorough understanding of the pathophysiology associated with the condition. This paper will review the epidemiology of obesity in the dog and cat. Several epidemiological factors are common to both species, whilst others differ and these will be discussed separately.
Incidence rate
The incidence rate of obesity in dogs presented for consultation varies from 24 to 44% depending on the author, the site of the epidemiological study, and the definition of initial criteria (Table 1). All of the studies that have been performed in veterinary clinics in industrialized countries give a prevalence of obesity in dogs of at least 20%. The epidemiological data does not indicate whether the frequency of obesity has increased over the last 10 years, however obesity is a major medical problem in the canine population.
In the cat, the incidence rate of obesity, which was very low in the 1970's, now exceeds 20%, regardless of the site of the epidemiological study.
Risk factors
Table 2 summarizes the various risk factors for obesity and compares them between dogs and cats. Some risk factors are associated with energy intake, others with energy expenditure, whilst several factors act on both intake and expenditure.
Energy supply comes from ingested, digested and metabolized food. In mammals, expenditure can be classified into three categories: basal metabolism in mammals, postprandial thermogenesis and physical activity, representing 60, 10 and 30% of energy expenditure respectively. The contribution of each of these components varies significantly, according to the frequency and intensity of physical activity, which is the key variable in the expenditure side of the energy equation. However, basal metabolism would appear to be a stable independent factor, which is primarily determined by the proportion of lean body mass (accounting for 90-95% of basal metabolic energy expenditure compared to 5 to 10% for the fat mass) (Figure 1). In the dog, basal metabolism represents between 55 and 70% of the total expenditure. [...]
About
How to reference this publication (Harvard system)?
(2006) “The epidemiology of canine and feline obesity”, Canine and Feline Obesity - Veterinary Focus - Vol. 16(1), Mar. 2006. Available at: https://www.ivis.org/library/veterinary-focus/canine-and-feline-obesity-veterinary-focus-vol-161-mar-2006/epidemiology-of-canine-and-feline-obesity (Accessed: 25 March 2023).
Author(s)
Copyright Statement
© All text and images in this publication are copyright protected and cannot be reproduced or copied in any way.Subscribe
Access to the content of the Veterinary Focus website is reserved for animal health professionals. If you do not yet have a user account with Royal Canin you can create a free account by selecting the New User form. Subscription to the journal is free and issues in your preferred language can be obtained at the Veterinary Focus website.
Comments (0)
Ask the author
0 comments