![]() ![]() This is how a healthy pet’s ribs should feel.Ĭlose your fingers into a fist and feel your knuckles again-this is an underweight pet. Open your hand, palm down, and run the fingers of your opposite hand over the knuckles. Use your hand to appreciate how a healthy weight, underweight, and overweight pet feels. If you’re a tactile learner, this tip may be helpful. #4: Get a feel (literally) for your pet’s weight Anything above or below a five (i.e., ideal weight) is worth a veterinary examination. Once you’ve felt your pet’s body and assessed their profile, take a look at the body condition scoring chart and see where they rank. As no two pets are alike-including those of the same breed-body condition provides a subjective, but relatively accurate, estimate of your pet’s physical composition. Similar to a human body mass index (BMI), body condition evaluates your pet’s fat covering in relation to their individual structure. Your pet’s weight is less about the number on the scale and more about their body condition. Image Source: American Veterinary Medical Association #3: Determine your pet’s body condition score If your pet has no indentation or tuck-up behind their ribs, or seems to have no “curves,” they are carrying unnecessary body weight. This primordial pouch serves as extra protection for their internal organs in a fight or attack, and may assist the cat when running fully extended. This check is best performed while your pet is standing, to prevent extra skin from altering their outline.Ĭats normally have an obvious pouch or skin fold that hangs below the abdomen, and this does not always indicate weight gain-in fact, this extra skin can be found on thin cats. ![]() With short-coated or hairless breeds, you should be able to see a defined waist when you view your pet from above, and a slight tuck-up after the ribs when viewed from the side. #2: Get a new view-check out your pet’s profile In a healthy weight pet, a layer of fat and connective tissue insulates and protects these areas, but in a pet who consumes excessive calories or burns insufficient calories (i.e., does not exercise enough), the body lays down extra fat stores along these areas. If you must press with your fingers to locate these bony landmarks, or cannot feel them at all, your pet is overweight. You should be able to easily feel your pet’s ribs and spine without much pressure. Here are five tips for checking your pet’s weight. Learning how to assess your pet’s body condition is a crucial first step toward preventing pet obesity, and can allow you to take action before permanent complications arise. Obese pets can also experience prolonged recovery times from illness and injury, delayed healing, heightened stress and anxiety during an emergency, and weight-related complications, such as respiratory distress, reduced cardiovascular health, and impaired or painful mobility. Unfortunately, pet obesity is more than an aesthetic concern, because excessive body weight can cause or contribute to serious health issues (e.g., arthritis, cancer, kidney disease, chronic pain) and shorten your pet’s life.Īt UrgentVet, we routinely witness conditions resulting from pet obesity such as arthritis, injury, and unregulated diabetes. More than 60% of cats and 58% of dogs are classified as overweight or obese-roughly 56 million cats and 50 million dogs. Pet obesity is an epidemic in North America. ![]()
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