Body Condition Scoring Dogs

With around 40% of Australian dogs and 30% of cats being considered overweight or obese, which negatively impacts on their health and wellbeing, understanding body condition scoring, and how to do it with your pet regularly, is vital.

What is Body Condition Scoring?

Body condition scoring is a system used by vets and pet owners to assess the weight or ‘body condition’ of a pet. In Australia we use a 1 to 5 scale very 1 essentially represents very thin, and 5 very obese. I like it because it helps the communication between vets and pet parents and it is a simple technique to learn.

I also love it because weight management, alongside diet and exercise, are the keys to longevity so for pet parents to understand how to keep their pets at the correct weight is critical. Obesity impacts every body system!

Some breeds can hide being overweight better

I find that many pet parents have trouble scoring long haired breeds. It can be hard to visually assess weight as they can easily carry excess kilograms under long hair. Also Sighthound breeds, like whippets, can thicken around the trunk and carry weight without looking overweight.

My tip for pet parents with these breeds is showing them the easiest way to do body condition scoring, which is to run your hand lightly along the chest/ and ribs. You should be able to easily feel the ribs without having to ‘push in.’

Why some dogs struggle to lose weight more than others

Our pets are just like us. Some are blessed with a good metabolism and others a sluggish one. I strongly believe that pets manage their weight more easily when they’re fed a fresh food diet as it puts less pressure on organs.

Many dogs struggle with the high levels of carbohydrates in ultra-processed food, it puts a huge strain on the pancreas to produce enough insulin. I can absolutely say every dog that has come to me with weight issues has dropped weight by moving to a fresh food diet with high protein, high fat and minimal to no carbs.

Having said that though, it’s important to remember there can be other influences that can impact weight, the classic being an underactive or overactive thyroid so absolutely need to see your vet if you’re concerned about weight. You can also ask them to help you with body condition scoring at home so you can monitor their weight.

How to reduce their food by if they’re tying to lose weight

When it comes to food and reducing a dog or cat’s weight, I always recommend to start with a simple strategy.

Drop your current portion by 25% or ¼, anything more than this can be too much of a stress. I would expect pets to lose 1-2% per week on this method which, for a 10kg dog works out to be 100-200g/week. As well as the cutting the current portion by 25% I will also consider moving to lean meats such as the game meats.

Other ways to shift that weight

Exercise is also key to weight management in our pets.  No different to the human strategy.

It’s important to keep exercise consistent and one of my favourite tips is to just up the pace a little. Increasing the heart rate does wonders for weight management!

Exercise is also great for mental health which impacts weight management too so it’s a win win to pets and their parents!

Dr. Nicole Rous is a holistic veterinarian and the founder of Shy Tiger, an Australian owned pet care company. With a passion for natural and holistic health practices, she operates Mont Albert Veterinary Surgery in Melbourne, providing modern, professional and affordable health care for pets. More at Shy Tiger and Mont Albert Vet.