Veterinaria

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The epidemiology of canine and feline obesity
Dr Marianne DIEZ, PhD, Dipl. ECVCN, Master of Conferences of Animal Nutrition
Department of Animal Productions, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Liège, Belgium

Marianne Diez graduated from the University of Liège in 1989. She joined the AnimalNutrition 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 clinicalnutrition since 2000. Her research interests include dietary fibers, prebiotics and obesity in companion animals.

Patrick Nguyen, DVM, MS, RDH, Dipl. ECVCN
ENVN Atlanpôle - La Chantrerie ; BP 40706 44307 Nantes cedex 03, France

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 thenewly 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 since2001. 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 ofthe 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 inboth 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 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 rateThe 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 whetherthe 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

Introduction The treatment of obesity in small animalsis 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.
2 WALTHAM Focus
Vol 16 No 1
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2006

The epidemiology of canine and feline obesity

Table 1. Incidence rate of obesity in canine and feline populations...