Overweight and obesity in dogs seen at a veterinary hospital 2006-2015

Abstract

Overweight and obesity contribute to a variety of disease processes and negatively affect quality of life in dogs. A considerable number of epidemiological studies performed in a variety of canine communities revealed varied prevalence, and identified associated risk factors, including neutering. Associations between excessive body weight and certain diseases, including orthopedic diseases, were also reported. However, risk factors and disease associations of overweight and obesity in a larger population of dogs seen in recent years at a single referral veterinary hospital remains undefined. The present study utilized descriptive statistics and logistic regression models to characterize prevalence, risk factors, and disease associations of excessive body weight (both overweight and obesity) in 40,038 dogs that visited the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital at the University of California, Davis from January 2006 to December 2015. The overall prevalence of overweight and obesity in 40,038 dogs were 21.1% (n = 8461) and 20.2% (n = 8089) respectively. Dogs that were neutered, female, and considered middle-aged or senior were at increased risk of overweight and obesity. Certain breed types, including Retriever and Spaniel, and certain disease processes, including orthopedic diseases, were also at increased risk of overweight and obesity. Overweight and obesity are prevalent problems, which can benefit from continual education to raise awareness of the scale of the problem to both the veterinary community and the general public. Structured disease surveillance plans monitoring these associated factors also help to guide further research and to better prevent overweight and obesity.