Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Weight loss reduces limping in obese dogs with arthritis
By Marshall, William G et al.·Published in Veterinary research communications·2010·Small Animal Hospital, United Kingdom·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: The effect of weight loss on lameness in obese dogs with osteoarthritis.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
Fourteen obese dogs with osteoarthritis (OA) were brought in for help with their limping. Over 16 weeks, they were put on a restricted-calorie diet and had regular check-ups to monitor their weight and lameness. The study found that losing just over 6% of their body weight significantly improved their limping, with even better results seen after losing about 9%. This shows that helping your overweight dog lose weight can greatly reduce their pain and improve their mobility.
People also search for: dog limping treatment · weight loss for obese dogs · osteoarthritis in dogs · how to help my dog lose weight
Abstract
This paper describes the effect of weight loss on lameness in obese dogs with osteoarthritis (OA). Fourteen obese client-owned dogs with clinical and radiographic signs of OA participated in an open prospective clinical trial. After a screening visit and a visit for collection of baseline data, the dogs were fed a restricted-calorie diet over a study period of 16 weeks that incorporated six follow-up visits. At each visit, body weight and pelvic circumference were measured and severity of lameness was assessed using a numeric rating scale (NRS), a visual analogue scale (VAS) and kinetic gait analysis. This is the first study to assess both subjectively and objectively, the effect of weight loss alone on lameness in obese dogs with OA. The results indicate that body weight reduction causes a significant decrease in lameness from a weight loss of 6.10% onwards. Kinetic gait analysis supported the results from a body weight reduction of 8.85% onwards. These results confirm that weight loss should be presented as an important treatment modality to owners of obese dogs with OA and that noticeable improvement may be seen after modest weight loss in the region of 6.10 - 8.85% body weight.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20237844/