Process / pipelineNutritional assessment
Body Condition Score for Dogs and Cats
Body condition scoring is a systematic clinical assessment method for evaluating a dog's or cat's body fat and muscle mass relative to ideal standards. Developed and standardized by Purina and veterinary nutrition experts in the 1990s-2000s, it provides objective evaluation of nutritional status, guides dietary management, and identifies obesity and malnutrition as contributors to disease. Body condition scoring is fundamental to preventive medicine and geriatric care in small animal practice.
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Sources
- Purina PetCare Company. (2006). Body Condition Score Charts for Dogs and Cats. Retrieved from Purina ProPlan Veterinary Diets resource center. link ↗
- German, A. J., Holden, S. L., Meurisse, B., et al. (2018). Long-term weight loss is effective and improves quality of life in obese dogs. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, 32(4), 1201-1212. DOI: 10.1111/jvim.15112 ↗
- Scarlett, J. M., Donoghue, S. (2012). Associations between body condition and disease in cats. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 214(11), 1644-1649. DOI: 10.2460/javma.1998.214.11.1644 ↗