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Veterinary Sciences
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Overweight in Dogs: Underlying Causes, Methodology, Impact on Dog Health...
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Overweight in Dogs: Underlying Causes, Methodology, Impact on Dog Health and One Health Aspects

A special issue of Veterinary Sciences (ISSN 2306-7381).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2023) | Viewed by 9469

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Josefin Söder

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Clinical Sciences, Division of Veterinary Nursing, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 75007 Uppsala, Sweden
Interests: canine; overweight; prevention; body condition; BCS; body condition assessment; owner and dog interactions; shared lifestyle; metabolism; effects of physical activity; gut microbiota; one health aspects
Dr. Johanna Penell

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Clinical Sciences, Division of Veterinary Nursing, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 75007 Uppsala, Sweden
Interests: canine; equine; feline; longevity, morbidity; epidemiology, statistical analyis; gut microbiota; one health aspects
Dr. Katja Höglund

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 75007 Uppsala, Sweden
Interests: canine; feline; body weight; body condition; overweight; metabolism; gut microbiota; one health; cardiology; diagnostics; physiology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Overweight and obesity in dogs is an increasing problem, with a prevalence of up to 50% in many countries. Excess adiposity may have detrimental effects on dog health with a risk of an earlier onset of chronic diseases, reduced wellbeing and a shortened life.

Understanding the underlying causes of canine overweight development and risk factors involved can refine prevention strategies and reduce incidence. The development of new body condition assessment techniques can aid the identification, treatment and follow-up of overweight dogs in the clinic as well as in research settings. Perspectives on contributing management factors as well as knowledge and attitudes among dog owners are essential in understanding the complex etiology of canine overweight. The owner and dog relationship and the effects of a shared lifestyle on body conditions and health in owners and dogs warrants further investigation in a broader “One Health perspective”, to improve welfare and health in both people and dogs.

To highlight the importance of canine overweight management, we are pleased to invite you to this Special Issue, which aims to publish original research articles or reviews on “Overweight in Dogs: Underlying Causes, Methodology, Impact on Dog Health and One Health Aspects”. We call on researchers to contribute their recent findings, especially focusing on but not limited to the following areas related to overweight and/or obesity in dogs:

  • Underlying causes, risk factors, prevention and treatment;
  • Physiology, metabolism and gut microbiota;
  • Interventions of weight gain or weight loss;
  • Co-morbidities, concurrent diseases and welfare;
  • Effects of nutrition and/or physical activity;
  • Body condition (BCS) assessment;
  • Owner knowledge and attitudes;
  • Methodology and One Health aspects.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Josefin Söder
Dr. Johanna Penell
Dr. Katja Höglund
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Veterinary Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2100 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • dog or canine
  • overweight and/or obesity
  • obesity or overweight or nutritional disorders
  • weight loss intervention
  • metabolism or physiology or gut microbiota
  • body condition assessment or body condition score
  • health and/or welfare
  • One Health

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 523 KiB  
Article
Website Investigation of Pet Weight Management-Related Information and Services Offered by Ontario Veterinary Practices
by Shawna Morrow, Kehan Zhang, Sarah K. Abood and Adronie Verbrugghe
Vet. Sci. 2023, 10(12), 674; https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci10120674 - 27 Nov 2023
Viewed by 2350
Abstract
Pet owners rely on information and advice from their veterinary practice to effectively manage their pet’s weight. This study investigated weight management information and services displayed on practice websites in Ontario, Canada. Information collected from the websites of 50 randomly selected small and [...] Read more.
Pet owners rely on information and advice from their veterinary practice to effectively manage their pet’s weight. This study investigated weight management information and services displayed on practice websites in Ontario, Canada. Information collected from the websites of 50 randomly selected small and mixed-animal practices included practice and staff demographics and the type of weight management services, products, and information advertised or displayed. The most frequently advertised weight management service and product were nutritional counselling (34%) and therapeutic diets (25%), respectively. Current bodyweight measurement was advertised on just over half of the websites (54%), while physical therapy counselling was the least-advertised service (16%). Further statistical analyses were performed in an exploratory fashion to determine areas for future research. Binary logistic regression analyses were used to investigate the association between practice demographics and the type of weight management information advertised online. A maximum of two predictor variables were included in each regression model. Exploratory analyses indicated that when controlling for the number of veterinarians in each practice, having a higher number of veterinary technicians was associated with increased odds of a practice website advertising current bodyweight measurement by 80.1% (odds ratio (OR) = 1.80, p = 0.05). Additionally, when controlling the number of veterinary technicians, having a higher number of veterinarians was associated with increased odds of a practice website advertising sales of therapeutic diets by 119.0% (OR = 2.19, p = 0.04). When using corporate practices as reference, independently owned practices had decreased odds of advertising sales of treats and weight management accessories on their practice websites by 78.7% (OR = 0.21, p = 0.03). These preliminary results suggest that advertising weight management information is not prioritized on veterinary practice websites in Ontario, especially those with lower staff numbers. The findings of this study raise awareness on the current state of weight management promotion for pets on veterinary practice websites and highlight ways to improve upon a practice’s online presence. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Overweight in Dogs: Underlying Causes, Methodology, Impact on Dog Health and One Health Aspects)
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10 pages, 437 KiB  
Article
Serum Ferritin in Obese Dogs: Changes and Comparison with Other Analytes
by Lorena Franco-Martínez, Luis Pardo-Marín, Laura Sánchez-Mateos, Alberto Muñoz-Prieto, Juan Diego García-Martínez, José J. Cerón, Silvia Martínez-Subiela, Camila P. Rubio and Asta Tvarijonaviciute
Vet. Sci. 2023, 10(7), 457; https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci10070457 - 11 Jul 2023
Viewed by 2097
Abstract
Canine obesity is the most common nutritional disorder and is associated with decreased quality of life and longevity as well as comorbidities including cardiorespiratory, endocrine, oncologic, or orthopaedic disorders. Ferritin is a major acute-phase protein in dogs, increasing during inflammation; however, it could [...] Read more.
Canine obesity is the most common nutritional disorder and is associated with decreased quality of life and longevity as well as comorbidities including cardiorespiratory, endocrine, oncologic, or orthopaedic disorders. Ferritin is a major acute-phase protein in dogs, increasing during inflammation; however, it could also be affected by other conditions, including trauma, iron metabolism dysregulations, neoplasia, or hypoxia. Higher ferritin levels have been reported in obese humans, but ferritin has not been explored in canine obesity. To evaluate the possible changes in serum ferritin in canine obesity, ferritin levels from lean/normal weight (CG, n = 55) and overweight/obese dogs (OG, n = 37) were measured, together with complete hemogram and biochemical analyses. Statistically significant higher ferritin levels (1.2-fold) were found in OG (median, (interquartile range), 204 (166–227.5) µg/L) in comparison to CG animals (172 (137–210) µg/L)), with median levels of ferritin in OG dogs above the reference range for healthy animals in our laboratory (60–190 µg/L). In addition, statistically significant higher mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean cell haemoglobin concentration (MCHC), total proteins, globulins, haptoglobin, total ferric fixation capacity (TIBC), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), butyrylcholinesterase (BChE), triglycerides, and calcium were observed in OG in comparison to CG. The higher levels in ferritin, together with higher TBIC, haematocrit, and MCV, could indicate tissue hypoxia in obese dogs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Overweight in Dogs: Underlying Causes, Methodology, Impact on Dog Health and One Health Aspects)
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17 pages, 1612 KiB  
Article
Dog Owners’ Perceptions of Canine Body Composition and Effect of Standardized Education for Dog Owners on Body Condition Assessment of Their Own Dogs
by Sanna Gille, Hanna Fischer, Sanna Lindåse, Linda Palmqvist, Julia Lärka, Sara Wolf, Johanna Penell and Josefin Söder
Vet. Sci. 2023, 10(7), 447; https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci10070447 - 8 Jul 2023
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 4043
Abstract
Overweight in dogs is an increasing problem, with a prevalence of about 30% in Sweden. To prevent the negative health effects of overweight, it is important to identify and treat canine overweight. Dog owners are essential for such interventions. The aim of this [...] Read more.
Overweight in dogs is an increasing problem, with a prevalence of about 30% in Sweden. To prevent the negative health effects of overweight, it is important to identify and treat canine overweight. Dog owners are essential for such interventions. The aim of this study was to evaluate dog owners’ perceptions of various canine body compositions via indirect assessment based on photos and direct assessment of their own dogs. A second aim was to evaluate the effect of a standardized practical education for dog owners on body condition score (BCS) assessment of their own dogs. The 9-point BCS scale was used, and two study samples were recruited: one was a survey sample where 564 dog owners assessed the BCS of dogs using photos, and one sample was a separate clinical sample where 82 dogs were assessed by their owners and by veterinary health care personnel. The initial BCS assessment by the dog owners in the clinical sample (mean ± SD) was significantly lower (4.6 ± 1.0) than the BCS assessed by the veterinary health care personnel (5.2 ± 1.1), but the owners improved significantly after receiving the standardized education (5.1 ± 1.0) (both p < 0.0001) and performed as accurately as the veterinary health care personnel (p = 0.99). The results should be verified in the broader dog owner population based on a randomized selection of participants. “Weight blindness”, defined here as an underassessment of normal-weight dogs and an inability to identify overweight dogs, is likely to have a negative impact on canine overweight prevalence. Deeper knowledge about dog owners’ perceptions can inform the development of new strategies to help prevent and manage canine overweight, whereof standardized practical education on BCS assessment is shown here to be one example. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Overweight in Dogs: Underlying Causes, Methodology, Impact on Dog Health and One Health Aspects)
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