Body Condition Scoring your Pets

The importance of your pet maintaining an ideal weight was discussed in the last post.  In this article we would like to give you the tools to evaluate your pets' weight at home.  This is valuable to monitor how an exercise and food change is progressing, a spot check as your puppy or kitten grows, and to keep tabs on your older pet as they slow down.  We use something called body condition scoring.  We look at both the profile (side) view, and down on your pet from above.  There are some characteristics that we look for to evaluate where they rank on the scale.  On the side view, the dogs' abdomen should be thinner, or go up, from the chest.  From the top view, the abdomen should again be smaller than the chest, which is seen as a waist.  The hindquarters should be wider than the abdomen using this top view.  When you touch your pet, use your fingertips just behind the front legs on either side of the chest, and you should be able to feel the ribs easily under the skin while moving your hands back and forth a bit.  If you have to dig a little, there is too much padding!  However, you should not be able to see the ribs.   The charts below are a good reference to see where your pet ranks on the scale.  A score of 5 is ideal.  Cats' looks are a little bit different, but still a great way to track progress.  On the profile view, cats should have a relatively straight line along the lower edge of the abdomen from just above the elbow to just above the knee.  From the top view they should also be fairly straight on either side of the body with just a slight waist.  If your kitty is "pear shaped" on this view, you know you have some work ahead of you.  Likewise on the profile view if the belly is lower than the chest, your cat is packing an extra pound or two.  Or if your cat is too thin, that is not good either, and may be a sign of disease. 
    Paying attention to your pets weight and keeping it in the "ideal" range will help them to live a more active and longer life with you.  Which is really whhi