Nutritional and environment aspects of canine obesity/Aspectos nutricionais e ambientais da obesidade canina

Obesity is the most common nutritional disease in dogs and may cause many changes in body systems and limit the longevity of the animals. Many factors contribute to the development of obesity in dogs, as genetics, breed, age, lack of physical activity, caloric food composition, type and form of nutr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ciência rural 2014-11, Vol.44 (11), p.2039
Main Authors: Aptekmann, Karina Preising, Suhett, Weslem Garcia, Mendes, Jr., Aguinaldo Francisco, Souza, Graziela Baroni, Tristao, Ana Paula Pinto Araujo, Adams, Felipe Kunz, Aoki, Caroline Godoi, Palacios Junior, Reinaldo Juan Garrido, Carciofi, Aulus Cavalieri, Tinucci-Costa, Mirela
Format: Article
Language:Spanish
Subjects:
Analysis
Dogs
Pets
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Summary:Obesity is the most common nutritional disease in dogs and may cause many changes in body systems and limit the longevity of the animals. Many factors contribute to the development of obesity in dogs, as genetics, breed, age, lack of physical activity, caloric food composition, type and form of nutrition, hormonal disorders, medicine, and factors related to the owners. Due to the lack of studies on the nutritional and environmental aspects involved in the development of canine obesity, the present study aimed to obtain information through owners surveys. Interviews with 254 owners of overweight or obese dogs were conducted at University Veterinary Hospitals. Dogs were selected through body condition score (BCS) from 6 to 9, according to the scale described by LAFLAMME (1997). The data were coded, tabulated and submitted to frequency analysis and correlation (Spearman Test). Most affected dogs were castrated adult female of mixed breeds (33%) or poodles (17%). For most respondents (36%), food excess was the possible reason for the weight gain of pets. Only half of the owners have tried to achieve weight control of their pet, especially reducing the amount of food. There was no correlation between body condition of the owner, educational level, family income and home environment of the owners with pets BCS. Information obtained may help identifying nutritional and environmental factors involved in the development of obesity in dogs and can provide better preventive measures and strategies for treatment. Key words: dog, survey, feeding, epidemiology. A obesidade e a doenca nutricional mais frequente em caes, leva a uma serie de alteracoes nas funcoes corporais e limita a longevidade dos animais. Varios fatores contribuem para o desenvolvimento da obesidade em caes, como genetica, raca, idade, falta de atividade fisica, composicao calorica dos alimentos, tipo e a forma de alimentacao, disturbios hormonais, medicamentos e fatores relacionados com os proprietarios. Devido a falta de estudos sobre os aspectos nutricionais e ambientais envolvidos no desenvolvimento da obesidade canina, o presente trabalho objetivou obter estas informacoes por meio de enquetes a proprietarios. Foram realizadas 254 entrevistas com proprietarios de caes com sobrepeso ou obesos, atendidos em Hospitais Veterinarios Universitarios. Selecionaram-se caes com escore de condicao corporal (ECC) de 6 a 9, de acordo com escala descrita por LAFLAMME (1997). A maioria dos caes acometidos eram fe
ISSN:0103-8478
1678-4596
DOI:10.1590/0103-8478cr20130524