AAHA Nutritional Assessment Guidelines for Dogs and Cats

Abstract

(AVMA) added prevention of disease to the veterinary oath. Considering that the pet population is on the rise yet veterinary visits are declining, this change to the oath is very timely. AAHA is committed to ensuring that pets receive the preventive healthcare needed to keep them healthy and happy, and just as committed to providing tools to help veterinary professionals accomplish that. The various Guidelines published by AAHA are a great example of those tools. Four Guidelines specifically focus on being proactive in the prevention of disease, rather than being reactive and treating disease as it occurs: • The AAHA-AVMA Canine and Feline Preventive Healthcare Guidelines address the lack of understanding by the pet-owning public of the important relationship between regular health evaluations and the well-being of their pets. • The AAHA Canine Life Stage Guidelines and AAFP/AAHA Feline Life Stage Guidelines also address the importance of routine preventive care, along with the value of building strong relationships between the pet owner and the veterinarian. These Guidelines help veterinary teams understand unique and specific wellness and preventive healthcare necessary through the various stages of life, leading to the best possible care. • The AAHA Nutritional Assessment Guidelines for Dogs and Cats focus on the importance of nutritional assessments and dietary recommendations for every pet at every visit, including one of the fastest growing health issues facing both pets and humans today: obesity. As a veterinary professional, implementing any of the AAHA Guidelines will be beneficial to both your practice and the animals you serve. The Guidelines above are even more useful and powerful when integrated, with the focus on optimal preventive care. Wouldn't it be great to have more patients coming to you for preventive healthcare exams before problems start? All four of the Guidelines address prevention and have areas that overlap and complement one another. By combining them and implementing an approach to ensure all key topics and recommendations are covered during each visit, your team will be poised to provide optimal preventive care in a more efficient manner, leading to healthier patients and happier clients.

Feline obesity - prevalence, risk factors, pathogenesis, associated conditions and assessment: a review

“…Body fat percentage estimated using the 9-point BCS scale is repeatable and correlates well with body fat measured by DEXA (Laflamme 1997;German et al 2006;Bjornvad et al 2011;Borges et al 2012). BCS systems do not provide an assessment of muscle mass, and so muscle catabolism may not be recognised if muscle mass is not also assessed (Baldwin et al 2010;Michel et al 2011). Muscle catabolism can occur in sick, injured, underweight and overweight individuals, and is particularly easy to overlook in overweight and obese individuals, as the excess fat mass can obscure any muscle loss (Baldwin et al 2010;Michel et al 2011).…”

“…However, ideal body weight varies according to conformation and body weight alone does not provide any information on body composition . Nevertheless, body weight should be measured for each cat as part of the routine examination procedure to detect changes over time, and to facilitate early implementation of dietary changes to prevent obesity (Baldwin et al 2010;Brooks et al 2014). To improve accuracy and repeatability when weighing cats, it is recommended that well maintained paediatric scales or scales designed for small animals are used and that the same scales are used for repeated measurements of the same animal (Zoran 2009).…”

Effect of an extruded animal protein‐free diet on fecal microbiota of dogs with food‐responsive enteropathy

“…The HC and FRE dogs were clinically evaluated at the first visit (baseline), at which time clinical score indices were calculated (CIBDAI, FS and 9‐point body condition score chart [BCS]) 30. Both FRE and HC dogs started receiving the elimination APFD from baseline (day 0).…”

Domestic dog health worsens with socio-economic deprivation of their home communities

“…The body condition scored was based on the 9 point Body Condition Scale developed for dogs and cats (Baldwin et al 2010). A score between1-3 was considered too thin (emaciated, muscle mass loss, ribs, lumbar and pelvis easily visible and palpated), a score of 4-5 was considered ideal (ribs palpable but with some fat covering, abdominal tuck visible), and a score between 6-9 was considered too heavy.…”