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Introduction:
Obesity is a condition where excess body fat has developed to the point that health is adversely affected . Obesity is a modern-day epidemic; the results of a survey between 2015 and 2016 in the United States found that 40% of over 27,000 adult people had obesity . Unfortunately, there is no universally accepted definition of canine and feline obesity. Different publications define obesity as being more than 15%, 20%, and 30% above the ideal weight. The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) has recently endorsed a recommendation for a uniform definition, whereby obesity is present when a dog or cat is >30% above its ideal weight. Body condition scoring (BCS) is the most commonly used method to document adiposity in companion animals, and 30% above the ideal weight corresponds to a score of 8/9 using the preferred nine-point system; this is equivalent to a score of 4.5 using the five-point system with half units. Dogs and cats are considered overweight when their weight is more than 10–20% above their ideal weight, and their corresponding BCS is either 6/9 or 7/9 (3.5/5 and 4/5) . Using BCS, 54% of dogs and 59% of cats in the United States are estimated to be overweight or obese, while a recent study in the United Kingdom classified 65% of adult dogs and 37% of juvenile dogs as overweight or obese.
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