Estudo comparativo entre quatro métodos de aferição de condição corporal em cães

Abstract

Given the difficulty of accurately diagnosing the body condition in dogs, and the difference in results between the two available methods, the aim of this study was to compare four different methods of measuring the body condition of dogs. Such methods are: body condition score; canine body mass index; morphometric measurements; and ultrasound. The study also aimed at verifying the equivalence of these methods, and their extrapolation to total body fat. In addition to verifying the relations between body condition and castration, sex, age, diet, we sought to identify possible traits that interfere with the evaluation by any of the methods, as well as verify the possibility of assigning cutoff points for the ultrasound method. We evaluated 80 dogs from the Veterinary Hospital of the Universidade Federal de Lavras, using the four abovementioned measurement methods. The methods had significant relations, with strong association between them, with the exception of the ultrasound method. We observed good relation between the methods for extrapolating body fat percentage, also with the exception of the ultrasound method. We also observed relation between higher rates of obesity and overweight in females, castrated dogs, elderly and animals fed the basic feed, in relation to the super premium feed. The ultrasound method was not a good gauge of body condition for dogs. The best cutoff points for overweight and obesity did not show satisfactory sensitivity and specificity. In general, we conclude that there may be discrepancies in evaluating dogs using different methods. The veterinarian is responsible for making a critical clinical evaluation, individualizing each animal and adopting the most convenient method.