How can you assess your pet's nutrition status at home
Nutrition was recently recognized as the 5th vital assessment in pets by the World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA). This means that nutrition is an essential element when assessing a pet by every veterinarian during every physical examination
The other four vital assessments of pets are
1. Temperature
2. Pulse
3. Respiration
4. Pain
Nutrition is key to longevity and good health. Therefore it's important that a pet's nutritional status is looked into during every vet visit. My clients who are interested in understanding how nutrition affects vitality would agree that I make it a point to advice about talk about each pet's diet, their nutrition and if it needs any improvement. It's lovely how such pet owners consider nutrition as important and how they reach out for advice
In addition to the role of the veterinarian, as pet owners it is your duty too to monitor and comply to the nutritional status and nutritional needs of your pet. This is a part of responsible pet ownership
Nutritional assessment
This consists of several elements such as history taking and biochemical testing that could be assessed by a veterinarian and diet evaluation that can be done by a veterinary nutritionist. In addition to this there is another part of the nutritional assessment that can be performed by any pet owner right at the comfort of his or her home
Performing a nutritional assessment at home by pet owners
There are two types of charts to consider to monitor the nutritonal status of dogs and cats
1. Body Condition Score (BCS)
2. Muscle Condition Score (MCS)
These are two charts defined and illustrated by WSAVA (World Small Animal Veterinary Association)
For dogs:
For cats:
By assessing the BCS chart, give your own pet a score. The ideal BCS for a dog or cat is 5/9
If the BCS of your pet is not 5 but
>5 ➡️ your pet needs a weight loss plan
<5 ➡️ your pet needs a weight gain plan
Muscle condition Scores should also be monitored in parellel to BCS to get an idea of your pet's nutritional status in the muscles. A pet with ideal body condition score but less muscles may suffer from an underlying disease or may lack certain nutrients while a pet with ideal body condition score but higher muscle mass may also lack certain other nutrients
Therefore it is important that your pet is in line with the ideal scores of both the BCS chart and the MCS chart
While a veterinarian can help find out any underlying health conditions a veterinary nutritionist can help identify any dietary setbacks and bring your pet to their ideal body condition score and muscle condition score
What is your pet's BCS and MCS? Drop down in the comments below
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References and image sources:
1. Mackay C. Nutrition--the '5th vital assessment'. J Feline Med Surg. 2011 Jul;13(7):484. doi: 10.1016/j.jfms.2011.05.003. PMID: 21704896; PMCID: PMC11107978.
2. WSAVA guidelines
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