Tackling canine obesity

At the University of Liverpool, we're working to identify the sentinels in a dog’s clinical record that indicate its likely progression to becoming obese or potentially diabetic.

Canine obesity is now recognised as the primary health concern in dogs worldwide, with over 50% of dogs estimated to be overweight, according to the Journal of Comparative Pathology. Obesity brings with it significant welfare impacts through associated co-morbidities, including diabetes.

Our research is focused on identifying the sentinels in a dog’s clinical record that indicate its likely progression to becoming obese or potentially diabetic. This could help veterinary practitioners spot at-risk animals and implement prevention strategies tailored for individual patients.

Our research aims to identify, in real-time, those dogs who are most likely to be on a journey to becoming overweight. We will also develop practitioner benchmarks for obesity to encourage both the identification of patients and greater recording of relevant measures in health records.