The assesment of domestic cats body condition through direct and indirect methods

Abstract

The cats inability to adapt their enzymatic package to a domestic lifestyle and a restricted space of movement , for cats raised in appartments , made them more prone to overweight and obesity. Body scoring is a method of evaluation subjective and semiquantitative through inspection and palpation. Through the inspection and palpation of the fat that covers the chest , the presence or absence of the abdominal waist and the size of the belly fat are enough to establish the body score for cats. The biochemistry results showed significantlu changes of the parameters leptin, insulin, plasma total ghrelin, cholesterol and tryglicerides, which sustains their role in the adaptation of cats to a positive or negative energy balance. The purpose of this study is to change the owners perspective regarding the way they treat the physiologycal needs of their pets. They ignore their cats need for space, unlimited acces outside, their needs regarding the food, especially the increased requirements of proteins. The owners tend to mistakenly believe that a cat with an ideal score is underweight and that overweight cats are an ideal score.