This document discusses body condition scoring for dogs and cats. It describes several grading scales used to assess body condition, from 3 grades to 9 grades. The scales evaluate visible bones, abdominal tuck, fat deposits, and other characteristics. Proper body condition is important to avoid health risks like metabolic disorders, orthopedic issues, and certain cancers. The Body Condition Score (BCS) method involves palpating specific body regions and comparing to criteria for each grade from emaciated to obese. Photos show examples of cats and dogs at each BCS grade.

1. Body ConditionBody Condition
ScoreScore
Dogs and CatsDogs and Cats
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2. Risk Possibility
• Metabolic disorder
– hyperlipidemia, insulin resistance, glucose intolerace or hepatic
lipidosis
• Endocrinopaty
– hyperadrenocortisism, hypotiroidism, diabetes mellitus,
insulinoma, hypopituitarism atau hipotalamic lesion
• Orthopaedic
– osteoarthritis, humeral condylar fractures, cranial cruciate
ligament rupture atau intervertebral disk disease
• Cardiorespiratory
– tracheal collapse, brachycephalic airway obstruction syndrome
atau laryngeal paralysis

3. Risk Possibility
• Urethral sphincter mechanism incompetence,
urolithiasis especially calcium oxalat crystal,
transitional cell carcinoma and dystocia
• Neoplasia
– mammary tumor, or transitional cell carcinoma
• Other risk of diseases :
– osteoatrhritis and other joint diseases
– respiratory compromise (dispnea, hypertension)
– exercise intolerance, heat stroke or heat intolerance
– immunosupression
– reduced life expenctancy

4. Clinical Relevance Techniques
• Body Weight
• Body Condition Score
• Morphometric measurement
• Body Mass Index
• Dilutional techniques
• Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA)
• Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry

5. Research techniques
• Densitometry
• Computed Tomography (CT)
• Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
• Total body electrical conductivity
• Total body potassium
• Neutron activation analysis

6. BCS Method
• Semi-quantitative subjective evaluation
method combining visible characteristic
and palpation of a certain regions of the
body.
• This evaluation is conducted in
accordance with simple criteria : size and
location of major adipose deposit, the
visible and invisible structure and
silhouette of animal

7. Grades
• 3 grades
– 1=slim
– 2=optimal
– 3=excessive

8. Grades
• 5 grades (Edney & Smith, 1986)
– 1=gaunt
– 2=slim
– 3=optimal
– 4=overweight
– 5=obese

9. Grades
• 9 grades (Laflamme, 1993, Laflamme et al., 1994)
– 1-4=emaciated to slim
– 5=optimal
– 6-9=increasingly overweight

10. Cat BCS 1
• Ribcage, spine,
shoulder blade and
pelvis easily visible
• Obvious loss of
muscle mass
• No palpable fat on rib
cage

11. Cat BCS 2
• Ribcage, spine,
shoulder blades and
pelvis visible
• Obvious abdominal
tuck (waist)
• Minimal abdominal fat

12. Cat BCS 3
• Ribcage, spine not
visible but easily
palpable
• Obvious abdominal
tuck (waist)
• Little abdominal fat

13. Cat BCS 4
• Ribcage, spine not
easily palpable
• Abdominal tuck
(waist) absent
• Obvious abdominal
distension

14. Cat BCS 5
• Massive thoracic,
spinal and abdominal
fat deposits
• Massive abdominal
distension

15. Dog BCS 1
• Ribcage, spine,
shoulder baldes and
pelvis easily visible
(short hair)
• Obvious loss of
muscle mass
• No palpable fat on
ribcage

16. Dog BCS 2
• Ribcage, spine,
shoulder blades and
pelvis visible
• Obvious abdominal
tuck (waist)
• No palpable fat on
ribcage

17. Dog BCS 3
• Ribcage, spine,
shooulder blades and
pelvis not visible but
easily palpable
• Obvious abominal
tuck (waist)
• Thin layer of fat tissue
palpable on ribcage

18. Dog BCS 4
• Ribcage, spine,
shoulder blades and
hibones palpable with
difficulty
• Abdominal tuck
(waist) absent
• Fat deposit obvious
on spine and base of
tail

19. Dog BCS 5
• Massive fat deposit
on thorax, spine and
base of tail
• Obvious abdominal
distension