Obesity is the most common nutritional disorder in companion animals, causing significant welfare suffering through joint disease, breathing difficulties, and reduced lifespan.
Companion animal obesity is a welfare crisis that is almost entirely preventable through owner education and behaviour change. The animals themselves cannot control their food intake - they depend entirely on their owners for portion control and exercise. Welfare improvement requires helping owners overcome the emotional barriers to restricting food - the social bonding through feeding that many owners describe - and replacing food-based affection with other forms of positive interaction. Veterinary weight management clinics and regular body condition scoring at health checks provide the professional touchpoint needed for early intervention. Treating obesity as the welfare issue it is, rather than a lifestyle choice, is the foundation of effective prevention.