title: Obesity Prevention and Weight Maintenance After Loss.
abstract: Obesity is one of the most prevalent medical diseases in pets. Outcomes are often disappointing; many animals either fail to reach target weight or regain weight. This article discusses managing obesity, focusing on prevention. It gives guidance on establishing monitoring programs that use regular body weight and condition assessments to identify animals at risk of inappropriate weight gain, enabling early intervention. Weight management in obese animals is a lifelong process. Regular weight and body condition monitoring are key to identifying animals that rebound early, while continuing to feed a therapeutic weight loss diet can help prevent it from happening.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Ageing & Chronic Disease, University of Liverpool, Leahurst Campus, Chester High Road, Neston CH64 7TE, Merseyside, UK; Institute of Veterinary Sciences, University of Liverpool, Leahurst Campus, Chester High Road, Neston CH64 7TE, Merseyside, UK. Electronic address: ajgerman@liverpool.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Alexander James
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: German
mesh_terms: D000822:Animal Husbandry; D000818:Animals; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control*; D002415:Cats; D004032:Diet / Q000662:veterinary; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004285:Dogs; D009765:Obesity / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000662:veterinary*; D010805:Physical Conditioning, Animal; D015431:Weight Loss
keywords: Cat; Dog; Nutrition; Overweight; Prophylaxis; Regain