Assessment of canine and feline body composition by veterinary health care teams in Ontario, Canada.

Nutritional assessment guidelines recommend that veterinary teams assess the body composition of pets at every visit. The objective of this study was to determine how veterinary teams in Ontario, Canada assess body composition in cats and dogs. An online survey was distributed to veterinary teams, with questions on how often body composition is assessed, what methods are used, and demographics. The results demonstrated that 66.7% of respondents reported always assessing body composition. Of those, body condition scoring (99.4%) and body weight (99.4%) were used most often, with morphometry (41.2%) and muscle condition scoring (33.9%) used less frequently. Veterinary technicians were less likely to assess body composition compared with veterinarians. These results indicate that veterinary teams do not assess body composition as indicated by nutritional assessment guidelines. Thus, education of veterinary teams is needed, as body composition should be assessed for every patient as part of a complete nutritional assessment.