An overweight/obesity survey among dogs and cats attended at a veterinary teaching hospital during the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Anecdotal reports suggest that the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 pandemic (COVID-19) has increased overweight and obesity prevalence in dogs and cats. The present report aimed to perform a retrospective overweight/obesity survey on 1,001 consecutive cases attended in the Veterinary Clinics Hospital from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul during its reopening to the public after months closed due to the pandemic. The overall overweight or obesity observed prevalence was 36.63%; being the frequency in cats slightly greater (38.37%) than compared to dogs (35.76%). No local increase in these frequencies was detected. Neutering (dogs and cats), age greater than 10 years (dogs), and male gender (cats) were factors associated with overweight/obesity. Bodyweight was not registered in about 30% of the medical records, while the body condition score was not registered in about 50% of the cases. These flaws were more often observed in feline medical records and efforts to improve these data records are warranted.