Use of body condition scores in clinical assessment of the provision of optimal nutrition.
Abstract: No abstract available
Publication Date: 2000-09-08 PubMed ID: 10976293DOI: 10.2460/javma.2000.217.650Google Scholar: Lookup
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Summary
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The research paper focuses on the use of Body Condition Scores (BCS) to determine whether an animal is receiving optimal nutrition, and how various factors – such as production goals, diseases, and physical conditions can impact this.
Understanding Optimal Nutrition
- The idea of providing optimal nutrition has been supported by diet manufacturers and nutritionists for a long time. This involves providing a balanced diet to animals considering the desired outcome or activity for each animal.
- As an example, the nutritional requirements for an animal exerting maximum effort for a short duration will be different from that of an animal exerting less than maximum effort but for a longer period under challenging conditions.
- Also, the focus of nutrition can vary between a rapid growth rate or production versus more moderate growth with lowered disease risk.
- Specific diseases or conditions can also influence the optimal nutrient profile and feeding strategy for an animal.
Body Condition Score (BCS)
- Whether or not optimal nutrition is being achieved is often measured by the specific performance goal. However, many times a preliminary or intermediate evaluation is needed.
- In these cases, the BCS can be an effective measure. BCS is a method used to evaluate body fat and muscle conditions.
- The research talks about the use of integer scales to score the conditions, the scores can range from a simple three-category assessment to more complex 9-integer scale divided to 0.1 units, and up to as robust as 41 divisions for a detail profiling.
Role of Scoring System in Assessing Body Condition
- The integer scores are assigned based on various characteristics of the animal, either palpable, visual or both. These characteristics can relate to different parts of the body.
- For animals with a long hair length that obscures subcutaneous fat and superficial musculature, palpable characteristics are used.
- Short-haired species can also have palpable characteristics incorporated into their BCS protocols, and special protocols have been proposed for species where the observation of subcutaneous fat and superficial musculature is obscured by their coats.
Observations from BCS
- Generally, animals with a mid-range BCS will have superficial bony prominences that are easily palpated but not visible. As the BCS increases or decreases, these bony prominences become either less palpable or more visible.
Cite This Article
APA
Burkholder WJ.
(2000).
Use of body condition scores in clinical assessment of the provision of optimal nutrition.
J Am Vet Med Assoc, 217(5), 650-654.
https://doi.org/10.2460/javma.2000.217.650 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Department of Small Animal Medicine and Surgery, College of Veterinary Medicine, Texas A&M University, College Station 77843-4474, USA.
MeSH Terms
- Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena
- Animals
- Animals, Domestic / anatomy & histology
- Animals, Domestic / physiology
- Body Constitution / physiology
- Cats
- Cattle
- Dogs
- Health Status
- Horses
- Nutrition Assessment
Citations
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