A.J. German, S.L. Holden, M.L. Wiseman-Orr, J. Reid, A.M. Nolan, V. Biourge, P.J. Morris, E.M. Scott

Obesity is a serious disease and can lead to many other health disorders including diabetes, heart disease and arthritis.  Such disorders are thought to affect quality of life, but limited objective data exist to support this supposition.

In this study, 50 overweight dogs, comprising a mix of breeds and genders were investigated.  Owners completed a questionnaire to determine the health-related quality of life of their dog prior to weight loss.  Thirty of the dogs successfully completed their weight loss programme, and owners then then completed a follow-up questionnaire.  A range of life quality factors were scored, including vitality, emotional disturbance and pain.  Changes in quality of life during weight loss were assessed, and quality of life was also compared in dogs which succeeded with weight loss programme with those dogs that failed to lose weight successfully.

The results showed that the quality of life improved in the dogs that had successfully lost weight, in particular vitality scores increased and scores for emotional disturbance and pain decreased.  Moreover, the more body fat that the dog lost, the greater the improvement in vitality.  Dogs that failed to complete their weight loss programme had worse quality of life at the outset than those successfully losing weight, most notably worse vitality and greater emotional disturbance.

These results indicate, for the first time, that obesity adversely affects quality iof life, but this can improve markedly with successful weight loss.