2026 Veterinary Clinic Pet Obesity Prevalence Survey

Use this section to review who to include, what data to record, how owner perception is handled, and how results are interpreted.

Purpose

The APOP Prevalence Survey is a cross-sectional, clinic-based assessment designed to estimate the prevalence of overweight and obesity among dogs and cats seen in veterinary practice. Participating clinics assess all consecutive eligible, skeletally mature dogs and cats seen during one full day, two days, or one week selected between October 1 and December 31, 2026. Online entries must be completed by December 31, 2026. Clinics unable to use the online form may submit completed forms by email or text through January 15, 2027.

Eligible patients

Include all eligible, skeletally mature dogs and cats seen for wellness, minor medical, or boarding intake during the selected collection window, regardless of body condition. Skeletally mature is defined as 12 months of age or older, recognizing that large and giant breeds may not reach maturity until 18 to 24 months and that clinical judgment applies. Exclude emergency or urgent cases, critical illness, terminal conditions, and visits in which positioning, pain, or acute distress would interfere with accurate body condition assessment.

What to record

Clinics record species, sex, reproductive status, age, body weight, visit type, veterinary-assessed 1–9 Body Condition Score (BCS), and the owner’s initial weight perception. Each entry takes about one to two minutes.

Veterinary assessment

The primary prevalence estimate is based on veterinary-assessed BCS using the 9-point system based on the Laflamme scale: 4–5 ideal, 6–7 overweight, and 8–9 consistent with obesity. Participating clinics receive scoring guidance and instruction materials to support consistent assessment across evaluators and sites.

Owner-reported perception

The owner’s initial weight perception is recorded before the clinical assessment and body condition score, so that neither response influences the other. Owner-reported responses are analyzed separately from the veterinary-assessed prevalence estimate. They are used to assess concordance and discordance between owner impression and clinical assessment, not to estimate prevalence.

Optional photographs

Photograph submission is optional and supports independent validation of visual body condition assessment. Clinics that choose to participate explain how the photographs will be used, obtain the owner’s verbal permission, and document that permission within the electronic survey entry. APOP does not require a separate signed owner consent form. Clinics subject to institutional policies may follow any additional local requirements. Submit standardized lateral and dorsal standing views without people, owner information, patient labels, medical records, or visible identification tags. Because palpation cannot be captured photographically, this component evaluates the visual portion of body condition assessment rather than the score as clinically assigned. Photographs require additional time beyond the standard entry, are not required for the 15-record threshold, and do not affect the stipend. Clinics that submit photographs may differ from those that do not, so photographed cases are treated as a subsample rather than a representative sample.

Sampling guidance

To support consistency and reduce bias, participating clinics are asked to include all breeds and body sizes, avoid selectively enrolling only pets perceived to be overweight or to have obesity, and record each eligible dog or cat once during the selected collection window.

Data handling

Records are submitted without owner-identifying information and without patient names or medical record numbers. Observations are collected during care the patient is already receiving, with no additional procedures and no change to case management. Verbal owner permission for optional photographs is documented within the electronic survey entry, and submitted photographs are stored separately from survey records. APOP can provide a protocol summary on request for clinics whose institutions require internal review.

Data review

Submitted records undergo structured review before analysis, including checks for internal consistency and biologic plausibility. Records that are implausible, incomplete, or internally inconsistent are corrected only when verifiable and otherwise excluded according to predefined criteria.

Analysis and interpretation

Prevalence is calculated from eligible pets with complete veterinary-assessed BCS data. Because the survey is cross-sectional and clinic-based, results describe prevalence at the time of assessment and are interpreted as clinic-based surveillance estimates rather than nationally representative population estimates.