2026 Pet Obesity Communication Guidelines

TY  - RPRT
ED  - Ward, Ernie
TI  - 2026 Pet Obesity Communication Guidelines
PY  - 2026
ET  - Version 2.0
PB  - Association for Pet Obesity Prevention
CY  - Leland, NC
DO  - 10.68316/apop.0002
UR  - https://doi.org/10.68316/apop.0002
ER  - 

@techreport{ward2026pocg,
  editor      = {Ward, Ernie},
  title       = {2026 Pet Obesity Communication Guidelines},
  institution = {Association for Pet Obesity Prevention},
  address     = {Leland, NC},
  year        = {2026},
  note        = {Version 2.0},
  doi         = {10.68316/apop.0002},
  url         = {https://doi.org/10.68316/apop.0002}
}

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About this edition

The 2026 Pet Obesity Communication Guidelines set one standard for how veterinary teams, journalists, marketers, researchers, organizations, and pet owners write and speak about overweight and obesity in dogs and cats. They cover pet-first and person-first language, respectful images and stories, accurate reporting of body condition and prevalence figures, exam-room conversations, and the plain-language meaning of overweight, obesity, preclinical obesity, and clinical obesity.

This edition replaces Guidelines for Pet Obesity Communication: Promoting Respectful Communication about Animal Obesity (2025). The next scheduled review is 2028, or earlier if a major evidence, consensus, regulatory, or communication change affects a core recommendation.

What is in this edition

• Pet obesity communication at a glanceThe communication standard, five rules, and a quick language check
• 01 Pet-first and person-first language in obesity communicationDescribe the condition without making it the pet’s identity
• 02 Accurate media reporting about pet obesityHeadlines, statistics, cause and effect, and expert quotes
• 03 Marketing, advertising, and campaigns involving pet obesityHealth benefits, message planning, and checking with readers
• 04 Respectful images and storiesChoosing images, getting permission, and labeling AI-generated content
• 05 Veterinary conversations about obesityListen, explain what the examination shows, and agree on a next step
• 06 For pet ownersWhat to expect from a veterinary visit, and what to ask
• 07 Pet obesity terms in plain languageOverweight, obesity, preclinical obesity, and clinical obesity
• 08 Tools for adopting the pet obesity communication standardChecklists, a sample policy, and ways to suggest corrections
• A shared standard for human and pet obesity communicationWhy the same principles apply to both
• References and practical resourcesSources used, with access dates
• About this editionHow the guide was reviewed, how sources were used, and disclosures

What changed from the 2025 edition

• The four weight terms now open with a formal definition sentence each: overweight, obesity used descriptively, preclinical obesity, and clinical obesity, aligned with the World Pet Obesity Association clinical obesity framework.
• A documented route for cases where the assessment is incomplete: obesity with the stage undetermined.
• A two-step method separating the body condition finding from the question of whether excess adiposity is affecting health, with the Three A’s recorded for each animal.
• New guidance on reporting prevalence figures without overstating them, including a worked example using APOP’s own survey data.
• Expanded guidance on images and stories, covering permissions, before-and-after comparisons, and labeling AI-generated content.
• A section written for pet owners on what to expect from a veterinary visit and what to ask.
• A note for research authors on wording study groups, tables, and figures.
• Fully referenced throughout, with access dates and a statement of how each source was used.

This page records the 2026 edition and is not updated. For the current edition, the interactive tools, and the ready-to-post images, see Pet Obesity Communication Guidelines.

Corrections to this edition

• None at publication. Dated corrections will be listed here. The PDF and the DOI are not replaced when a correction is issued.

Send comments, corrections, or questions to info@petobesityprevention.org.

Publication details

Scope. This is a communication guide. It is not a diagnostic or treatment guideline, and it does not replace patient-specific veterinary judgment; diagnosis and management decisions rest with the attending veterinary team. Clinical definitions are cited from the World Pet Obesity Association clinical obesity framework and other published sources; references to any organization, publication, or product are for identification and attribution only and do not imply endorsement, sponsorship, or affiliation in either direction.

Reuse and translation. This edition is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license (CC BY-ND 4.0). You may share it, including commercially, provided it is unchanged and APOP is credited. Translations are derivative works and are not covered by the license, but we welcome them: contact info@petobesityprevention.org for authorization, normally granted at no charge, so that the translated wording can be checked before release.

Version 2.0, September 2026