APOP Prevalence Survey

2026 Veterinary Clinic Pet Obesity Prevalence Survey

Register Your Clinic

The collection period opens October 1 and closes December 31, 2026. Choose one full clinic day, two days, or one week during that period and electronically record every eligible dog and cat seen for wellness, minor medical, or boarding intake. Each entry takes about a minute.

Collection period: Oct. 1–Dec. 31, 2026 Electronic data collection 9-point BCS required
Participating U.S. clinics receive $50 after submitting at least 15 complete, eligible records and completing data review. Every clinic that submits data receives the 2026 APOP Prevalence Partner badge and early access to the findings.
Register Your Clinic View Survey Materials

How it works

1Register

Register your clinic. Before October 1, APOP will email the instructions, survey materials, and electronic data-entry link. Everything will also be available on this site.

2Record

During your chosen day, two days, or week between October 1 and December 31, use the electronic survey to record species, weight, 1–9 BCS, visit type, and the owner’s initial weight perception for every eligible patient.

3Submit

Complete all electronic entries by December 31, 2026. APOP reviews qualifying submissions before payment and analysis.

Eligibility and stipend terms
  • Registration is required each year. The stipend is open to licensed U.S. veterinary practices, with one payment per physical clinic location.
  • Clinics must electronically record all consecutive eligible, skeletally mature dogs and cats during their chosen day, two days, or week within the October 1–December 31, 2026 collection period. Eligible visits are wellness, minor medical, and boarding intake.
  • The stipend requires at least 15 complete, eligible records submitted by December 31, 2026, and successful completion of APOP data review.
  • Payment is issued to the practice by January 15, 2027. It is compensation for staff time and is not tied to the body condition results reported.
  • At submission, clinics may receive the $50, direct it to an APOP-selected charity, or decline it. Clinics outside the U.S. may participate and receive recognition but are not eligible for payment.
  • APOP may exclude incomplete, duplicate, unverifiable, or nonconsecutive submissions and may modify or end the stipend program with notice to registered clinics.
Survey method and interpretation

This is a cross-sectional, clinic-based survey of consecutive eligible dogs and cats seen during a designated day, two days, or week within the October 1–December 31, 2026 collection period. It is intended to reduce selective enrollment within participating clinics.

Veterinary professionals assess body condition with the 9-point Body Condition Score system: 4–5 ideal, 6–7 overweight, and 8–9 consistent with obesity. Owner weight perception is recorded before the formal assessment and analyzed separately from prevalence.

Emergency and urgent cases, critical illness, terminal conditions, hospitalized patients, and visits in which pain, positioning, or acute distress would interfere with accurate assessment are excluded.

Records undergo review for completeness, internal consistency, biologic plausibility, duplication, and patterns inconsistent with consecutive sampling. Prevalence calculations use eligible records with complete veterinary-assessed BCS data.

Findings are interpreted as clinic-based surveillance estimates, not nationally representative population estimates. They reflect dogs and cats presented for wellness, minor medical, or boarding intake at participating clinics.

Universities, groups, and sponsors interested in broadening participation may email info@petobesityprevention.org with the subject “Pet Obesity Survey Partner.”