Caregiver-reported increased food motivation and adiposity in dogs receiving antiseizure drugs.

Background: Idiopathic epilepsy is the most common chronic neurological disease in dogs and requires lifelong administration of antiseizure drugs (ASD). A decreased level of energy and increased food intake and weight gain have been described as long-lasting side effects.

Methods: We assessed food motivation (FM), using the previously validated dog obesity risk assessment questionnaire, in dogs diagnosed with idiopathic epilepsy (n = 222) and healthy dogs (n = 7086) to determine if epilepsy and ASD were associated with increased FM and adiposity and decreased activity.

The impact of restricted grazing systems on the behaviour and welfare of ponies.

Background: Equine obesity is a growing concern. Much of the current management advice centres on dietary restrictions, including the removal or limitation of grazing. Little is known about the impact of these approaches on the welfare of the horse.

Low resting metabolic rate and increased hunger due to β-MSH and β-endorphin deletion in a canine model.

Mutations that perturb leptin-melanocortin signaling are known to cause hyperphagia and obesity, but energy expenditure has not been well studied outside rodents. We report on a common canine mutation in pro-opiomelanocortin (), which prevents production of β-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (β-MSH) and β-endorphin but not α-MSH; humans, similar to dogs, produce α-MSH and β-MSH from the propeptide, but rodents produce only α-MSH. We show that energy expenditure is markedly lower in affected dogs, which also have increased motivational salience in response to a food cue, indicating increased wanting or hunger.

Obesity risk factors in British Labrador retrievers: Effect of sex, neuter status, age, chocolate coat colour and food motivation.

Background: Canine obesity is a complex disease affected by genetic, endocrine and environmental factors. It is associated with reduced lifespan and many comorbidities. Prevalence differs by breed, with Labrador retrievers at high risk.

Frequency, breed predisposition and demographic risk factors for overweight status in dogs in the UK.

Objectives: To evaluate the prevalence and risk factors for overweight status in dogs under primary veterinary care in the UK.

Materials And Methods: A retrospective study design was used to estimate the 1-year (2016) period prevalence of overweight status. The clinical records were randomly ordered and manually validated for dogs with overweight status during 2016.