Avaliação das medidas morfométricas na determinação da condição corporal de gatos domésticos de diferentes escores de condição corporal

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the body condition of adult cats using the method of morphometric measurements proposed by Witzel and to correlate the lean mass nd fat mass indexes obtained by this method with the Body Condition Score (BCS) and the deuterium dilution method. Eighteen (18) healthy animals were included in the study, 10 females and 8 males, castrated, of no defined breed, aged between 1 and 10 years and with an average weight of 4.98 ± 1.83 kg. The animals were evaluated at home following the order of the least invasive to the most invasive method: BCS, morphometric measurements and the deuterium dilution method. A positive correlation was found between BCS and morphometric measurements (p = 0.0019 and R2 = 0.68), morphometric measurements and deuterium dilution (p = 0.0229 and R2 = 0,53), in addition to BCS and deuterium dilution (p = 0.0188 and R2 = 0,54). The use of morphometric measurements elaborated by Witzel et al (2014) proved to be a valid tool for assessing the body composition of adult cats with different body condition scores, especially in clinical routine and domesticated animals.