Management of Obesity in Pets through Surgery

May 16, 2022

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Management of Obesity in Pets through Surgery

Richa Chourasia^* and Kritika Dhial

PhD Scholar, College of Veterinary and Animal Sceinces, RAJUVAS, Bikaner

Corresponding author: chourasiaricha.27@gmail.com

Obesity is defined as an accumulation of excessive amounts of adipose tissue in the body, and is the most common nutritional disorder in companion animals. The problems to which obese companion animals may be predisposed include orthopaedic disease, diabetes mellitus, and abnormalities in circulating lipid profiles, cardio respiratory disease, urinary disorders, reproductive disorders, neoplasia (mammary tumours, transitional cell carcinoma), dermatological diseases, and anaesthetic complications.

It is recognised that obesity in dogs results primarily from excessive intake of food energy and reduced physical activity. Other factors for increased prevalence have been identified as decreased metabolic rate, ‘insufficient feed nutrients’, gender, advancing age, breed and de-sexing. Human socioeconomic and lifestyle factors play a major role in the emerging obesity problem. Often animals that present to the veterinarian have weight problems but these are not recognised by the owner as an underlying reason for a range of causative conditions. This situation is accompanied by the fact that owners are often inaccurate in their assessment of their dog’s weight.

Although some diseases (e.g., hypothyroidism and hyperadrenocortism in dogs), pharmaceuticals (e.g., drug-induced polyphagia caused by glucocorticoids and anticonvulsant drugs), and rare genetic defects (in humans) can cause obesity. The effect of genetics is illustrated by recognized breed associations in both dogs (e.g., Labrador retriever, Cairn terrier, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Scottish terrier, and Cocker Spaniel) and cats (e.g., Domestic Shorthair).

For the assessment of obesity a 7-point algorithm based approach for Body condition scoring, specifically designed to be used by owners to assess their own pets. Where 1/7 is extremely thin, 2/7 is thin, 3/7 is lean, 4/7 is ideal, 5/7 is mildly overweight, 6/7 is moderately overweight, 7/7 is severely overweight.

Diseases reported to be associated with obesity in companion animals

Metabolic abnormalities like Hyperlipidemia/dyslipidemia, Insulin resistance, Glucose intolerance, Metabolic syndrome, Hepatic lipidosis (cat)
Endocrinopathies like Hyperadrenocorticism, Hypothyroidism, Diabetes mellitus, Insulinoma, Hypopituitarism, Hypothalamic lesions
Orthopedic disorders like Osteoarthritis, Cranial cruciate ligament rupture, Intervertebral disk disease
Cardiorespiratory disease like Tracheal collapse, Brachycephalic airway obstruction syndrome, Laryngeal paralysis
Functional alterations like Joint disorders, Respiratory compromise, e.g., dyspnea, Hypertension, Dystocia, Exercise intolerance, Heat intolerance/heat stroke, Decreased immune functions, Increased anaesthetic risk, Decreased lifespan

Unfortunately, diet therapy, with and without support organizations, is relatively ineffective in treating obesity in the long term. There are currently no truly effective pharmaceutical agents to treat obesity, especially morbid obesity. The surgical therapy of morbid obesity is known as bariatric surgery.

Commonly used surgical technique used for the weight reduction in animals:

Sleeve Gastrectomy

The Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy – often called the sleeve – is performed by removing approximately 80 percent of the stomach. The remaining stomach is a tubular pouch that resembles a banana. Historically, LSG has been performed as a first step to reduce excess weight and comorbidities in morbidly obese patients before a more complex malabsorptive procedure, such as the biliopancreatic diversion with duodenal switch or RYGB. LSG has evolved as a single-stage primary procedure. The mechanism for weight loss is gastric restriction with the stomach capacity shrinking to < 300 mL.

Adjustable Gastric Banding

The Adjustable Gastric Band – often called the band – involves an inflatable band that is placed around the upper portion of the stomach, creating a small stomach pouch above the band, and the rest of the stomach below the band. This surgery is commonly performed laparoscopically.

Laparoscopic gastric greater curvature serosa to serosa plication

Laparoscopic gastric greater curvature plication (LGGCP) is an emerging restrictive bariatric procedure that successfully reduces the gastric volume by plication of the gastric greater curvature. Its main advantages are the reversibility of the technique as well as the lack of foreign materials or gastrectomy.

It can be said that obesity is a worldwide problem not only in humans but also in companion animals. In animals it is commonly associated with the socio economic status and lifestyle of the owners and many underlying health conditions. There are many advantages and disadvantages associated with it both in long term and in short term. Short term effects include weight loss and any surgical complication, morbidity and mortality. Long term effects include resolution of different co-morbidity associated with the obesity, deficiencies of protein, vitamins and minerals and fat malabsorption.

By looking into pros and cons of bariatric surgery it can be concluded that no doubt bariatric surgery helps in improving life expectancy and health status but it also requires lifelong measures like controlled and balanced diet along with minerals and vitamin supplements to prevent there deficiencies arising because of malabsorption. This also shows us that there is a huge scope of bariatric surgery for the management of obesity in companion animals as like in humans.

https://www.pashudhanpraharee.com/how-to-keep-healthy-lifestyle-of-your-pets/

https://todaysveterinarypractice.com/nutrition/nutrition-notes-treatment-of-obesity/

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