Tackling the canine obesity crisis

When it comes to man’s best friend, science may finally have solved the mystery of their gluttony – some Labradors, it seems, are genetically predisposed to being hungry.

That’s according to scientists who were discussing their ongoing mission to improve our favourite pets’ health at the British Science Association Festival in Brighton, according to BBC.

Several research teams in the UK are on a mission to improve canine health.

Researchers at the University of Cambridge have studied the appetite of Britain’s favourite dog breed, and suggest Labradors are genetically at risk of becoming overweight.

Roughly a quarter of British households own a pet dog, and Labrador retrievers remain our most popular canine companion.

However, this stereotypically “greedy” breed often suffers size-related health problems.

Blame the owners?

“Obesity is a serious issue for our dog population,” says Dr Eleanor Raffan from the Wellcome Trust-MRC Institute of Metabolic Science.

“It has the potential to have a massive impact on pet welfare.”

In research supported by the Dogs Trust, Dr Raffan and her colleagues have analysed DNA from the saliva of Labradors across the UK. They found that particularly greedy individuals possess a gene mutation responsible for increasing their appetite.

“We found around a quarter of pet Labradors have at least one copy of this mutation in the gene,” Dr Raffan explains. Their increased appetite manifests itself as a “food obsession”, familiar to dog-owners as begging or scavenging for food.

In the past, the onus has been on owners to restrict the diet of their pets to prevent excessive weight gain.

At the University of Liverpool, scientists are using state-of-the-art imaging technology to study diseases affecting the knee joints of Labradors.

Damage to the canine cruciate ligament, similar to the injuries commonly suffered by professional human athletes, is the most common orthopaedic problem seen in veterinary practices. Injury to the knee ligaments is also more common in heavier dog breeds

“We’re trying to understand how the shape of the Labrador body and the way they walk might contribute to knee problems,” says Prof Eithne Comerford, a specialist in musculoskeletal biology.

Using high-speed x-ray cameras, the researchers film their canine patients walking through the lab, and watch their knee bones slide and twist in real-time.

The team hopes to understand how walking contributes to the risk of ligament injury and rupture in Labradors, with the ultimate goal of reducing lameness and suffering within the breed.

H.Z