Can you estimate body composition in dogs from photographs?

BACKGROUND: A validated method for assessing the visual characteristics of body condition from photographs (vBCS), would be a useful initial screening tool for client-owned dogs. METHODS: In this retrospective study, photographs taken before and after weight loss from 155 overweight and obese dogs attending a weight management referral clinic were used in designing and testing the feasibility of vBCS. Observers with a range of experience examined the photographs, and estimated body condition indirectly (vBCS) using three different methods. In the first method (vBCS(measured)), the ratio of abdominal width to thoracic width (A:T) was measured, and cut-points used to determine body condition; the second method (iBCS(subjective)) involved semi-quantitative examination using visual descriptors of BCS; the third (vBCS(adjusted)) was a combined approach whereby A:T ratio was first determined, and the final score modified if necessary after assessing photographs. RESULTS: When an experienced observer performed vBCS, there were moderate-to-good associations between body fat (measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry) and the three vBCS methods (median R(s): 0.51-0.75; P < 0.001), and also moderate-to-substantial agreement with actual BCS (median kappa 0.51–0.63; P < 0.001). For operators with a range of experience, moderate-to-substantial agreement was generally seen between actual BCS and the scores determined by all three methods (median Kappa 0.55–0.70, P < 0.001), but the strength of agreement varied amongst observers. Age, sex, breed, coat length, and coat colour had no significant effect on vBCS (P > 0.05 for all). Compared with ideal weight and obese dogs, errors in assessing body condition were more common for overweight dogs (e.g. BCS 6–7/9, P < 0.001) by vBCS(adjusted) (P = 0.008), and vBCS(subjective) (P = 0.021), but not by vBCS(measured) (P = 0.150). For vBCS(adjusted), body condition was most often overestimated whilst, for vBCS(subjective), body condition was most often under-estimated. CONCLUSIONS: An estimate of body condition can be obtained from an indirect assessment of photographs, but performance varies amongst observers.