12 Mar 2026
Scholars found higher body condition “significantly associated” with higher intraocular pressure.
Chris Simpson
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Image: Mary Swift / Adobe Stock
Researchers have called for body condition evaluation to be integrated into ophthalmic examinations in dogs after discovering a link between obesity and eye pressure.
The paper, published in the Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, saw researchers compare dogs’ body fat and intraocular pressure (IOP) after multiple large-scale studies linked IOP and body mass index (BMI) in humans.
Reflecting on their findings, lead researcher Oren Pe’er said: “Higher body condition in normal dogs is significantly associated with higher intraocular pressure. Obesity might be a modifiable risk factor in dogs predisposed to glaucoma.”
The scholars examined 40 dogs weighing more than 10kg, aged between 1 and 10 years old.
Dogs were assessed on their BMI, body fat index (BFI) and a nine-point body condition score (BCS), in which dogs scoring between two and five were classified as “lean-normal” and six to nine classified as “overweight-obese”.
Of the 40 dogs assessed, 17 were lean-normal while 23 were overweight-obese.
Although both groups fell within a normal IOP range of 10mmHg to 25mmHg, the scholars found “higher body condition in dogs is significantly and independently associated with higher IOP compared to lean-normal dogs”.
The median IOP in lean-normal dogs was 13.7mmHg, compared with 20.3mmHg for overweight-obese.
For each one-unit increase of BCS, IOP increased by 1.9 mmHg, while for each 10% increase in BMI and BFI, IOP respectively increased by 2.9mmHg and 1.8mmHg.
The authors noted their findings mirrored a growing body of evidence in human medicine of a link between excess weight and elevated IOP and said the findings “emphasise the potential clinical importance of body condition assessment in ocular health monitoring in dogs”.
They suggested excess body fat and the metabolic changes it triggers may interfere with the eye’s ability to properly drain fluid and argued routine ophthalmic exams in dog breeds predisposed to glaucoma should include body condition evaluation.
The researchers noted that while causality with glaucoma was not among the aims of the study and has not been established, the findings are “clinically relevant”.
They concluded: “Identifying overweight dogs with elevated IOP might allow for early intervention through weight management, potentially reducing the risk, onset, or severity of glaucoma in predisposed individuals.”