Could dogs who are overweight or obese have an increased risk of high intraocular pressure (the pressure inside the eyes)? That’s a question that researchers wanted to answer, as high eye pressure is associated with glaucoma, which can lead to blindness. So, they ran a study to determine if weight can impact the health of the eyes. Here’s what they found.

Is There a Link Between Eye Pressure and Body Condition?

Researchers studied 40 healthy dogs between 1 and 10 years of age who weighed more than 10 kg. The dogs went through both physical and ophthalmic exams that included blood tests. They recorded each dog’s intraocular pressure, body mass index, body fat index, and body condition score.

With all of the information gathered, they were able to group the dogs into an overweight-obese group with a body condition score of 6 to 9 out of 9, and a lean-normal group with a body condition score of 2 to 5 out of 9. While 23 of the dogs in the study were classified as overweight-obese, 17 were in the lean-normal group.

The Results?

All of the dogs had eye pressure that was within the normal range (10 to 25 mmHg), but median intraocular pressure was significantly higher in the dogs who were overweight-obese. In the dogs who were lean-normal, the median intraocular pressure was 13.7 mmHg, compared to 20.3 mmHg in the overweight-obese dogs.

There was an increase of 1.9 mmHg in eye pressure for every 1-unit increase in body condition score. In other words, there was a strong correlation between eye pressure and body condition score. The experts also found that eye pressure correlated moderately with body mass index, and weakly with body fat index.

What does this all mean? Put simply, keeping track of your dog’s weight might be a step towards preventing problems like glaucoma, especially if your dog is predisposed to this condition. Also, if your dog has routine ophthalmic exams, it’s a good idea to talk to your vet about this correlation, and figure out if your dog’s weight might be impacting their eye health.

Not sure what your dog’s ideal weight or body condition score should be, or if their eyes should be examined on a regular basis to look for signs of problems like glaucoma? Talk to your veterinarian for guidance so you can support your dog’s health throughout their life.

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