Are all Labradors fat
Why Are Labradors Fat? Scientists Have the Answer
Every cat owner has wondered what their cat is thinking about - at least once in a while. You see your feline friend just standing there in the corner, its gaze fixed on something and its expression a true enigma. Sadly, its not that easy to read a cats emotions, so most of it just remains a mystery. Until now, that is. An Alberta-based company is developing an app that could change the way we see cats and their emotions. The innovative AI app is named Tably, and it aims to help vet clinics assess a cats pain more easily. Susan Groenveld, one of the developers of Tably, said that felines visit the vet far less than dogs. "And when you really unpack that, it's because they hide their pain. When a cat is in pain, they go and hide under the bed, versus a dog that'll present to the owner, like kids do," said Groeneveld, the founder at Sylvester.ai, the company developing the Tably app. "I thought, wouldn't it be cool if everyday people that love their pets would know if their animal may be demonstrating pain."An earlier version of the app already showed remarkable success, with tens of thousands of downloads around the world. Susan Groeneveld said that those early stages of the app acquired around 54,000 downloads in just a week, showing that there is a big need for something like this. "This told us that people were really, really interested in it," she said. "But we really wanted to make sure that it was validated and veterinarians actually supported it because it was a really easy opportunity for us to become a novelty."As the work progressed, the app had been clinically tested by both veterinarians and pet owners in the United States, Canada, as well as in Europe. It is expected that the app will arrive in the digital market in the U.S., Singapore, and France in January. And for Canada, the app should see a release this fall. How does Tably work? The app uses special algorithms that apply standards and facial pain scores that vets previously created. With that, the vets can review the results and better assess the cats state. "We believe our technology will make it more accurate because there's less human bias in the subjectivity of the assessment," Groeneveld said.Positive reviews have been overwhelming so far, many of them coming from respected vets. Dr. Liz Ruelle, a vet at the Wild Rose Cat Clinic in Calgary, Alberta, is on the advisory board for the Tably app. Her involvement is very important for the developers, and Dr. Ruelle used the app in her practice. In fact, Dr. Ruelle states that she definitely plans on using the app in her future work and said for Yahoo: When a cat experiences pain, its eyes and eyelid positions change and they shift their ear positions. Like if we're in a good mood and we smile, we could think of how our cheeks are uplifted. We see the apples of our cheeks. If I had whiskers on my cheeks, then I would have that same uplifted, happy whiskers," she said. "But when I'm feeling sad, or headache, or painful, then those facial muscles start to sag down instead of being upright and perky whiskers, they would be kind of dropping down the face."The best thing of all - the app wont be exclusive to vets. Groeneveld and Ruell stated that a special lite version is planned, which will be aimed at pet owners to use at home. No exact dates have been provided, however.
Genetic mutation in a quarter of all Labradors hard-wires them for obesity
This obesity-driving combination means that dog owners must be particularly strict with feeding and exercising their Labradors to keep them slim.
The mutation is in a gene called POMC, which plays a critical role in hunger and energy use.
Around 25% of Labradors and 66% of flatcoated retriever dogs have the POMC mutation, which researchers previously showed causes increased interest in food and risk of obesity.
The new study reveals how the mutation profoundly changes the way Labradors and flatcoated retrievers behave around food. It found that although they dont need to eat more to feel full, they are hungrier in between meals.
In addition, dogs with the POMC mutation were found to use around 25% less energy at rest than dogs without it, meaning they dont need to consume as many calories to maintain a healthy body weight.
We found that a mutation in the POMC gene seems to make dogs hungrier. Affected dogs tend to overeat because they get hungry between meals more quickly than dogs without the mutation, said Dr Eleanor Raffan, a researcher in the University of Cambridges Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience who led the study.
She added: All owners of Labradors and flatcoated retrievers need to watch what theyre feeding these highly food-motivated dogs, to keep them a healthy weight. But dogs with this genetic mutation face a double whammy: they not only want to eat more, but also need fewer calories because theyre not burning them off as fast.
The POMC mutation was found to alter a pathway in the dogs brains associated with body weight regulation. The mutation triggers a starvation signal that tells their body to increase food intake and conserve energy, despite this being unnecessary.
The results are published today in the journal Science Advances.
Raffan said: People are often rude about the owners of fat dogs, blaming them for not properly managing their dogs diet and exercise. But weve shown that Labradors with this genetic mutation are looking for food all the time, trying to increase their energy intake. Its very difficult to keep these dogs slim, but it can be done.
The researchers say owners can keep their retrievers distracted from this constant hunger by spreading out each daily food ration, for example by using puzzle feeders or scattering the food around the garden so it takes longer to eat.
In the study, 87 adult pet Labrador dogs - all a healthy weight or moderately overweight - took part in several tests including the sausage in a box test.
First, the dogs were given a can of dogfood every 20 minutes until they chose not to eat any more. All ate huge amounts of food, but the dogs with the POMC mutation didnt eat more than those without it. This showed that they all feel full with a similar amount of food.
Next, on a different day, the dogs were fed a standard amount of breakfast. Exactly three hours later they were offered a sausage in a box and their behaviour was recorded. The box was made of clear plastic with a perforated lid, so the dogs could see and smell the sausage, but couldnt eat it.
The researchers found that dogs with the POMC mutation tried significantly harder to get the sausage from the box than dogs without it, indicating greater hunger.
The dogs were then allowed to sleep in a special chamber that measured the gases they breathed out. This revealed that dogs with the POMC mutation burn around 25% fewer calories than dogs without it.
The POMC gene and the brain pathway it affects are similar in dogs and humans. The new findings are consistent with reports of extreme hunger in humans with POMC mutations, who tend to become obese at an early age and develop a host of clinical problems as a result.
Drugs currently in development for human obesity, underactive sexual desire and certain skin conditions target this brain pathway, so understanding it fully is important.
A mutation in the POMC gene in dogs prevents production of two chemical messengers in the dog brain, beta-melanocyte stimulating hormone (-MSH) and beta-endorphin, but does not affect production of a third, alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone (-MSH).
Further laboratory studies by the team suggest that -MSH and beta-endorphin are important in determining hunger and moderating energy use, and their role is independent of the presence of -MSH. This challenges the previous belief, based on research in rats, that early onset human obesity due to POMC mutations is caused only by a lack of -MSH. Rats dont produce beta-melanocyte stimulating hormone, but humans and dogs produce both - and -MSH.
The research was funded by The Dogs Trust and Wellcome.
Reference:Dittmann, M T et al: Low resting metabolic rate and increased hunger due to -MSH and -endorphin deletion in a canine model. Science Advances, March 2024. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adj3823
Genetic mutation in a quarter of all Labradors hard-wires them for obesity
New research finds around a quarter of Labrador retriever dogs face a double-whammy of feeling hungry all the time and burning fewer calories due to a genetic mutation.
This obesity-driving combination means that dog owners must be particularly strict with feeding and exercising their Labradors to keep them slim.
The mutation is in a gene called POMC, which plays a critical role in hunger and energy use.
Around 25% of Labradors and 66% of flatcoated retriever dogs have the POMC mutation, which researchers previously showed causes increased interest in food and risk of obesity.
The new study reveals how the mutation profoundly changes the way Labradors and flatcoated retrievers behave around food. It found that although they don't need to eat more to feel full, they are hungrier in between meals.
In addition, dogs with the POMC mutation were found to use around 25% less energy at rest than dogs without it, meaning they don't need to consume as many calories to maintain a healthy body weight.
"We found that a mutation in the POMC gene seems to make dogs hungrier. Affected dogs tend to overeat because they get hungry between meals more quickly than dogs without the mutation," said Dr Eleanor Raffan, a researcher in the University of Cambridge's Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience who led the study.
She added: "All owners of Labradors and flatcoated retrievers need to watch what they're feeding these highly food-motivated dogs, to keep them a healthy weight. But dogs with this genetic mutation face a double whammy: they not only want to eat more, but also need fewer calories because they're not burning them off as fast."
The POMC mutation was found to alter a pathway in the dogs' brains associated with body weight regulation. The mutation triggers a starvation signal that tells their body to increase food intake and conserve energy, despite this being unnecessary.
The results are published today in the journal Science Advances.
Raffan said: "People are often rude about the owners of fat dogs, blaming them for not properly managing their dogs' diet and exercise. But we've shown that Labradors with this genetic mutation are looking for food all the time, trying to increase their energy intake. It's very difficult to keep these dogs slim, but it can be done."
The researchers say owners can keep their retrievers distracted from this constant hunger by spreading out each daily food ration, for example by using puzzle feeders or scattering the food around the garden so it takes longer to eat.
In the study, 87 adult pet Labrador dogs -- all a healthy weight or moderately overweight -- took part in several tests including the 'sausage in a box' test.
First, the dogs were given a can of dogfood every 20 minutes until they chose not to eat any more. All ate huge amounts of food, but the dogs with the POMC mutation didn't eat more than those without it. This showed that they all feel full with a similar amount of food.
Next, on a different day, the dogs were fed a standard amount of breakfast. Exactly three hours later they were offered a sausage in a box and their behaviour was recorded. The box was made of clear plastic with a perforated lid, so the dogs could see and smell the sausage, but couldn't eat it.
The researchers found that dogs with the POMC mutation tried significantly harder to get the sausage from the box than dogs without it, indicating greater hunger.
The dogs were then allowed to sleep in a special chamber that measured the gases they breathed out. This revealed that dogs with the POMC mutation burn around 25% fewer calories than dogs without it.
The POMC gene and the brain pathway it affects are similar in dogs and humans. The new findings are consistent with reports of extreme hunger in humans with POMC mutations, who tend to become obese at an early age and develop a host of clinical problems as a result.
Drugs currently in development for human obesity, underactive sexual desire and certain skin conditions target this brain pathway, so understanding it fully is important.
A mutation in the POMC gene in dogs prevents production of two chemical messengers in the dog brain, beta-melanocyte stimulating hormone (-MSH) and beta-endorphin, but does not affect production of a third, alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone (-MSH).
Further laboratory studies by the team suggest that -MSH and beta-endorphin are important in determining hunger and moderating energy use, and their role is independent of the presence of -MSH. This challenges the previous belief, based on research in rats, that early onset human obesity due to POMC mutations is caused only by a lack of -MSH. Rats don't produce beta-melanocyte stimulating hormone, but humans and dogs produce both - and -MSH.
