The Pet Food Manufacturers’ Association said its survey of 215 veterinary professionals at the London Vet Show highlighted a rise in obesity among cats and dogs, which now stands at 52 per cent of dogs and 47 per cent of cats – three per cent higher than 2016 levels.

Small mammals and birds fare slightly better with vets confirming 32 per cent and 12 per cent respectively are overweight or obese.

Nicole Paley, communications manager at PFMA, said veterinary professionals at the show highlighted the need for improved nutrition teaching at vet school. In order to assess how confidence can be improved, PFMA also quizzed attendees on their preferred channels for receiving nutritional advice.

Ms Paley said: “We were delighted to unveil our NEW Obesity Poster ‘Get Hands on With your Pet’, which enables veterinary and other pet care professionals to clearly demonstrate the multifaceted way owners can help overweight pets. The pet industry is working hard to tackle obesity levels and we do hope that this new poster, alongside our other free and generic resources go some way to educating professionals and the public.

“PFMA is also increasing the number of training events run throughout the year and continuing to improve its range of educational materials. The selection, which includes 14 fact sheets on nutrition topics and five popular pet size-o-meters, is all available to download for free at www.pfma.org.uk.”