Practice audit, 96 cats, four branch practices

Veterinary research poster example

A veterinary research poster example should show how animals entered the study, how many finished, and whether the result describes the programme or only the animals that stayed. This A0 landscape board reports a fictional audit of a nurse led weight clinic across four branch practices: owners of 131 overweight cats offered a place, 96 enrolled, 78 completed six months, and a mean fall from 6.4 to 5.7 kilograms in those 78. Three chart figures carry the threshold result, the withdrawals and the monthly curve, and the text keeps completers apart from the programme throughout.

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TVC

A nurse led weight clinic for overweight cats: six month outcomes in 96 enrolled animals

C. Radnedge ¹, F. Alkhateeb ¹ ²

1 Small Animal Practice Research Unit, Thornbury Veterinary College · 2 Greenfold Veterinary Group, four branch practices

ABSTRACT

Feline obesity is diagnosed far more often than it is treated. This audit followed a nurse led weight clinic across four branch practices. Owners of 131 overweight cats were offered monthly weigh ins and a portioned diet calculated for the individual cat. Ninety six enrolled and 78 completed six months. Mean weight in completers fell from 6.4 to 5.7 kilograms, a loss of 11 per cent, and 55 of the 78 lost at least 5 per cent of their starting weight.

METHODS

Setting. Four branch practices in one veterinary group, each running a nurse weight clinic on one afternoon a week, with the same portioning calculator and the same scales at every branch.

Enrolment. Every cat assessed as body condition score 6 or above at any consultation over three months was offered the clinic. Enrolment was the owner booking a first appointment, not agreeing in principle.

Programme. A monthly weigh in with the same nurse where possible, a portioned diet calculated from ideal weight rather than current weight, and a target loss of 0.5 to 1.0 per cent of body weight a week.

Measures. Weight in kilograms on a calibrated flat bed scale at each visit, body condition score on a nine point scale at the first and last visit, and the date and reason of any withdrawal.

Analysis. Weight change reported for the 78 completers with the 18 withdrawals described separately, rather than carried forward, so the completer figure is never presented as the programme figure.

CONCLUSIONS

Ninety six cats enrolled, 78 completed, and those 78 lost a mean 11 per cent of body weight over six months. The 18 that withdrew are reported separately, because a completer result is not a programme result. The loss sits below the 0.5 to 1.0 per cent weekly target, which over six months comes to roughly 12 to 23 per cent.

Mean loss 11 per cent, 6.4 kg to 5.7 kg in 78 completers

55 of 78 completers lost 5 per cent or more

78 of 96 enrolled cats finished six monthly weigh ins

No control group, so time and owner type are not separated

Figure 1. Completers reaching a 5 per cent loss, by body condition score at enrolment.

Source: 78 completers, nine point body condition scale.

Figure 2. Reason given for withdrawal, all 18 cats that left before six months.

Source: clinic records across four branch practices.

Figure 3. Mean weight lost since enrolment at each monthly weigh in, 78 completers, from 6.4 kg at month 0.

Source: calibrated flat bed scale, one reading per cat per month.

RESULTS

Mean weight in the 78 completers fell from 6.4 to 5.7 kilograms, a loss of 11 per cent. The curve is steady: no month accounted for more than 0.14 kilograms of it.

DISCUSSION

An 11 per cent mean loss is clinically useful and it took six appointments to get, which is the cost a practice carries. Heavier cats at enrolment were the most likely to clear 5 per cent. This audit has no control group, so it cannot separate the clinic from time, from season, or from the kind of owner who books a monthly appointment. A stepped wedge across the four branches would give every branch the programme and still give a comparison. Of the 78 completers, body condition score at enrolment was 6 in 21 cats, 7 in 33, 8 in 18 and 9 in 6. At six months the same cats scored 5 in 12, 6 in 34, 7 in 24 and 8 in 8. Twenty nine moved down a full point and none moved up.

REFERENCES

1.Delacroix, M. and Abiola, T. (2024) Nurse led weight programmes in small animal practice. Journal of Companion Animal Care, 29(2), 140 to 163.

2.Sorensen, H. (2025) Body condition scoring agreement between assessors in cats. Veterinary Measurement Reports, 8(3), 55 to 72.

3.Radnedge, C. (2026) Withdrawals in feline weight clinics. Thornbury Small Animal Working Paper 2026-01.

Block by block

What each block on the board is for, in the order a reader walks it.

Title band and authors: The title names the intervention, the species, the follow up and the enrolled count in one line: a nurse led weight clinic for overweight cats, six month outcomes in 96 enrolled animals. Two authors sit under it over two affiliations, a college small animal research unit and a four branch practice group, so the reader knows the work came from general practice.
Abstract: The abstract gives the problem, feline obesity diagnosed far more often than treated, then the whole path in numbers: owners of 131 overweight cats offered monthly weigh ins, 96 enrolled, 78 completed six months, mean weight in completers from 6.4 to 5.7 kilograms, and 55 of 78 losing at least 5 per cent. It is the only place the 131 appears. This layout has no flow block, so the 35 who never enrolled are implied by the abstract rather than drawn.
Methods as a labelled protocol: Five labelled entries. Setting: four branches, one clinic afternoon a week, the same portioning calculator and scales everywhere. Enrolment: every cat at body condition score 6 or above over three months was offered a place, and enrolment meant booking a first appointment. Programme: monthly weigh ins, a diet calculated from ideal weight, and a target loss of 0.5 to 1.0 per cent of body weight a week. Measures and Analysis: a calibrated flat bed scale, a nine point score at first and last visit, and 18 withdrawals described separately.
Conclusions callout and takeaways: The conclusions callout restates the path and sets the result against the target: 96 enrolled, 78 completed, an 11 per cent mean loss in those 78, withdrawals reported separately, and a loss below the 0.5 to 1.0 per cent weekly target, which over six months comes to roughly 12 to 23 per cent. Four checked takeaways follow with the loss, the 55 of 78, the 78 of 96 and the missing control, which the discussion then explains.
Figure 1, reaching a 5 per cent loss: Four bars show the share of completers reaching a 5 per cent loss by body condition score at enrolment: about 62, 70, 78 and 83 per cent for scores 6 to 9. Against the enrolment scores in the discussion, 21, 33, 18 and 6 cats, those shares come to about 13, 23, 14 and 5 cats, which add to the 55 in the abstract. The figure and the text agree, and heavier cats did best.
Figure 2, reasons for withdrawal: Four bars split the 18 withdrawals by the reason given: moved away 6, cat unwell 5, owner time 4 and other 3, which add to 18. Giving the cats that left their own figure is the clearest signal on the board that the 11 per cent is a completer result. If other is the largest bar on your board, the categories need rethinking before the figure goes on.
Figure 3, the monthly weight curve: Six bars give mean weight lost since enrolment at each monthly weigh in: about 0.10, 0.24, 0.37, 0.48, 0.60 and 0.70 kilograms. No monthly step is larger than 0.14 kilograms, which is what the results sentence says. The total is 0.7 of 6.4 kilograms, a loss of 10.9 per cent. Six months at the target rate of 0.5 to 1.0 per cent a week would come to roughly 12 to 23 per cent, so the mean sits just under the target, and the conclusions callout says so.
Results, discussion and references: The results are two sentences. The discussion calls an 11 per cent loss clinically useful at the cost of six appointments, proposes a stepped wedge across the four branches, and carries the body condition scores in prose because this layout has no table: at enrolment 21, 33, 18 and 6 cats at scores 6 to 9, at six months 12, 34, 24 and 8 at scores 5 to 8, both summing to 78, with 29 cats moving down and none up. Three references close the board, invented for this fictional study.
Before you pick this layout: On this layout the first two figure slots are photo figures. They have no upload control and image generation skips them, so a board started from this design cannot fill them. This example shows charts in all three slots; a new board will give you one chart figure. If your work needs three charts, choose a design whose figures are all charts.

What makes this board work

Completers are never called the programme

The 11 per cent mean loss is labelled as a completer figure in the abstract, the callout and the takeaways, the Analysis entry says withdrawals were not carried forward, and the withdrawal reasons get their own figure. The board reports the 18 cats that left rather than quietly dropping them.

Every figure reconciles with the text

The withdrawal bars add to 18, the threshold shares multiplied by the enrolment scores add to the 55 in the abstract, and the weight curve ends at 0.7 kilograms, the gap between 6.4 and 5.7. A reviewer who audits for a living will run those sums, and on this board each one holds.

The limit is stated where it is read

No control group, so the clinic cannot be separated from time, season or the kind of owner who books a monthly appointment. The board says so in a takeaway, not only in the discussion, so a reader who skims still leaves knowing what the result cannot show.

Questions people ask

What goes on a veterinary research poster?

The clinical question, the species and population, how animals entered the study, the protocol in enough detail to repeat, how many finished, the outcome with its denominator, and the limits. For an audit with no control group, saying so on the board is part of the result, and the path from offered to analysed should be visible in numbers.

How do I report dropouts honestly on a poster?

Report them as their own number and give them a figure if you have the room. This board shows all 18 withdrawals split by reason and states in the Analysis entry that they were not carried forward, so the 11 per cent is clearly a completer result rather than a programme result. Never let a completer figure stand alone.

Should a weight audit report kilograms or body condition score?

Both, because they answer different questions. Kilograms measure the change precisely and suit a curve; body condition score tells a clinician whether the cat reached a healthy shape, and scoring is subjective, so say who scored and when. This board uses weight for the result and condition scores at first and last visit to show the clinical shift.

Is an audit with no control group worth a poster?

Yes, if it says so plainly and reports what a practice can use: uptake, completion, the size of change and the cost in appointments. Audits show that a programme runs in real practice. What they cannot show is that the programme caused the change, so name the design that would, as this board does with a stepped wedge across branches.

Should a weight curve show cumulative or monthly loss?

Cumulative, when the question is how far animals got, because the last point then equals the headline figure and a reader can check it. Monthly steps suit a question about pace. This board charts cumulative loss and gives the largest monthly step in the results text, which covers both without a second figure.

How do I compare the result with the target loss rate?

Convert the weekly target into the study period and set the result against it. A target of 0.5 to 1.0 per cent a week over six months works out at roughly 12 to 23 per cent, so an 11 per cent mean falls just short. This board says so in one sentence in the conclusions, which is more credible than leaving a reader to work it out.

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Sources

Written and checked by the OneCraft team. Last checked 29 September 2026.