What does it mean if an animal’s waist is visible from above?

When an animal's waist is visible from above, it indicates that the animal has an ideal body condition. This is typically characterized by a visible tuck or narrowing of the waist when viewed from a top-down perspective. An ideal body condition suggests that the animal has a healthy proportion of body fat and muscle, which is crucial for overall health, mobility, and exercise performance.

In contrast, if an animal were overweight, the waist would likely be obscured by excess fat deposits, resulting in a more rounded appearance. An underweight animal, on the other hand, may have pronounced ribs or bones without adequate muscle cover, which would also not present an ideal waist appearance from above. While sickness can affect an animal's body condition, it doesn't specifically correlate with the waist's visibility in the same way that ideal body condition does.