Abstract
ABSTRACT This study was aimed to evaluate and compare the nutrient digestibility of grain-inclusive and grain-free commercial dry dog foods using the method of total fecal collection and also explore their effects on fecal consistency. 21 different foods, including 14 grain-inclusive (7 grain-chicken meat, 7 grain-lamb meat) and 7 grain-free were investigated. 12 adult Golden retriever dogs (age 3-4 years, body weight=22.5±1.7kg) were divided into 3 groups. The results of digestibility trials indicated that the grain-lamb meat foods showed the highest digestibility of dry matter, organic matter, and crude fiber. Overall, in the grain-inclusive and grain-free group evaluation, grain-inclusive foods showed higher digestibility of crude fibers while grain-free foods had higher ether extract digestibility whereas the differences in the scores of fecal consistencies between the groups were insignificant. Contrary to popular belief, grain-inclusive foods were more digestive than grain-free foods in terms of dry matter and organic matter. There are studies involving starch sources in the dog food formulations, but there is a need to study the digestibility of complete dog food to supply them with adequate nutrients. Also, each diet should be assessed based on its overall nutrient profile and digestibility rather than individual ingredients.
Highlights
The pet food sector is growing rapidly all over the world, with a demand for high-quality food from the dog owners
A digestibility trial is done by determining the amount of digested and absorbed nutrients from the calculated amount of food consumed, where digestibility depends on various factors such as breed and age of the dog, type of food, level of cooking/gelatinization of food, and composition of the formula (Brambillasca et al, 2010)
A total number of 21 different commercial dry dog foods (7 lamb-grain, 7 chicken-grain, and 7 grain-free) were used in this study. 12 female (n = 6) and male (n = 6) adult healthy Golden retriever breed dogs aged about 3–4 years old, with the bodyweights of 22.5 ±1.7kg were used in this study
Summary
The pet food sector is growing rapidly all over the world, with a demand for high-quality food from the dog owners. With this demand, ways are being sought to increase the quality of the food to provide healthy and balanced nutrition for the dogs (Cipollini, 2008; Başer and Yalçın, 2017). Besides being loved and consumed by the animals, it is important to regularly analyze the dog food and determine the quality of its nutrients declared by the food manufacturers along with the digestibility trials since the nutrient contents written on the label of food package declared by the manufacturers do not always match with the nutrient analysis (Rolinec et al, 2016). A digestibility trial is done by determining the amount of digested and absorbed nutrients from the calculated amount of food consumed, where digestibility depends on various factors such as breed and age of the dog, type of food, level of cooking/gelatinization of food, and composition of the formula (Brambillasca et al, 2010)
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