Abstract
Anthropomorphism of dogs has affected feeding and the choice of components present in diets for dogs. Conflicting trends are present: raw or vegetarian appear more prevalent. Animal-derived proteins seem to have unfavourable impacts on intestinal microflora by decreasing the presence of Bacteroidetes. This preliminary study evaluates whether effects of diets with animal proteins on intestinal microbiota can be compensated by the addition of certain carbohydrates to dog diet. Eight female beagles were included in a cross-over study and fed a vegetarian diet or the same diet supplemented with feather meal (2.7%) and either 20% of cornmeal, fermented or non-fermented rye (moisture content of the diets about 42%). A 16S rRNA gene amplification was performed within the hypervariable region V4 on faecal samples and sequenced with the Illumina MiSeq platform. The Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio tended to shift to the advantage of Firmicutes when feather meal and cornmeal were added (Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio of 5.12 compared to 2.47 when offered the vegetarian diet) and tended to switch back to the advantage of Bacteroidetes if rye: fermented (2.17) or not (1.03) was added. The addition of rye might have the potential to compensate possible unfavourable effects of diets with animal proteins on intestinal microbiota of dogs.
Highlights
The canine genome and the bacterial population harboured by the canine gut seem to be shaped during domestication of dogs from wolves to adapt to dietary changes induced by cohabitation with humans [1]
An observed reduction of the butyrogenic bacterium Faecalibacterium spp. in faecal samples of dogs fed a diet based on a high amount of animal proteins and fats, which is associated with a healthy microbiota in humans [12] and anti-inflammatory features [13], led the authors to the assumption that a meat-based diet is less protective against inflammatory activity [1]
Faecal microbiota were dominated by Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes
Summary
The canine genome and the bacterial population harboured by the canine gut seem to be shaped during domestication of dogs from wolves to adapt to dietary changes induced by cohabitation with humans [1]. An observed reduction of the butyrogenic bacterium Faecalibacterium spp. in faecal samples of dogs fed a diet based on a high amount of animal proteins and fats, which is associated with a healthy microbiota in humans [12] and anti-inflammatory features [13], led the authors to the assumption that a meat-based diet is less protective against inflammatory activity [1] With these observations as a basis, the impression could be created that for a healthy intestinal microbiome, a vegetarian diet of a carnivorous dog might be more advantageous, whereby the avoidance of protein-rich diets of poor protein quality seems to play a role. Apparent protein digestibility of dogs was not affected when diets containing 5 to 10% hydrolysed feather meal were offered but faecal quality was impaired, whereby the author suspected influences on the microbiota behind this observation [18]
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