Abstract
For a pet diet to be labeled as human-grade, every ingredient and the finished food must be stored, handled, processed, and transported according to the current good manufacturing practices for human edible foods. Human-grade dog foods are now available and increasing in popularity, but little research has been conducted to test the digestibility of these foods. For this reason, the objective of this experiment was to determine the true nutrient and amino acid (AA) digestibilities of dog foods formulated with human-grade ingredients using the precision-fed cecectomized rooster assay. Six commercial dog foods were tested, including the Beef & Russet Potato (BRP), Chicken & White Rice (CWR), Fish & Sweet Potato (FSP), Lamb & Brown Rice (LBR), Turkey & Whole Wheat Macaroni (TWM), and Venison & Squash (VSR) formulas provided by Just Food For Dogs LLC (Irvine, CA). Before analysis, all foods were lyophilized and ground. A precision-fed rooster assay using cecectomized roosters was conducted to determine the true nutrient digestibility and standardized AA digestibilities of the foods tested. Conventional roosters were used to determine the nitrogen-corrected true metabolizable energy (TMEn) of the foods. All animal procedures were approved by the University of Illinois Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee prior to experimentation. The substrates and rooster excreta were analyzed for macronutrient and AA composition. All data were analyzed using the Mixed Models procedure of SAS (version 9.4; SAS Institute, Cary, NC). In general, all foods tested were highly digestible. Dry matter digestibility was similar among CWR, LBR, and TWR foods, and greater (P < 0.0001) than that of FSP and VSR foods. Organic matter digestibility was highest (P = 0.0002) for CWR and lowest (P = 0.0002) for VSR. For the majority of indispensable AA, digestibilities were greater than 85%, with some being greater than 90%. TMEn was higher (P < 0.0001) for BRP than the other foods, which were similar to one another. Also, TMEn values were much higher than what would be estimated by using modified Atwater factors and often above the predictive equations for metabolizable energy (ME) recommended by the National Research Council or by using Atwater factors. Although statistical differences were observed among foods, they all performed well and the foods tested had very high AA digestibilities. Additionally, the TMEn data suggest that existing methods and equations for ME prediction underestimate the energy content of the foods tested.
Highlights
Pet owners have become progressively interested in the quality and safety of food for their animals
Sweet potatoes were used in the Beef & Russet Potato (BRP), Fish & Sweet Potato (FSP), and VSR recipes; russet potatoes and green beans were used in the BRP and FSP recipes; carrots were used in the BRP, Chicken & White Rice (CWR), Lamb & Brown Rice (LBR), and Turkey & Whole Wheat Macaroni (TWM) recipes; apples were used in the BRP and CWR recipes; spinach was used in the CWR and LBR recipes; broccoli was used in the FSP and TWM recipes; and cranberries were used in the TWM and VSR recipes
Safflower oil was used in the BRP, FSP, LBR, and VSR recipes, and Icelandic premium EPA and DHA were used in all recipes except for the FSP recipe
Summary
Pet owners have become progressively interested in the quality and safety of food for their animals. Many pet owners have moved to pet foods having the perception of being safer or of higher quality, with claims such as “natural,” “organic,” “limited ingredients,” “human-grade,” “made in the USA,” “non-GMO,” and “clean label” being quite popular. Attached owners tend to treat their dogs as people, view their dogs as children, and/or think of themselves as pet parents (Boya et al, 2012). Because of this level of anthropomorphism, many pet owners are interested in feeding an alternative diet that they believe reinforces the human–animal bond
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.