Estimation of the quality of commercial diets is a topic of interest for the majority of dog owners. Recently, in a French consumer association magazine, an evaluation of eight dog commercial dry diets (from super-premium, basic-nutrition, private-label and economy brands) according to several nutritional criteria was published. The aims of the study were: (1) to evaluate the apparent digestibility of these diets; (2) to score these diets according to digestibility results; and (3) to compare these data with the scoring of the magazine. Six adult Beagle dogs were enrolled for the digestibility trials. Diets were scored according to energy, crude protein and crude fat (CF) apparent digestibility coefficients, digestible protein-to-energy ratios and ash content. Each of the five criteria was scored from 4 to 20 points. The ranges of crude protein, CF, crude fibre and ash content were 20·9–30·6 %, 6·8–19·7 %, 2·2–3·3 % and 4·6–9·7 % on a DM basis, respectively. The ranges of energy, crude protein and CF apparent digestibility coefficients were 72·6–87·7 %, 70·4–82·5 % and 76·1–95·4 %, respectively. The range of the protein-to-energy ratio was 10–14 digestible crude protein per MJ metabolisable energy. Little overlap in the scoring systems was found, but the private-label brand and economy brand diets presented the lowest scores in the two systems. These results showed that the evaluation of commercial diets should take into account multiple nutritional aspects. In particular, analytical and biological (digestibility) criteria should be considered as complementary in the evaluation of dry dog commercial diets.

Results indicated that impedance and morphological data can be used to accurately estimate TBW content in adult Beagles. This method of estimating TBW content is less expensive and easier to perform than is measurement of TBW(d), making it appealing for daily use in veterinary practice.

In cats, the incidence of obesity and diabetes is increasing, and little is known about specific aspects of the endocrine control of food intake in this species. Recent data suggest that ghrelin has an important role in the control of insulin secretion and vice versa, but this role has never been demonstrated in cats. Here we aimed to improve our understanding about the relationship between insulin, amylin and ghrelin secretion in response to a nutrient load in overweight cats. After a 16 h fast, weekly, six overweight male cats underwent randomly one of the four testing sessions: saline, glucose, arginine and TAG. All solutions were isoenergetic and isovolumic, and were injected intravenously as a bolus. Glucose, insulin, acylated ghrelin (AG), amylin and prolactin were assayed in plasma before and 10, 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 min after the nutrient load. A linear mixed-effects model was used to assess the effect of bolus and time on the parameters. A parenteral bolus of glucose or arginine increased insulin and ghrelin concentrations in cats. Except for with the TAG bolus, no suppression of ghrelin was observed. The absence of AG suppression after the intravenous load of arginine and glucose may suggest: (1) that some nutrients do not promote satiation in overweight cats; or that (2) AG may be involved in non-homeostatic consumption mechanisms. However, the role of ghrelin in food reward remains to be assessed in cats.

BackgroundEquations based on single-frequency bioelectrical impedance analysis at 50 kHz for determination of total body water content (TBW) have been previously validated in healthy non-sedated beagle dogs. We investigated whether these equations are predictive of TBW in various canine breeds by comparing the results of these equations with TBW values evaluated directly by deuterium oxide (D2O) dilution.MethodsTotal body water content of 13 healthy adult pet dogs of various breeds was determined directly using D2O dilution and indirectly using previous equations based on values obtained with a portable bioelectric impedance device. Paired Student’s t-tests were used to compare TBW obtained by single-frequency bioelectrical impedance analysis and D2O dilution. A p-value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant for all analyses.ResultsSignificant differences were observed between TBW determined by the reference method and the values obtained with both predictive equations.ConclusionsThe proposed equations including single-frequency bioelectrical impedance analysis parameters validated at 50 kHz in healthy adult beagles need to be modified including morphological parameters such as body size and shape in a first approach. As in humans, morphological-specific equations have to be developed and validated.