No abstract

Background: Over recent years, pet owners have started to demonstrate increased sensitivity toward their companion animals, which includes an increase in the attention paid towards their nutrition, seen as a way of safeguarding their pets' welfare. The aim of this study was to identify how pet food quality traits are perceived as being the most important by dog and cat owners. To this end, a survey of dog and cat owners was conducted by means of a questionnaire distributed in pet stores and trade fairs throughout Italy. Results: A total of 935 surveys were collected; 61.8% of which were compiled by female pet owners. The respondents were relatively homogeneously distributed between cat (30.8%), dog (39.4%), and cat and dog (29.8%) owners. A quarter of the owners (25.5%) reported to have asked their veterinarian for advice on which pet food to buy, and almost a third (30.4%) trusted the advice posted on the web sites of well-known brands. "Contains natural ingredients" was the characteristic that obtained the highest mean score (4.3 out of 5). Elderly owners (> 65 years) placed most importance on whether a product had a high price, and least on feed appearance, animal satisfaction, and stool quality. Young owners (< 35y) paid most attention to the stool quality, the percentage of protein in the feed, and the presence of recyclable packaging, and least attention to feed appearance, smell, and animal satisfaction. Feed appearance, smell, a higher cost, and certain label indications (protein content, presence of fresh meat, grain free) were mostly important among the buyers of wet pet food. Some specific differences also emerged between dog, cat, and dog and cat owners. Conclusions: In this survey of Italian pet food buyers, the presence of "natural" ingredients was considered to be the most important indicator of pet food quality, whereas characterized by a high price was considered least important. The data obtained from this survey could be used to help pet food companies identify which pet food quality traits are perceived as important by dog and cat owners.

In dogs, faeces quality and nutrients digestibility were affected by different types of cellulose (Wichert et al., 2002). In this study, it was investigated whether there are comparable effects of cellulose type in cats. Seven adult, healthy cats were fed a moist commercial complete cat food with three different cellulose type added at a level of 4% for a 1 week period. Faeces quality was between 1 and 3 on the scale used from 1 to 5. The addition of long fibre cellulose resulted in significantly firmer faeces. Addition of cellulose decreased the digestibility of dry matter and energy, whereas the impact on protein and fat digestibility was not significant. The type of cellulose affected faecal bulk and faecal water excretion. Faecal excretion of sodium and potassium was exponentially correlated to faecal water, faecal bulk and to a lesser extent to faecal dry matter excretion. Faecal calcium, magnesium and phosphorus excretion showed an exponential correlation to faecal dry matter excretion. A weaker correlation existed in all three elements to faecal bulk, whereas the effect of faecal water excretion was small. Results suggest a remarkable likeness between cats and dogs with regard to the digestive physiology of major minerals.

The objective of this study was to assess the effect of supplementation with sodium salt of N,Ndimethylglycine (DMG-Na) on apparent digestibility (AD) in broiler chickens fed low-and high-fat diets. Twenty-eight 1-d-old broiler chickens were fed one of the dietary treatments: a low-fat diet (LF) or a high-fat diet (HF) supplemented with or without 1,000 mg/kg of DMG-Na. Body weight and feed consumption were recorded at 14 and 35 d of age. Average daily growth, daily feed intake, and feed conversion ratio were calculated. The AD of DM, organic matter (OM), CP, total fat (TF), and α-tocopheryl-acetate were assessed by 2 digestibility trials (at 18-21 and 32-35 d, respectively). Serum protein and plasma α-tocopherol concentrations were assessed at 35 d of age. Final BW, feed intake, carcass, breast, and spleen weight were higher in groups fed LF than HF diets (P = 0.048, P = 0.002, P = 0.039, P < 0.001, P = 0.007, respectively). Liver weight was increased in DMG-Na-unsupplemented groups (P = 0.011) for both fat levels. During the first digestibility trial (18-21 d), the AD of DM (P = 0.023), OM (P = 0.033), CP (P = 0.030), and α-tocopheryl-acetate (P = 0.036) was higher in the DMG-Na-supplemented group than control. Digestibility of total fat was increased by DMG-Na supplementation in the LF groups (P = 0.038). A trend for improvement of digestibility was observed during the second digestibility trial (32-35 d) for DM (P = 0.089), OM (P = 0.051), and CP (P = 0.063) in DMG-Na groups. Total serum proteins (and relative fractions) were positively influenced by DMGNa supplementation both in LF and HF diets (P = 0.029). Plasma α-tocopherol concentration was higher in groups fed LF than HF diets (P < 0.001).

Growing attention is being directed toward insects as a novel and sustainable source of protein for pet food. The aim of the study was to evaluate nutrient digestibility of a diet containing black soldier fly larvae as its main protein source. Moreover, the purpose of the study was to compare the traditional in vivo total collection method with the in vivo marker method and in vitro digestibility method. Two isonitrogenous and isoenergetic dry diets containing either venison meal (CTRL diet) or black soldier fly larvae meal (BSF diet) as their primary sources of proteins were fed to six adult dogs, according to a Latin square design. The digestibility of nutrients was determined using both in vivo (“total collection” and “internal marker” approaches) and in vitro methods. The two diets showed similar nutrient digestibility values for dry matter, organic matter, ether extract, ash, and phosphorus. However, a statistical trend (p = 0.066) was observed indicating greater protein digestibility in the BSF diet compared with the CTRL diet. Calcium digestibility was higher in the BSF diet compared with the CTRL diet (p = 0.018). On the contrary, fiber digestibility was lower in the insect-based diet compared with the venison diet (p &lt; 0.001). There was no difference between total collection and internal marker methods in the assessment of in vivo digestibility for any of the nutrients considered. The in vitro digestibility values for dry matter, organic matter, and crude protein, as well as the estimated in vivo digestibility of organic matter and crude protein by the means of the predictive equation, were aligned with the in vivo results, although in vitro estimations were consistently higher compared with those obtained by in vivo analysis. Digestibility analysis of a dog food containing insect meal as the sole source of protein (36.5% inclusion) showed promising results in terms of it presenting similar values as a meat-based diet, indicating its suitability as a sustainable protein source for pet food. Moreover, the study showed that both the in vivo marker method and the in vitro method could be possible alternatives to the traditional total collection method in digestibility trials.