A obesidade é uma das desordens nutricionais mais frequentes em cães e gatos. A doença é caracterizada pelo acúmulo excessivo de gordura corporal de forma sistêmica, acarretando prejuízos secundários para a saúde do animal. Entre as causas da obesidade estão fatores como raça, espécie, pré-disposição genética, nutrição, castração, utilização de alguns medicamentos, mas também se deve à mudança no hábito de vida dessas espécies que ao passar do tempo foram tornando-se cada vez mais sedentárias. Por se tratar de um distúrbio nutricional, a adoção de um manejo nutricional é essencial no tratamento da doença, pois o balanceamento adequado de nutrientes como proteínas, lipídeos, carboidratos, fibras e a umidade do alimento, funcionará de forma reguladora no organismo do animal. Associado a um manejo nutricional adequado, a instituição de um programa de atividades físicas para reduzir o sedentarismo dos animais é de suma importância para auxiliar a perda de peso de maneira saudável e sem riscos à saúde do animal. Deste modo, pode-se afirmar que quando se fornece uma alimentação saudável e equilibrada a estes animais é a principal forma de controle da obesidade, portanto, é importante conhecer o papel de cada nutriente no tratamento, bem como a viabilidade da utilização de alimentos prontos disponíveis no mercado.Palavras-chave: animal de estimação, doença, nutrição, tratamento Nutritional management for obese dogs and catsAbstract. Obesity is one of the most frequent nutritional disorders in dogs and cats. The disease is characterized by excessive accumulation of body fat in a systemic way, leading to secondary damage to the animal's health. Among the causes of obesity are factors such as race, species, genetic predisposition, nutrition, castration, use of some medications, but it is also due to the change in the habit of life of these species that over time were becoming more and more sedentary. Because it is a nutritional disorder, the adoption of nutritional management is essential in the treatment of the disease, because the proper balance of nutrients such as proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, fibers and food moisture, will function in a regulatory way in the animal's organism. Associated with an adequate nutritional management, the institution of a program of physical activities to reduce the sedentarism of the animals is of paramount importance to help the weight loss in a healthy way and without risks to the health of the animal. Thus, it can be said that providing a healthy and balanced diet to these animals is the main way to control obesity, so it is important to know the role of each nutrient in the treatment, as well as the feasibility of using ready-made foods available in the Marketplace.

The objective of this study was to determine the apparent metabolisable energy corrected for nitrogen balance (AMEn) of some products containing glycerine from soybean oil (GOIL), a mixture of frying oil and lard (GMIX) and a semi-purified process (GSP) in broilers of different ages (10, 20, 30 and 40 days post-hatching), using two methodologies. In trial 1, the basal diets were replaced with 100 g/kg of each studied glycerine product and the diets were supplied ad libitum. Three hundred broilers were used in five replicates, with five, four, three and three animals per cage in each age group, respectively. The AMEn was calculated for each experimental unit. In trial 2, dietary treatments included the addition of glycerine at 0, 40, 80 or 120 g/kg for each crude glycerine product, with 900 broilers in six replicates, using the same number of animals per cage as described in trial 1. Depending on the experimental unit, the feeding was restricted in 88%, 92%, 96% and 100% of estimated intake according to the Cobb guide. The AMEn was determined using linear regression between the feed intake and the AMEn of each diet. In both trials, the total excreta collection method was used. Because of the chemical composition, GMIX was not considered crude glycerine. The mean AMEn values of the products were 20.55 MJ/kg, 15.80 MJ/kg and 15.05 MJ/kg for GMIX, GSP and GOIL, respectively. There was a linear decrease (p < 0.01) in the AMEn values with the increasing age of the broilers. Numerically, it was observed that the AMEn values decreased until 28-30 day post-hatching and then remained constant until the finishing phase. It is concluded that products containing glycerine can be used as an energy source for broilers, but that AMEn values can vary according to age. Younger broilers have a higher capacity of energy utilisation from these feedstuffs.

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The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of three sources of glycerine (crude glycerine from soya bean oil - CGSO, mixed crude glycerine from frying oil and lard--MCG, and a semipurified glycerine from soya bean oil--SPGSO) in four concentrations in the diet (17.5, 35.0, 52.5 and 70.0 g of each type of glycerine per kg of feed) on the levels of plasmatic glycerol and the activity of the hepatic enzyme glycerol kinase in broilers of 22-35 days old (experiment I) and 33-42 days old (experiment II). The highest (p < 0.05) plasmatic glycerol level was detected in broilers fed diet containing CGSO. Independent of the source, increasing the concentration of glycerine led to a linear increase (p < 0.05) in the plasmatic glycerol concentration. In experiment I, all the diets containing glycerine resulted in increased concentrations of plasmatic glycerol, in relation to the control diet without glycerine. However, in experiment II, only the diet containing 17.5 g of CGSO per kg of feed and the diets formulated with any of the three types of glycerine in the inclusion concentrations of 35, 52.5 and 70 g/kg of feed resulted in higher plasmatic glycerol levels than those observed in the control broilers. The source of glycerine influenced the glycerol kinase activity only in experiment II, where the use of CGSO in the diet increased the enzyme activity. For both experiments, the glycerol kinase activity increased with the inclusion of glycerine in the diet. In conclusion, based on the absence of saturation of the glycerol kinase activity for the three glycerine sources and for both rearing periods evaluated, the broilers can metabolize the glycerol (at the level of the phosphorylation of the glycerol to glycerol-3-phosphate in the liver) present in the glycerine when the diet is supplemented with up to 70 g of glycerine per kg of feed.

The objective was to evaluate the use of prediction equations based on the chemical composition of feedstuffs to estimate the values of apparent metabolisable energy corrected for nitrogen balance (AMEn) of corn and soybean meal for broilers. For performance and carcass characteristics, 1,200 one-d-old birds (male and female) were allotted to a completely randomised factorial 2×8 (two genders and eight experimental diets) with three replicates of each sex with 25 birds. In the metabolism trial, 240 eight-d-old birds were distributed in the same design, but with a split plot in time (age of evaluation) with five, four and three birds per plot, respectively, in stages 8 to 21, 22 to 35, and 36 to 42 d of age. The treatments consisted of the use of six equations systems to predict the AMEn content of feedstuffs, tables of food composition and AMEn values obtained by in vivo assay, totalling eight treatments. Means were compared by Scott-Knott test at 5% probability and a confidence interval of 95% was used to check the fit of the energy values of the diets to the requirements of the birds. As a result of this study, the use of prediction equations resulted in better adjustment to the broiler requirements, resulting in better performance and carcass characteristics compared to the use of tables, however, the use of energy values of feedstuffs obtained by in vivo assay is still the most effective. The best equations were: AMEn = 4,021.8–227.55 Ash (for corn) combined with AMEn = −822.33+69.54 CP-45.26 ADF+90.81 EE (for soybean meal); AMEn = 36.21 CP+85.44 EE+37.26 NFE (nitrogen-free extract) (for corn) combined with AMEn = 37.5 CP+46.39 EE+14.9 NFE (for soybean); and AMEn = 4,164.187+51.006 EE-197.663 Ash-35.689 CF-20.593 NDF (for corn and soybean meal).