Feed

• Lecture 6 - Plan

  • Pet food labels
  • What to feed?
  • Protein
  • Fat
  • Adjusting macronutrient profiles
  • CHO vs Fat
  • Post-exercise supplementation
  • Current recommendations
  • Diet self-selection
  • Water
  • When to feed
• Labelling Guidelines


  • Distinguishing number allotted to the pet food factory (PF number)
  • Net weight (g or kg)
  • Trade name or Manufacturer's name and address
  • An Ingredient list
  • Class/Type of Food additive
  • A batch or date code (ensuring traceability)
  • Directions of use
  • Nutritional claim

  
• Ingredient List


  • Company
  • Details
  • Typical Analysis
  • Weight
  • Nutrition Claim
  • Intended Use (Life stage)
  • Therapeutic Claim
• Popular or generic brands produced as "variable formula diets" have ingredients that vary from batch to batch
• Premium foods produced as "fixed formulas" have much more consistency/less variation and are higher priced
• Ingredient lists provide general info. on type of ingredients used in pet food but no info. on quality
• Premium diets with high-quality, highly digestible ingredients may have very similar ingredient list to budget brands
• You can't use ingredient lists to compare two pet foods accurately
• Split Ingredients


  Separate different forms of the same ingredient or combinations of similar ingredients to move them further down the list
• Listing different forms of the same ingredient is totally legal but can be a misrepresentation by the manufacturer
• Nutrition claim


  • Nutritionally complete
  • Nutritionally incomplete
• Nutritionally complete


  • Formulated as a complete, scientific or balanced ration for pets
  • Ingredients calculated or analysed to meet requirements of all life-stages (AAFCO/NRC)
  • Certificate of analysis
  • Ingredients fed as a sole source of nutrients meet the requirements of all life-stages (AAFCO)
  • Feeding trial
• Nutritionally incomplete


  No feeding trial and no certificate of analysis
• Sprinting dogs require a diet high in CHO


  • CHO produce a fast rate of energy generation for highly intense exercise
  • CHO are a less concentrated form of energy & produce relatively small amounts of ATP (g/g) for muscle work
• Total energy needs of sprinting dogs are not much higher than pet animals as high intense exercise occurs for very short period and cannot be maintained for long
• Intermediate and endurance dogs require more fat in their diets

  • Work for longer periods
  • Increased energy requirements
  • High energy density of the food allows smaller volumes to be fed
  • Fats have a slow rate of energy generation but produce large amounts of ATP (g/g) for muscle work
• Energy requirements for each level of activity (type of breed)

  • Sprinting: 1.6 - 2.0 x Resting Energy Requirement (RER)
  • Intermediate exercise: 2.0 - 5.0 x RER
  • Endurance: 5.0 - 11.0 x RER
• Sprinter & Endurance dog diets are usually a mixture of commercial & home made foods which can lead to deficiencies
• Working dogs diets are a commercial diet & homekill mix which is very difficult to assess
• Common Working Dog diet

  • 50% Tux
  • 50% Homekill
• Nutrient amounts in Common Working Dog diet

  • Moisture: 29.39%
  • CHO: 30.9%
  • Crude Fat: 25.6%
  • Crude Protein: 31.7%
  • Energy: 5.24 kcal/g
  • Calcium: 4.19%
  • Phosphorus: 2.14%
• Dietary protein is not required extensively for energy purposes
• Protein requirements increase in athletes due to increased destruction and formation of new protein during conditioning and the beginning of training
• Energy is the most important factor to consider during the period of increased protein requirements
• Diets with inadequate energy levels will result in proteins being used as an emergency supply, which will decrease performance
• High levels of protein in the diet can increase the oxygen carrying capacity to muscles by increasing the red blood cell mass
• Feeding excessive amounts of protein is generally detrimental to performance as it increases the metabolic load and lowers the energy density of the food
• Dogs undergoing intense exercise may benefit from increased levels of protein to prevent injury
• Dietary fat reduces the volume that needs to be fed, increases palatability, and can be important in situations of stress, fatigue or dehydration
• Excessive amounts of fat can result in loss of palatability and diarrhoea
• The source of fat is not important in dogs, but they still require 1% linoleic acid
• Increasing polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) increases the need for antioxidant nutrients like vitamin E and selenium
• Sled dogs may need diets up to 40% DM fat, while sprinters require 10% DM dietary fat, and working dogs are somewhere in the middle
• Exercise close to the maximum consumption of oxygen or 100% VO2max utilizes glycogen as the main muscle fuel, while below 70% VO2max fat is the preferred muscle fuel
• Aerobic training increases VO2max, while anaerobic training increases oxidative metabolism and the use of fat as the main fuel
• Most fat utilized during exercise is intracellular, accumulated inside the muscle, while circulating triglycerides and free fatty acids are not directly used but replenish intramuscular fat
• High fat diets fed before the start of training can improve conditions for oxidative metabolism during training and recovery by increasing circulating fuel sources
• Nutrient composition of the diets

  • Moisture
  • Crude protein
  • Crude fat
  • Crude fibre
  • Ash
  • Carbohydrate
  • Gross energy
• Nutrient composition of diets

  • Moisture (%)
  • Crude protein (%)
  • Crude fat (%)
  • Crude fibre (%)
  • Ash (%)
  • Carbohydrate (%)
  • Gross energy (kJ/g)
• Macronutrient proportions of diets

  • Crude Protein (%)
  • Fat (%)
  • Carbohydrate (%)