Estimativas de ingestão de nutrientes e energia de alimentos completos comerciais para cães da raça labrador retriever

Abstract

Animal feeding is known as one of the most important management practices. Thus, nutrition is recognized as an important aspect for the proper development of the animal, preventive health care, disease treatment, and quality of life. When it comes to complete dry industrial commercial food, the vast majority of owners allow their dogs to eat ad libitum. The pet food market segment has been constantly updating and innovating with products of extremely high palatability, associated with a sedentary lifestyle and the physiological characteristics intrinsic to certain breeds, particularly the Labrador Retriever, which has high food consumption. As a consequence, this can lead to overweight, which may trigger other disorders. The present study aims to estimate the energy and nutrients of three dry extruded foods for growing dogs, being one classified as super-premium market category for large-breed puppies, another classified as premium also for large-breed puppies, and finally one specific for Labrador Retriever puppies. Additionally, three distinct methodologies were used for comparison: FEDIAF (2021), NRC (2006), and Klein et al. (2019), to estimate the average daily intake (gDM/day) of both the food and the nutrients referring to crude protein (CP), ether extract (EE), and nitrogen-free extract (NFE) consumed throughout the growth period until the puppy reaches its adult stage and weight. The results showed that the FEDIAF (2021) methodology estimates the lowest value in week 8 (initial week considering weaning at the end of the seventh week of life), with the highest peak value in the twenty-eighth week, followed by a gradual reduction while maintaining the highest estimated consumption values. The NRC (2006) methodology has the highest initial estimated value, with an earlier peak in the twenty-fourth week and a gradual reduction with relatively lower calculations compared to the previous methodology. Meanwhile, the Klein et al. (2019) methodology estimates an initial value similar to FEDIAF (2021), but with the lowest peak value in the twenty-eighth week and lower values from the gradual reduction until stability and the estimated adult weight are achieved. It is the methodology that estimates the lowest consumption of the calculated nutrients, in line with other studies that relate controlled dietary restriction to better health and greater animal longevity, preventing associated comorbidities.