Digestibility of dry complete feeds for dogs
Digestibility is an important factor in determining the nutritional value of feed and the intake of essential substances in the dog's body. The rate and amount of nutrients that will be available to the animal for subsequent synthesis depends on the degree of assimilation of feed. The aim of the research was to determine the nutrient digestibility of ROYAL CANIN MAXI Adult and Purina PRO PLAN Adult dry complete industrial feeds. The tasks included: a) to determine the chemical composition of dry complete feed; b) determine and compare the digestibility of the studied feed. The studies were carried out in the Primorsky region. The object of research is service dogs. Two groups of service dogs of the Belgian Shepherd (Malinois) breed, 3 males in each, were selected by the method of paired analogs in terms of age, live weight and temperament. Biometric processing of the research results was carried out using the office software package "Microsoft Office" using the "Excel" program ("Microsoft", USA) according to the method of E.K. Merkurieva. Comparative analysis of the chemical composition of ROYAL CANIN MAXI Adult and Purina PRO PLAN Adult dry complete industrial feeds revealed that not all indicators corresponded to the data indicated by the manufacturers on the packaging. The largest deviations in composition were observed with ROYAL CANIN MAXI Adult. The content of protein, fat and phosphorus in it was lower by 2.4 %, 3.2 % and 0.15 %, respectively, and fiber and calcium - higher by 7.29 % and 0.8 %. The digestibility of nutrients, with the exception of easily digestible carbohydrates, was higher with Purina PRO PLAN Adult.