Preliminary study: fibre content in pet rabbit diets, crude fibre versus total dietary fibre.

Fibre is an important nutrient for rabbit health, and, on commercial pet rabbit packaging, it is labelled as crude fibre (CF). In several species, it is considered that CF is not an accurate representation of the fibre content in feedstuffs. The objective of this study was to compare the CF stated on the label (CFL) with laboratory analysis of CF (CFA) and the analysed content of total dietary fibre (TDF) in different commercial pet rabbit feeds. We selected 15 commercial diets and analysed CF and TDF. A mixed model was used to evaluate differences between CFL, CFA and TDF, and linear regression was performed to study the correlation between CFL and CFA with TDF. CFA and CFL were not significantly different (p = 0.836) in the feeds studied, and both were lower than TDF (p < 0.001). The correlations between TDF and both CFA and CFL were significant (p < 0.001 and p = 0.02, respectively), but the correlation was better with CFA (R = 0.86) than with CFL (R = 0.53). As expected, TDF content was higher than CF content, an average of two times. These results suggest that the CF content in rabbit diets reported on the label is not an appropriate indicator of their total fibre content, although further work with a larger sample size is required to confirm these results.

Evaluation of the use of esterified fatty acid oils enriched in medium-chain fatty acids in weight loss diets for dogs.

Esterified fatty acid oils (EAOs) are obtained from esterification of vegetable acid oils with glycerol. These fat sources have the same fatty acid (FA) composition as their respective native oils but new chemical properties. Several studies have confirmed the potential of medium-chain fatty acids (MCFA) to reduce fat mass (FM) in humans and rodents. This study investigates the use of EAOs with different MCFA proportions on food preferences, digestibility and weight loss management in dogs. A basal diet was supplemented with 8% of three different fat sources: C0: soya bean-canola EAO, C20: soya bean-canola (80%) coconut (20%) EAO and C40: soya bean-canola (60%) coconut (40%) EAO. Food preference of these EAOs was tested using a two-pan preference test. Dogs presented a higher daily food intake of C20 and C40 compared to C0 (C20: 155 ± 18.6 g vs. C0: 17 ± 7.0 g, p < 0.001; C40: 117 ± 13.9 g vs. C0: 28 ± 10.5 g, p < 0.05 respectively). Also, the digestibility of the three experimental diets was tested. C20 and C40 showed higher ether extract, total FA and saturated FA digestibilities (p < 0.05) than C0 diet. Lastly, the three diets were investigated in a 14-week weight loss study, following 16 weeks of ad libitum feeding to induce overweight condition. Body weight (BW) reduction was lower (C0: 20.1 ± 2.32%, C20: 14.6 ± 1.43% and C40: 15.7 ± 1.23%, p < 0.05) and FM was higher (FM, 18.7 ± 3.42%, 27.9 ± 3.90% and 28.2 ± 2.88% for C0, C20 and C40, respectively, p < 0.05) for diets C20 and C40 than for C0. Feeding diets with MCFA at these inclusion levels to experimentally overweight dogs during 14 weeks do not result in faster weight loss compared to unsaturated long-chain FA.

Comparison of postprandial lipaemia between native and palm random esterified acid oils in two different monogastric species (dogs and broiler chickens).

It has been reported that applying a chemical reesterification process to a native fat results in a new fat source with different physicochemical properties due to their different fatty acid (FA) positional distribution within the glycerol moiety and their different proportions of mono (MAG)-, di (DAG)- and triacylglycerides (TAG). Thus, this reesterification could affect fat digestion, absorption and metabolism; and this effect could vary among species given their differences in fat metabolism. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of feeding two different random esterified acid oils (REAO), presenting different MAG, DAG and TAG proportions, with their corresponding native oil on postprandial lipaemia in broiler chickens and dogs. For this purpose, 18 dogs and 54 broiler chickens were fed a basal diet supplemented with palm native oil, palm REAO low MAG or palm REAO high MAG. The inclusion level of the oils was 10% of the diet in dogs and 6% in broiler chickens. Serum postprandial TAG concentration (mg/dl) after feeding a single meal was measured at different time points during 12 h in dogs and 3 h in chickens. Although fasting serum TAG concentration values were similar for both species (47 ± 2.4 mg/dl for dogs and 44 ± 3.0 mg/dl for broilers; p = 0.522), postprandial TAG concentrations tended to be higher in broilers than in dogs (p = 0.058). Treatment had no effect on TAG concentration at any time point in any species (p = 0.768 for dogs, p = 0.947 for broilers). However, the postprandial TAG curves were very different between species; in broiler chickens, TAG concentration returned to the fasting values 3 h after feeding while in dogs, the TAG concentration still had not returned to basal levels 12 h after feeding.

Effects of dietary supplementation with a mixed blueberry and grape extract on working memory in aged beagle dogs.

Cellular oxidative damage is thought to be one of the key mechanisms underlying age-related cognitive impairment in dogs. Several nutritional interventions to limit cognitive decline are reported in the literature. To our knowledge, the association of grape and blueberry extracts has never been tested in aged dogs. Our objective was to evaluate the effect of a polyphenol-rich extract from grape and blueberry (PEGB) on oxidative status and cognitive performances in aged dogs. A total of thirty-five beagle dogs (aged 8·0-14·5 years) were fed a basal diet with PEGB at either 0 parts per million (ppm) (n 11; control), 240 ppm (n 12; PEGB1) or 480 ppm (n 12; PEGB2) for 75 d. To investigate the effects of PEGB supplementation on cognition and oxidative status, a delayed non-matching to position (DNMP) test and RT-PCR on genes involved in oxidative stress were evaluated. The dogs fed PEGB1 showed a higher superoxide dismutase mRNA expression compared with dogs fed PEGB2 (P = 0·042) and with the control group (P = 0·014). Moreover, the dogs fed PEGB2 showed higher nuclear factor-like 2 (Nrf2) mRNA expression compared with the dogs fed PEGB1 (P = 0·027). Concerning the DNMP test, the proportion of dogs showing cognitive improvements relative to their baseline level was significantly higher in dogs fed the PEGB, regardless of the dosage, than in dogs receiving no supplementation (P = 0·030). The results obtained in the DNMP test suggested a potential benefit of the PEGB on working memory. However, this hypothesis should be further investigated to confirm this cognitive effect.