dogs and cats should be fed according to their nutrient requirement.

1. PET ANIMAL
NUTRITION
Vasuki silva
Materials provided by Dr. Gamika Prathapasinghe

2. The principle of nutrition and feeding
■ The domesticated dog(canis lupus familaris) is a form
of the grey wolf.
■ A member of the canidae family of the oder carnivore

3. Diet in dogs in pre –food era
■ Before domestication they live in wild
■ Found their food by hunting or relying on left overs ,
basically bony skeleton and other less palatable
remains of carcasses

4. The likely composition of the diet of the
pre pet food in dogs
nutrient percentage
Crude protein 54.4
fat 23.7
ash 10.6
CHO 11.2
Ca 3.95
P 1.62

5. Humanization of the dogs and its impact
on nutrition.
■ Adult dogs daily diet
carbohydrate – 50%
protein 10%
fat 5.5%
fiber 2.5-4.5%

6. Food
■ Any substance which is capable of nourishing the living being
■ The components of the food which have these functions are
called nutrients
■ The food mixtures which is actually eaten are referred to as
diet
■ Any nutrient which is required by the animals & cannot be
synthesized in the body are called essential nutrients

7. Energy
■ In addition to supply specific nutrients food also supplies energy
■ Derived from CHO fat and protein
■ Water has no energy value. So the energy density of food varies inversely
with its moisture content
■ Most animals are efficient self- regulators of their energy intake
■ Excessive energy intake leads to obesity, inadequate energy intake
results in poor growth in young and weight loss in adults

8. Levels of energy
■ Gross energy
– The amount of heat released when the food is totally oxidized in an
environment of pure oxygen
■ Digestible energy
– Is the E available in a food when it has been absorbed into body after
digestion in the digestive tract.
– DE= Gross E- fecal losses
■ Metabolizable energy
– The E which is ultimately utilized by the tissue and is calculated as
DE- urinary losses.

9. Macro nutrients
Proteins
■ Is req. during normal maintenance to replace protein loss
during the natural turnover of epithelial surfaces, hair,
secretions etc.
■ Additional protein is req. during growth, pregnancy, lactation.
■ Animal proteins have more balanced amino acid profile with a
greater proportion of essential a.a and better digestibility
■ Protein sources- meat, eggs, dairy products, corn, organ
meat

10. How Much Protein is in My Dog’s
Food?

11. Deficiency signs of proteins
■ Poor growth and wt loss,weak and deformed bones
■ Rough and dull hair coat
■ anorexia
■ Increase susceptible for diseases
■ Muscle wasting and emaciation
■ Edema and death
■ Tail chasing

12. taurine
Essential amino acid for dogs and cats
■ Dogs cannot survive without protein in their diet.
■ Dietary protein contains 10 essential a.a
■ They provide the building blocks for many important biologically active compounds
■ They donate c-chains needed to make glucose to energy
■ High quality proteins have a good balance of all the essential a.a
Histidine
arginine
Leucine
Isoleucine
Lysine
Phenylanaline&
tyrosine
Trytopan
Valine
Threonine
Met&cystine
humans
dogs cats

13. ■ Deficiency of single essential a.a can leads to serious
health problems
■ Arginine is vital to many of the animals internal
chemical functions.WithoutArginine, the entire
system goes on strike.
■ dogs ; not so sensitive toArg. Because dogs can
produce enzymes that supports production ofArg.
■ Cats ;extremely sensitive to even a single meal
deficient in arginine, because unable to make their
own arginine.
■ Arginine is critical to the removal of NH3 from the
body through urine.Without sufficient arginine, in
diet, cat may suffer from a toxic build up of NH3 in
the blood stream

14. ■ Taurine is a dietary essential for cats
■ Deficiency causes metabolic and clinical problems such as
– Feline central retinal degeneration
– Blindness
– Deafness
– Cardiomyopathy
– Heart failure
– Inadequate immune response
– Poor neonatal growth
– Reproductive failure
– Congenital defects
■ Taurine is found abundantly in many fish, birds and small rodents
■ Strict vegetarian diets are not suitable for cats unless supplemented of essential
nutrients, that are not found in cats

15. ■ Cats use 20% of protein for growth and
metabolism, and 12% for maintenance.
■ Dogs use 12% and 4% respectively

16. Fat
■ Most concentrated source of energy
■ Carrier for fat soluble vitamins
■ Give palatability for foods
■ Structural components of cell membrane
Linoleic acid, linolenic acid and arachidonic acid are the three essential fatty acids.
Are polyunsaturated
■ Cats are unable to convert linoleic and linolenic acids into arachidonic acid and
therefore require dietary source of arachidonic acid(liver does not contain delta-6
desaturase enzyme)

17. ■ Deficiency signs of E.F.A
 Dull scurfy coat
 Hair loss
 Fatty liver
 Anemia
 Impaired fertility
 Fat soluble vitamin deficiency

18. Carbohydrate
■ Provides energy and converted into body fat
■ Most animals can synthesize enough to meet the need
■ Dietary carbohydrate is not required for dogs and cats
■ However cooked starches are economical source of energy
■ Some dogs find sugars are palatable, but cats do not response to the taste
of sugars
■ The activity of intestinal disaccharides declines with time, therefore
sucrose and lactose containing products may lead to diarrhea