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Nutrient digestibility of the feed ingredients for dogs
C.M.L. Sá-Fortes, N.K. Sakomura, A.C. Carciofi, M.O. Mendonca and E.V.V. Freitas
Universidade Estadual Paulista . Faculdade de Ciéncias Agrárias e Veterinárias . UNESP FCAV, Brazil
The knowledge of food and raw material digestibility is critical to the reliable formulation of animal diets. However, information relating to the digestibility of ingredients in pet foods is limited, The objective of this experiment was to compare the apparent digestibility of dry matter, crude protein, ether extract, starch and nitrogen-free extract of corn, sorghum, rice bran, wheat meal, rice meal, corn germ and pearl millet. Eight adult dogs were distributed in a 8x8 Latin square design, with eight treatments (ingredients) and eight periods. The animals were individually placed in metabolism cages and fed a basal diet (BD) and test diets (70% of BD and 30% test ingredient). All the diets were extruded to cook the starch and to provide a consistent texture. The results presented in Table 1 demonstrate that the nutrient digestibility of corn, rice bran, sorghum and pearl millet were similar to each other and had a higher digestibility compared to corn germ, wheat meal and rice meal. The observed lower digestibility of these ingredients is most probably due to the high fiber levels. This fact has also been observed in other studies proving that nutrient digestibility is influenced by the source and level of dietary fiber in the diet.
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Aren't dogs likely to be allergic to corn?
Wheat has the highest potential to cause allergic responses. It is most likely to carry and trap mold, mildew and other substances (?).
When should I start feeding my dog Senior dog food?
Bear in mind that the body is in a constant state of regeneration - blood, bone, marrow, etc. Protein and fat provide the fuel necessary for the body to perform these functions efficiently. It hopefully makes you pause and consider that waiting until a dog manifests signs of aging, it is best to keep them on an Adult formula.
Many large breed Kumpi dogs are still eating the Adult formula up to fifteen years of age.
How long should a dog eat Puppy food? I've heard they need to be on Puppy food until they are one year old.
Do some online research and talk with breeders. There is mounting evidence that keeping a dog on puppy food (especially the larger breed dogs) can be a contributing factor to bone problems. Many giant dog breeders recommend feeding a wholesome 'all life stages' Adult product to their new owners.
In the same way some people are tall/short, fine/heavy boned - your dog is preprogrammed genetically for a certain size, etc. Trying to rush the process can be detrimental.
Generally speaking, three to four months of age is a good time to start the shift from Puppy to Adult formula.
My dog had allergic reactions to other foods with corn, but isn't breaking out on Kumpi. Why?
One thing that isn't represented on ingredient panels is the quality or grade of product being used. We use non GMO corn and the highest quality that is available.
Why don't you have Glucosamine or Chondroitin in your dog food?
God didn't make a mistake - healthy dogs don't need this. If they do have a medical problem with joint pain, this should be dosed by a professional. Why expose your dog to the potential risk of the long term effects of a drug?
We have dogs that once eating Kumpi have been able to cut their dosage of Rimadyl and some have been able to stop taking it altogether.
What do you think about organic foods?
This is an area in which the government is struggling to establish uniform standards in. You might be surprised to learn that many "certified organic" foods still contain "acceptable" levels of pesticides and chemicals. "Naturally raised" animals may still be fed non-organic feeds or be given "acceptable" drugs or hormones.
Look alone at the claims concerning poultry. "Free range" poultry means the chickens were let out of their cages, however briefly, to roam free. "Naturally fed" simply means that the feed was scattered on the ground and they were allowed to scratch and peck the ground to ingest their food "naturally."
Is that organic? Were the grains and other components of the chicken feed grown organically? And if they were, was the actual production of the feed done in compliance with regulations to maintain organic standards? What if the chickens ate some bugs while they were scratching the ground? Were those bugs previously exposed to chemicals or pesticides prior to being eaten by the chicken?
(I love asking questions, since I have to answer so many!)
Even a source like venison is hard to guarantee since it likely grazed on chemically fertilized fields or near highways where automobile exhaust tainted the nearby plants. Maybe it nibbled on pesticide-sprayed trees or drank out of polluted streams or ponds.
I don't plan on fixing what works. If and/or when the whole organic issue ever gets settled, I don't believe that the added expense of what will be required to absolutely guarantee (and in this industry, guarantees often have escape hatches) the statement of "organic" will be worth offsetting the expense of our supplementation and high profile of "meat" sources.
What is the science about BARF or Bones And Raw Foods?
This is an area I examined very closely before I ventured into beginning a dog food company. It was alarming how many veterinarians, nutritionists and studies indicate that it can be very risky business to take the SCIENCE of nutrition into your own hands. And that is the key thing I've learned through my journey - nutrition is a science, best left to professionals.
Since then, I ran across an interesting article that adds to my conviction.
"A fast-growing concept in pet nutrition is that of feeding raw food diets, also referred to as BARF (Bones and Raw Food) diets. However, numerous concerns have been raised about this concept. Among the concerns is the possibility for bacterial infection from the raw foods. But, these concerns had little data to support or refute them Ð until recently. Now, the results of an investigation regarding the presence of Salmonella in BARF diets fed to pet dogs have been published. In the study, meal-sized samples of food prepared by clients that regularly fed a BARF diet to their dogs as well as fecal samples from the dogs and similar samples from dogs fed commercial foods, were analyzed for Salmonella spp. All food and fecal samples from dogs fed the commercial foods were negative for Salmonella. Eight of the ten food samples and three of the ten fecal samples from the BARF-fed dogs tested positive for Salmonella. These results provide evidence that dogs fed a BARF diet are more likely to shed Salmonella in their stools. This may be of particular concern to pet owners with small children and those with aged or immune-compromised people in the household."
Source: Joffe DJ, Schlesinger DP, Canadian Veterinary Journal 2002, 43:441-442
Study Finds Raw Diets Risky
"Raw food diets are a growing trend among pet owners hoping to improve their pet's health. However, a study published in the Nov/Dec 2003 issue of the Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association found that these diets may cause a potentially fatal Salmonella infection.
A group at the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine conducted a case study of two cats that developed Salmonellosis as a result of a raw meat-based diet. The Salmonellosis caused gastrointestinal upset, weight loss and anorexia that resulted in the death of both cats. Salmonella in tissue cultures isolated from one of the cats was identical to cultures from the raw beef used in the cat's home prepared diet, and the resulting infection was confirmed as the cause of death in both cases. The report is the first to describe the occurrence of Salmonellosis in cats as a result of feeding a raw meat-based diet.
The JAAHA study also found that while most human cases of Salmonellosis result from direct exposure to contaminated food, there are documented cases of infection due to direct and indirect contact with infected pets. The study concluded that cats fed raw meat contaminated with Salmonella are at risk for development of Salmonellosis and may pose a disease risk to their owners and handlers. Due to these risks, AAHA (American Animal Hospital Association) recommends that pet owners not feed their pets a raw meat-based diet and encourages owners to ask their veterinarian for advice regarding a nutritionally-balanced diet that is appropriate for their pet's age and lifestyle."
Source: Petfood Industry, February 2004
How can calorie counts affect bio-availability?
There is a lot of controversy about protein levels in dog foods. Mae West was quoted as saying, "Too much of a good thing can be wonderful." While in theory I would agree with her, it definitely isn't true when it comes to protein.
Beyond that is the consideration of how bio-available the protein source is to the dog's body. Chicken meal is approximately 70% protein and over 60% digestible. Corn gluten meal is approximately 65% protein, but less than 60% digestible. Kumpi was specifically formulated to be highly accessible to the body during the process of digestion.
Calorie counts can be tricky to go by for that reason. If you consider the caloric count in a brownie vs. a chicken breast of the same weight it might run pretty close. What is the calorie worth to the body in it's ability to provide energy and nutrition? So, reading a label for calorie counts isn't a predictable measure of the actual profit to the body.
Why do Kumpi products have so many different 'meats' in them?
It has become popular to offer chicken, beef or lamb as the only "meat" base for a particular food. Even though you are looking at a kibble, multiple "meat" sources offers dogs a wider palette of amino acids to pull from; and every Kumpi dog food formula includes five "meats."
The variety of our amino acid profile closely follows the dogs own amino acid requirements (lysine, tryptophan, taurine, etc.) more appropriately than singular sources. Dogs are almost exclusively carnivores and Kumpi offering five different "meats" is closer to the way nature intended them to eat.
How many calories are in a cup of your dog food?
Another question that needs some perspective. Can you compare the calories in a three ounce brownie to the calories in three ounces of chicken? Ideally, you need to consider what is truly bio-available to the body and how well it satisfies the nutrient needs.
Corn gluten meal is fabulously high in protein, yet is not as bio-available as chicken meal, nor does it provide Essential Amino Acids the body needs.
What is the real difference in Beet Pulp since some companies show "Dried Beet Pulp (Sugar Removed)" on their ingredient list and others only list the words "Dried Beet Pulp"?
All animal nutritionists know that there is absolutely no difference in the two items. All dry beet pulp is the dried fiberous pulp remaining from sugar beets which have been cleaned and had the sugar extracted from them in the process of manufacturing sugar. So, all beet pulp has had the "sugar removed" by the very definition of what the ingredient is! Some companies cleverly try to make you believe that their ingredients are "special" and/or "better" than others with misleading and self serving information. They are counting on you to fall for their marketing tactics. The fact is, beet pulp is a rather costly but very good quality source of valuable fiber and none of it would even exist if the sugar companies weren't extracting (removing) the sugar from the beets.
If you can't count on a pet food company to spell out in the normal legal terms what their ingredients are without artificially trying to make you believe theirs is different or higher grade, then why would you trust them about anything else? You need to be able to trust your dog food company. That is of paramount importance. Kumpi is a company with products you can trust.
LABEL DECEPTIONS 101
I have been really happy to see the increased interest consumers have about dog food ingredients and how they are trying to learn how to read a label. However, there are some misleading issues that are being omitted from what I've been reading.
A Tale of Making a Purchase
A family member is asked to go buy salad dressing. When they get to the store WOW what a selection! There will be quite a difference in taste depending on the choice. More often than not, you do get what you pay for. NOW, they take the salad dressing home and dinner is prepped. Opening the container, they put one teaspoon of salad dressing on someone's salad.
Quiz. How can you tell how much of what particular ingredient is really in the salad dressing? You can't. But your taste buds will be able to tell. In the same way, a dog food label can be deceptive and the only true way to find out what is best for your dog is to actually try a product out.
Comment. If one teaspoon of salad dressing was placed on a salad, TECHNICALLY, there has been salad dressing placed on the salad.
What does this have to do with dog food?
You can't really tell how much of each ingredient there is by label representation. You also can't tell the quality. The most miniscule amount can make it on the label. Both quality and quantity count - but you won't be able to discern that by the written word.
First Ingredients. Boy, have we ever been brain washed on this one.
The first ingredient is often WHAT THERE IS THE LEAST OF in a pet food by the time you start adding up the first five to ten ingredients.
Example??
Lets say the food is formulated by the ton k?
Chicken - 300 lbs
Wheat - 250 lbs
Rice - 250 lbs
Rice Bran - 250 lbs
Corn Gluten Meal - 250 lbs
Fat & Other - 700 lbs
Look at your ingredient label. If you have chicken or even chicken meal followed by three to five grain sources, there is much more grain in your food than 'meat.' This mock formula has only 300 pounds of meat and 1250 pounds of grain.
BUT what have we been taught?? Look at that first ingredient and obsess on it!!
Pet food ingredient labels are listed in "wet weight matter" meaning that the first ingredient contains the most moisture in the product.
When reading a label, the nomenclature is critical to understand.
"Chicken" is approximately 65% - 70% moisture and 13% protein
"Chicken Meal" is approximately 6% - 8% moisture and 65% protein
"Chicken" as a first ingredient is probably one of the best marketing angles the pet food industry has come up with. They have played on the concept that the first ingredient is what there is the most of in a feed, which is true. But, if you were to remove the moisture content, chicken as an ingredient would sink on the ingredient label panel.
When reading a pet food label, think of individual ingredients as belonging to a "meat" or "grain" family and add that total up. It creates an entirely different picture of the true "meat" content in the product. If you examine closely, you will see that many companies lead in with chicken as their first ingredient (again, mostly moisture) and follow it with a wide variety of grains, hence "splitting out" the ingredients.
Even products that list chicken meal as a first ingredient "split out" the remainder of their food with multiple grains in order to be cost effective. Even though you are looking at dry kibble, the actual content of "meat" is important to your dog's health, as well as the palatability.
If you truly want to be an educated consumer, it takes some common sense along with knowledge to make the right choice. What is the true motivation of a company? How much of their budget is being spent on advertising and fancy packaging?
There are a lot of great products on the market, but there still wasn't one that was good enough for me. Every year we review any scientific data that is substantive to consider to improve Kumpi products.
We aren't 'dumbing down' in any way and we don't adjust the formula to accommodate the fluctuations in market commodities.
Pet nutrition is my passion. Give me a call and just try to get me off the phone!!
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