Table 2.
Factors explaining variation in the apparent faecal digestibility values (%) including days 2–7 from both feeding periods for DM, organic matter (OM), nitrogen (N), crude fat (Cfat), starch, crude ash and gross energy (GE). Factors include the test food, sex, neuter status, age and body size of the dogs. Values are least square means ± standard error
| DM | OM | N | Cfat | Starch | Crude ash | GE | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Factor | Mean | se | Mean | se | Mean | se | Mean | se | Mean | se | Mean | se | Mean | se |
| Food | ||||||||||||||
| A (n 53) | 78·3 | 0·7a | 83·1 | 0·6a | 74·2 | 0·7a | 93·4 | 0·4a | 98·6 | 0·05a | n.i. | 81·7 | 0·7a | |
| B (n 52) | 74·8 | 0·7b | 78·9 | 0·6b | 67·9 | 0·7b | 91·6 | 0·4b | 98·7 | 0·05b | 76·6 | 0·7b | ||
| Sex | ||||||||||||||
| Female (n 34) | 75·7 | 0·8 | 80·1 | 0·6 | 70·2 | 0·8 | 92·0 | 0·3 | 98·5 | 0·06 | 28·1 | 1·4 | 78·2 | 0·7 |
| Male (n 19) | 77·51 | 0·9 | 81·9 | 0·8 | 72·0 | 0·9 | 93·0 | 0·5 | 98·5 | 0·06 | 31·0 | 1·9 | 80·1 | 0·8 |
| Neuter status | ||||||||||||||
| Intact (n 12) | 75·6 | 1·0 | n.i. | 69·6 | 1·1a | n.i. | n.i. | 31·9 | 1·9a | 78·3 | 1·0 | |||
| Neutered (n 41) | 77·5 | 0·6 | 72·5 | 0·6b | 27·1 | 1·9b | 80·0 | 0·6 | ||||||
| Age | ||||||||||||||
| 1–2 year (n 15) | 75·5 | 0·9 | 80·4 | 0·4 | n.i. | 92·3 | 0·5ab | n.i. | 21·5 | 2·6a | n.i. | |||
| 3–7 year (n 27) | 75·9 | 0·7 | 80·0 | 0·6 | 91·8 | 0·4a | 29·5 | 1·4b | ||||||
| > 7 year (n 11) | 78·3 | 1·1 | 82·6 | 1·1 | 93·5 | 0·6b | 37·5 | 2·2c | ||||||
| Body size | ||||||||||||||
| 0–10 kg (n 10) | n.i. | n.i. | n.i. | n.i. | n.i. | 21·7 | 2·85a | n.i. | ||||||
| 10–25 kg (n 23) | 35·1 | 1·9b | ||||||||||||
| > 25 kg (n 20) | 31·8 | 1·5b | ||||||||||||
n.i., not included in the ANOVA after model selection using stepwise regression.
a,b,c Values with different superscripts within a factor and nutrient differ (P < 0·05).