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. 2017 Sep 1;1(3):397–405. doi: 10.2527/tas2017.0047

Table 4.

Intake, fecal output, fecal characteristics, and apparent total tract macronutrient digestibility in managed African wildcats fed horse-, beef-, pork-, and horse/beef blend-based raw meat diets

Diet
Item1 Horse Beef Pork Blend SEM
Intake
    Food intake, g DM/d 35.3 46.4 40.9 50.7 11.2
    GE intake, kcal/d DMB 209.7 292.8 275.0 305.8 70.7
Fecal output
    Fecal output, g as-is/d 8.8a,b 15.3a 8.8a,b 4.1b 4.0
    Fecal output, g DM/d 5.4 5.4 4.6 2.8 1.7
    Fecal scores2 1.6b 2.6a 1.9b 2.2a,b 0.3
Apparent nutrient digestibility
    DM, % 87.6a 88.9a,b 90.1a,b 94.1b 2.5
    OM, % 91.1a 92.2a 93.1a 97.2b 1.8
    CP, % 96.8b 93.4a 96.0a,b 98.1b 1.3
    Fat, % 98.6 99.4 99.4 99.7 0.5
    GE, % 92.1a 93.3a 94.5a,b 97.3b 1.7
    DE3, kcal/g 5.6 5.9 6.4 6.0
    Calculated ME, kcal/g4 4.5 4.7 5.2 4.5
    Calculated ME, kcal/g5 4.9 5.1 5.6 4.9
    Calculated ME, kcal/g6 5.2 5.5 6.0 5.5
a,b

Means within a row lacking a common superscript letter are different (P < 0.05).

1

GE = gross energy; DE = digestible energy; ME = metabolizable energy; DMB = dry matter basis.

2

Fecal scores were evaluated using a scale of 1 to 5 with: 1 = hard, dry pellets; 2 = dry, well-formed; 3 = soft, moist, formed; 4 = soft, unformed; 5 = watery liquid.

3

DE = calculated using following equation: kcal/g gross energy × energy digestibility.

4

ME = Calculated using modified Atwater: 8.5 kcal of ME/g of fat + 3.5 kcal of ME/g of CP + 3.5 kcal of ME/g of N-free extract.

5

ME = Calculated using unmodified Atwater: 9 kcal of ME/g of fat + 4 kcal of ME/g of CP + 4 kcal of ME/g of N-free extract.

6

ME = Calculated using NRC equation: DE – (0.77 × g protein of diet).