Table 5.
Fecal characteristics and metabolites of adult dogs fed an extruded dry kibble diet, a fresh roasted diet, or human-grade foods
| Treatment1 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Item | Extruded | Fresh | HG beef | HG chicken | SEM | P-value |
| Fecal characteristics | ||||||
| pH | 6.15 | 6.28 | 6.01 | 5.94 | 0.050 | 0.0707 |
| Fecal score2 | 2.63 | 2.75 | 2.75 | 2.70 | 0.068 | 0.9049 |
| Fresh fecal, DM % | 33.21a | 29.31b | 23.56c | 30.76ab | 0.812 | <0.0001 |
| Fecal metabolites, µmol/g DM | ||||||
| Acetate | 280.39 | 294.93 | 321.88 | 281.41 | 15.585 | 0.7559 |
| Propionate | 148.37 | 130.46 | 158.34 | 140.06 | 11.880 | 0.8685 |
| Butyrate | 61.88 | 63.64 | 66.36 | 62.77 | 6.269 | 0.9943 |
| Total SCFA3 | 490.64 | 489.04 | 546.58 | 484.24 | 26.624 | 0.8175 |
| Isobutyrate | 5.99 | 5.83 | 5.55 | 5.61 | 0.360 | 0.9523 |
| Isovalerate | 7.73 | 8.29 | 7.03 | 7.68 | 0.513 | 0.8034 |
| Valerate | 1.86 | 0.56 | 1.09 | 1.08 | 0.197 | 0.1106 |
| Total BCFA3 | 15.57 | 14.68 | 13.66 | 14.37 | 0.891 | 0.8676 |
| Phenol | 0.35 | 0.38 | 0.12 | 0.29 | 0.095 | 0.7634 |
| Indole | 1.05 | 1.14 | 1.09 | 1.29 | 0.131 | 0.9297 |
| Total P/I3 | 1.40 | 1.52 | 1.21 | 1.58 | 0.209 | 0.9302 |
| Ammonia | 98.91 | 118.82 | 112.49 | 101.22 | 4.045 | 0.1908 |
1Extruded dry kibble diet (extruded); fresh roasted diet (fresh); human-grade beef diet (HG beef); human-grade chicken diet (HG chicken).
2Fecal scores: 1, hard, dry pellets; small hard mass; 2, hard formed, remains firm and soft; 3, soft, formed and moist stool, retains shape; 4, soft, unformed stool; assumes shape of container; 5, watery, liquid that can be poured.
3Total SCFA = acetate + propionate + butyrate; total BCFA = valerate + isovalerate + isobutyrate; total P/I = phenol + indole.
a–cWithin a row, means lacking a common superscript differ (P < 0.05).