Nutrient Requirements of Dogs and
Cats
Feeding Companion Animals
I. Objectives:
A. Maintain Health
B. Promote a normal (not excessive) growth rate
C. Support gestation and lactation
D. Contribute to high performance
Feeding Companion Animals
I. Nutrient deficiencies are unlikely
II. Most likely problem: overfeeding
III. Because of nutrient interactions, balance
within diet and absolute quantity are
important
Nutrient Requirements
I. Vary during lifetime
A. Higher demands: growth, reproduction, work
B. Lower requirement for adults
II. Vary with animals:
A. Terriers more active than pugs at same weight
Nutrient Requirement Standards
I. Provide guidelines for formulation
II. Include current info on
A. Minimum and maximum levels of nutrients
B. Requirements for different life stages and
activities
C. Estimates of bio availability for nutrients in
feed ingredients
Nutrient Requirement Standards
I. National Research Council (NRC):
Minimum Daily Requirements
A. No safety factors or bioavailability
B. Used for cats and dogs before 1992
Nutrient Requirement Standards
I. Association of American Feed Control
Officials (AAFCO): Standards of practical
Nutrient Profiles based on commonly
used food ingredients
A. Published 1992; used by feed companies in
1993
B. Cats:
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=1
&cat=1397&articleid=657
C. Dogs:
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=2
&cat=1659&articleid=662
Energy Expenditure
I. Resting Metabolic rate
II. Voluntary Muscular Activity
III. Meal Induced Thermogenesis
IV. Adaptive Thermogenesis
Resting Metabolic Rate
I. Major portion: 60 to 75% of ER
II. Energy spent while sitting comfortably
after a meal
III. Energy cost of maintaining homeostasis
IV. Changes with sex, reproductive status,
thyroid condition, body composition, body
surface area
Voluntary Muscular Activity
I. Most variable components: 30% in
moderately active
II. Affected by amount and intensity of
activity and by body weight
Meal Induced Thermogenesis
I. Metabolic cost of digestion, absorption,
metabolism and storage of nutrients
II. About 10 % of the ingested calories
Adaptive Thermogenesis
I. Change in RMR in response to
environmental stress
Food and Energy Intake
I. Regulated by:
A. Internal signals:
1. gastric distension
2. Physiological responses to sight, sound and
smell of food
3. Blood changes in nutrients, hormones
B. External Signals
1. Palatability
2. Timing and size of meals
3. Nutrient composition
DOGS: size
DOGS: activity
Energy Requirements (ME in kcal/day)
I. DOGS
A. Calculation difficult: variety of body sizes
B. Change with body surface, not weight
C. Body surface correlated with BW0.67
1. Inactive dogs: 99 x Wkg0.67
2. Active dogs: 132 x Wkg0.67
3. Very active dogs: 160 x Wkg0.67
4. Example: active dog weighing 10 kg
a) Requires: 132 x 100.67 = 617 kcal/day
b) Diet has 3800 kcal/kg (1727 kcal/lb)
c) Needs: (617 / 3800) kg = 0.16 kg = 5.6 oz
d) If 1 8-oz cup of food weights 4 oz, dog needs 1.5 cups
DOGS
Stage X Maintenance Requirement
Post weaned 2
40% adult weight 1.6
80% adult weight 1.2
Late gestation 1.25 to 1.5
Physical work 2 to 4
Lower temperature 1.2 to 1.8
DOGS
II. Breed Differences
A. Small breed dogs: mature body weight less
than 20 pounds.
B. Medium breed dogs: between 20 and 50
pounds
C. Large breed dogs: mature dogs weighing 50 to
100 pounds.
D. Giant breed dogs: mature body weight greater
than 100 pounds.
E. Large, fast-growing dog breeds require less
food per pound of body weight than small
breeds.
CATS
I. Mature BW is between 2 and 6 kg
II. ER is expressed per kg BW
A. Maintenance:
1. 60 kcal/kg BW for moderately active
2. 70 kcal/kg BW for very active
3. 50 kcal/kg BW for sedentary
4. Example: moderately active cat 4 kg BW
a) 60 x 4 = 240 kcal
b) If dry food has 4200 kcal/kg
c) Cat needs 240/4200 = 0.057 kg or 57g = 2 oz
d) If 8-oz cup weights 3.5 oz, cat gets ½ cup/day
CATS
Stage ER: kcal ME/kg BW
Post weaned 250
20 weeks 130
30 weeks 100
Late gestation 1.25 x Maintenance
Lactation 3 to 4 x Maintenance
WATER
I. 2 to 3 times DM intake
CHO
I. All animals require CHO (glucose)
II. Supplied by
A. Diet
1. Cooked starch is excellent energy source
2. Sucrose and lactose not well tolerated
3. Fiber: normal GIT function
B. Endogenously
1. Gluconeogenic pathway: always active in carnivores
2. Cat maintains normal glucose even when fasting or
fed CHO free diet
3. Dogs meet their requirement during growth &
maintenance provided diet has enough fat and
protein
FAT
I. Both cats and dogs maintain health when
fed diets with wide ranges of fat if other
nutrients are adjusted
II. Cat foods have more fat than dog foods
III. High fat foods not good for sedentary
animals
FAT
I. Fat is a source of EFA
A. Linoleic
B. Arachidonic
C. Linolenic
D. Dog diet requires linoleic and he can make
others (1% of diet and 5% of total fat)
E. Cat diet must have linoleic (0.5%) and
arachidonic (0.02%)
FAT
I. Dogs – Can tolerate prolonged fasts and
utilize fat reserves for energy
II. Cats – Do not mobilize fat reserves for
energy very efficiently and, in fact, break
down non-fatty body tissues for energy.
This can lead to a very dangerous feline
disorder called hepatic lipidosis
PROTEIN AND AMINO ACIDS
I. Purpose:
A. Provide EAA
B. Supply N for synthesis of NEAA
C. Animals do not require Protein, they require
AA to
1. Replace losses in skin, hair, digestive
enzymes, mucosal cells
2. AA losses from cellular catabolism
3. Young animals have added requirement for
growth of new tissue
PROTEIN REQUIREMENT
I. Minimum intake of dietary protein that
promotes optimal performance
II. Evaluated as N balance
A. Zero = maintenance
B. Positive = growth, gestation, recovery
C. Negative = inadequate nutrition, illness
CAT’s PROTEIN
I. Cats require 20 amino acids to synthesize all the
needed body proteins.
II. Ten can be synthesized in the liver from carbon
and nitrogen: dispensable amino acids
(nonessential amino acids).
III. The other 10 amino acids are indispensable
(essential amino acids) because they cannot be
synthesized in sufficient quantities to meet the
animal's needs
IV. For phenylalanine and methionine, approximately
one-half the requirement may be met by the
dispensable amino acids tyrosine and cystine.
CATS PROTEIN
I. Arginine
A. Cats require more arginine than other animals, they lack the enzyme
required for synthesis of the arginine precursor, ornithine.
B. Arginine is required for normal protein synthesis and ammonia
detoxification. Arginine enables conversion of ammonia to urea. Cats
can develop severe hyperammonemia from anorexia or ingestion of an
arginine-free meal.
II. Taurine
A. Cats also require taurine, present only in animal tissues. Cats cannot
synthesize enough taurine to meet obligate intestinal loss. The cat
uses only taurine for bile salt synthesis (in comparison to dogs, that
can substitute glycine), causing an ongoing obligate loss of taurine
with excreted bile salts. Most animals produce both glycine and
taurine conjugates of cholesterol for secretion as bile acids, but cats
can only use taurine.
B. Intestinal reabsorption of bile acids is not 100 percent efficient, so
some taurine is continually lost in the feces. Although not
incorporated into protein, taurine is required for normal cardiovascular
(taurine deficiency has been proved to cause dilated cardiomyopathy
in cats), reproductive, and visual function (taurine deficiency has also
been proved to cause retinal degeneration).