Nutritional values of animal or plant based oil in Beagle dogs

A balanced diet using various ingredients such as protein, fat, and carbohydrates is important for the health and welfare of companion animals.For this purpose, it is necessary to study the nutritional value of the ingredients of the companion animals' diets.This study was conducted to investigate the nutritional value of animal-or plant-origin oils as fat sources in companion dogs.Chicken oil and sunflower oil were used as an animal-and plant-origin fat sources, respectively.The dietary treatment groups were as follows: 1) a chicken breast powder-rice based diet with chicken oil; 2) a chicken breast powder-rice based diet with sunflower oil.A total of eight Beagle dogs (4.58 0.14 years old; 4 neutered males and 4 spayed females) were used in this experiment.Palatability, fecal score, digestibility, and blood profile were analyzed and compared to evaluate the nutritional value of animal or plant based oil in dogs.Feed intake was restricted to the maintenance energy requirement of each animal, according to the AAFCO equation.As a result, there were no significant differences (p > 0.05) in palatability, average fecal score, nutrient digestibility (dry matter, crude protein, ether extract, ash, and nitrogen-free extract), and blood profiles according to the feeding of chicken oil or sunflower oil diets.All analyzed blood parameters were found to be within the normal range.In conclusion, this result suggests that both chicken oil and sunflower oil can be used as dietary fat sources without negative effects in dogs.