Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Energy needs for healthy and sick adult dogs explained
By Pedrinelli, Vivian et al.·Published in Journal of animal physiology and animal nutrition·2021·School of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, Brazil·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Predictive equations of maintenance energy requirement for healthy and chronically ill adult dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A study looked at how much energy adult dogs need to maintain their weight, comparing healthy dogs to those with various health issues. It found that healthy dogs generally require about 86 calories per kilogram of body weight, while dogs with certain conditions like endocrine disorders or orthopedic issues need less energy. Factors like body condition score (how fit the dog looks), age, and whether the dog is neutered also affect their energy needs. This information can help pet owners and veterinarians determine the right diet for both healthy and sick dogs to maintain a healthy weight.
People also search for: dog weight maintenance · energy needs for sick dogs · how much should my dog eat · neutered dog diet · dog calorie requirements
Abstract
Maintenance energy requirement (MER) is the energy amount necessary for dogs to maintain their weight and body condition. Some factors can influence the MER, such as gender, age, neutering status and also diseases. The present retrospective study aimed to evaluate MER of adult dogs with several diseases and compare with the MER of healthy adult dogs, observing the influence of parameters such as body condition score (BCS), neutering status, gender, age, diagnosis and type of food on MER of these dogs. A total of 165 adult dogs with weight changes of ≤5% were included and divided in groups according to diagnosis. Mean MER for healthy dogs was 86.09 kcal/BW, which differed from NRC and FEDIAF recommendations for inactive adult dogs (p = .047). Lowest MERs were of the endocrinopathies (78.52 ± 19.32 kcal/BW), orthopaedic diseases (59.71 ± 19.30 kcal/BW) and neurologic diseases (78.83 ± 32.66 kcal/BW) groups. Gastrointestinal diseases (99.59 ± 20.36 kcal/BW), orthopaedic diseases (59.71 ± 19.30 kcal/BW) and neoplasia (95.61 ± 21.02 kcal/BW) groups were the only groups that differed from the mean MER of healthy adult dogs. Regarding BCS, for each increasing point in a 9-point scale, there was a decrease of 9.8 kcal/BWon MER, independent of diagnosis (p < .0001; r = .55). There was no difference regarding breed size gender and age, but neutered dogs presented lower MER (p = .031). Based on data obtained from the present study, it can be concluded that it is necessary to consider BCS, age, neutering status and diagnosis when calculating MER, both in healthy dogs and chronically ill dogs.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31637773/