This study is of the utmost importance since it informs us, above all, of the tastes, improvements and preferences that the food and nutrition of our pets should have . Nutrition in our animals is, above all, basic for them to enjoy good health and have a long and healthy life .
The results obtained, published in the Journal Experimental Biology, were highly different from what was expected and it is that it has been shown that cats do not need to ingest 50% protein daily , as has always been believed. This publication changes the nutritional opinion on feeding pets and opens a new challenge and path for the animal food industry.
The study was conducted over 28 days in which 17 adult dogs and 27 cats tested four types of food that tasted the same: high-fat, high-carbohydrate, high-protein, and balanced. By removing taste from the equation, animals could make their choice based on the macronutrients their bodies told them they needed.
Jean Hall , head of research and a professor at the Carlson College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Oregon, noted that previous studies show how, without a balance of palatability in food, dogs will tend to eat more fat and cats they will prefer foods that are very high in protein. However, if the taste is balanced, both dogs and cats will prefer a significantly different macronutrient content than they would choose based on taste.
During the experiment, each day the dogs had one hour to eat as much as they wanted, within a predetermined caloric intake. That is, they could get all the calories their metabolism and weight needed but no more.
The cats in the study were also unable to overeat, although even if they were given unlimited access to foods they were known to like, the cats tended to eat while maintaining weight. They adjusted their intake based on the energy density of the food. In the study, cats had access to food 24 hours a day to the point of reaching their caloric threshold.
The researchers found that the cats chose on average 43% of their calories to come from carbohydrates and 30% from protein . The dogs, meanwhile, consumed 41% fat and 36% carbohydrates . It follows from this that neither cat nor dog chose to get the highest percentage of calories from protein.
Among the cat-related findings, there are trends that correlate with age and lean body mass, that is, the amount of muscle an animal has. Young cats with less body mass tended to have a higher protein intake while young cats with more body mass tended to have a lower protein intake. In general, young cats prefer to eat more protein than older ones.
In the case of dogs, it was shown that among younger dogs with less body mass, high-protein foods were less popular while dogs with higher body fat preferred to obtain calories from protein.
“Because the choice of macronutrients was influenced, in both dogs and cats, by age and lean body mass or fat body mass, this suggests a physiological basis for what they chose to eat,” Hall said.
