Evaluation of diets with different protein sources for adult dogs

The coefficient of apparent digestibility (CAD) of four dry extruded dog foods was compared, each one formulated with a different protein source: soybean meal (SM), corn gluten meal (GM), meat and bone meal (MBM) and poultry meal (PM). A completely randomized design was used, with four treatments (protein source) and six repetitions per treatment, in a total of 24 animals. Tukey test was used to compare treatments means. The diet based on GM showed the highest CAD of crude protein (88.13 +/- 0.40%), followed by SM (86.31 +/- 0.34%), MBM (85.88 +/- 0.16%), and PM (83.69 +/- 0.09%), with the lowest results. The CAD of dry matter was highest for PM (83.69 +/- 0.09%), intermediary for GM (82.41 +/- 0.23%) and MBM (82.76 +/- 0.11%), and lowest for SM (81.10 +/- 0.16%) The rations based on animal protein presented the highest CAD of nitrogen-free extract. The dogs fecal dry matter was higher for MBM, intermediary for PM and GM, and lower for SM. All the four protein sources analyzed have shown good CAD, and can be used in dog diets.