Nutrition Exam 6

How does life stage affect nutrient requirements?

• changes in energy requirements, weight gain/loss, age, body condition, reproductive status, breed, activity level, temperament, health status, etc

What differences do we see between dogs and cats during gestation? How does this affect how we feed them?

• dogs: gain most of the weight at the 6 week mark. Increase 5-15% a week during weeks 6-9.

• cats: steadily increase weight across the gestation, so gradually increase food/protein intake throughout, 40-50% weight increase in pregnancy.

What does the extra energy and weight gain go towards in the dog and the cat during gestation?

• Dog: weight of pups, placentas, intraplacental fluids, water+ etxra-uterine weight gain

• Cat: fetuses, placenta, associated tissue

How does the energy requirement during lactation compare to that during gestation? Why does it peak at 4 weeks and decrease until 8 weeks of age?

• Energy needed during lactation is even higher than during gestation

• It peaks at 4 weeks because that is when they hit peak lactation and it decreases from that point as the puppies start weaning

How do milk yield and energy content of the milk affect the energy requirements of the lactating cat or dog? How are these different?

• dog: milk yield can be up to 8% bw of the mom and the energy reqts of the dogs depends on the # of pups and the week of lactation (after 8 pups need to supplement pups)

• cat: milk yield has limited info but is dependent on kitten # and lactation stage but peaks 3-4wks and ranges from 1.5-8% of BW. the energy reqt increases with # of kittens drastically.

How does the adult size of the dog affect how long we feed it as a puppy?

• length of time to feed puppy diet depends on when animal reaches mautre body weight.

  • small dogs <20lbs: 8-12 mon

  • medium 20-50: 12-18 mon

  • large 50+: 18-24 mon

How should we feed a puppy until they have reached 1/2 their adult body weight? How should we feed them until they reach adult body weight?

• Before reaching 50% adult BW: feed twice energy reqt by adult at that weight. Ex- 20kg 4 mon puppy need 2300 kcal/day and 20kg adult dog need 1180 kcal/day

• betwen 50% adult BW to maturity: feed 20-50% higher than for an adult at that weight, feed 2 times per day.

What are concerns when feeding a large breed puppy? A small breed puppy?

• large breed puppies: more prone to skeletal disease and problems so we feed to slow growth rate, low ca:p concentrations, low fat diet to prevent obesity. 362kcal/cup

• small breed puppies: grow rapid over short period of time and have limited ability to meet their reqts due to small stomach capacity so we feed higher energy dense diet and high digestible diet. 485 kcal/cup.

What are conditionally essential nutrients during growth?

• arachidonic acid, EPA+DHA, neonatal retinal and brain development, vascular development of blood flow

Gestation length in dogs and cats is how long?

63 days

Weight gain of a gestating cat is….

gradual over the entire pregnancy

Queens tend to loose weight during.....

lactation

Weight gain of a gestating dog is ....

rapid increase after week 5

Overfeeding during lactation can lead to....

risk of increased fat deposits, risk for whelping problems, obesity

A puppy's lactation energy needs peak at ....

4 weeks

It's best if puppies are not weaned before ....

8 weeks of age

In dogs the milk yield is affected by ....

number of puppies in the litter, week of lactation, mother’s body during pregnancy, and mother’s body during lactation

A cat's energy needs during lactation ...

increases fast during weeks 3-4, lessens after 4 weeks

Feeding ways during a dog's lactation include ....

energy dense diet, several small meals a day, highly digestible diet, water available at all times

Rapid growth in large breed dogs can lead to ...

stress on their joints

Milk yield in cats highly depends on .....

number of kittens in the litter and stage of lactation