Features of the dog’s digestion
Specific system
As you know, the process of digestion begins in the mouth and ends in the large intestine. Along this path, the dog’s body demonstrates its characteristics.
Dogs have more teeth than humans – there are 42 of them. And they are not designed for chewing, but for tearing and grinding food. But the dog has fewer taste buds – 1700 versus 9000.
In general, the digestive tract of a pet is small in comparison with the human one: in a dog it ranges from 2,7% of the total body weight in large breeds to 7% in small breeds, in humans – 11%. The intestines of a dog are two times shorter, and the stomach, on the contrary, has greater extensibility.
As for the microflora, it is much less saturated – 10 bacteria per gram of the tract in a dog and 000 bacteria in humans.
thin places
These features give a general understanding of what kind of nutrition an animal needs.
First, despite the fact that the taste and smell of food are important for a dog, he is not as whimsical as a person, and can eat the same food for a long time.
Secondly, since the time of passage of food through the intestines in a dog is 12-30 hours (in humans – from 30 hours to 5 days), the system is less able to digest certain foods, especially cereals.
The sparse microflora also testifies to the relatively limited possibilities of canine digestion. If a person copes with a wide variety of ingredients, then the pet’s diet needs more fine-tuning.
Thirdly, a distended stomach indicates the dog’s ability to absorb large amounts of food at once, which implies an appropriate feeding regime for the animal – twice a day, but in limited portions (the size of which is indicated on the food packaging), otherwise it will overeat.
Suitable feed
All these facts prove that food from the common table is contraindicated for the dog and do-it-yourself dishes made by the owner from available products are not recommended. In principle, they are not adapted for the digestive system of the animal.
When choosing food for an animal, one should focus on industrial rations.
Due to the balanced composition and increased digestibility, they do not cause discomfort to the pet’s body and saturate it with all the necessary substances – from vitamin A to selenium. At the same time, they do not contain unnecessary and harmful ingredients for the dog.
As for the specific diet, an adult can be fed Pedigree wet food for adult dogs of all breeds with beef, Cesar with lamb and vegetables (designed specifically for small breeds), dry Chappi meat abundance with vegetables and herbs, Royal Canin Medium Adult (for dogs medium size). Offers under the brands Eukanuba, Purina Pro Plan, Acana, Hill’s, etc. are also available.
