Replacement of chicken meal with full-fat locust meal in Golden Retriever dog food and its influence on palatability, digestibility, fecal quality, and immunity

Abstract

In the past few years, the pet industrial and academic community have made significant attempts to find innovative substitutes for chicken meal to make dog foods more durable and efficient. The present study is the first application of full fat locust meal (LM) in dog (Golden Retriever) food. The study was conducted in two phases. In the first phase 18 mixed-sex Golden Retriever dogs were fed three diets: control diet, with no LM and 140 g/kg chicken meal (CM140); LM70-CM70 – with 70 g/kg full-fat LM and 70 g/kg CM; LM140 – with 140 g/kg full-fat LM and no CM for 15 days. The LM addition in dog food did not influence the body weight of dogs significantly. The dry matter and organic matter of all feeds containing CM and LM were not changed significantly whereas crude protein digestibility was significantly changed. The faecal parameters, including score, cumulative pH, ammonia, and volatile fatty acids were not affected by the addition of LM in dog food, whereas faecal pH on the fifth day was significantly reduced. In the second phase, 20 mixed-sex Golden Retriever dogs were fed two diets; CM140 and LM140 to check the palatability of the diets. The food selection in terms of consumption, preference and direction preference were not changed with the addition of LM in place of CM in dog food. It can be concluded from the present study that the replacement of CM with LM in dog food can be done without major negative consequences on the health status and overall performance of dogs.