Comparison of voluntary food intake and palatability of commercial weight loss diets in healthy dogs and cats

Abstract

BackgroundObesity in dogs and cats is usually managed by dietary energy restriction using a purpose-formulated weight loss diet, but signs of hunger and begging commonly occur causing poor owner compliance. Altering diet characteristics so as to reduce voluntary food intake (VFI) can improve the likelihood of success, although this should not be at the expense of palatability. The aim of the current study was to compare the VFI and palatibility of novel commercially available canine and feline weight loss diets.MethodsThe relative performance of two canine (C1 and C2) and two feline (F1 and F2) diets was assessed in groups of healthy adult dogs and cats, respectively. Diets varied in energy, protein, fibre, and fat content. To assess canine VFI, 12 (study 1) and 10 (study 2) dogs were offered food in 4 meals, for 15 min on each occasion, with hourly intervals between the meals. For feline VFI, 12 cats were offered food ad libitum for a period of 18 h per day over 5 consecutive days. The palatability studies used separate panels of 37 dogs and 30 cats, with the two diets being served, side-by-side, in identical bowls.ResultsIn dogs, VFI was significantly less for diet C1 than diet C2 when assessed on energy intake (study 1, 42% less, P = 0.032; study 2, 28% less, P = 0.019), but there was no difference in gram weight intake (study 1: P = 0.964; study 2: P = 0.255). In cats, VFI was 17% less for diet F1 than diet F2 when assessed by energy intake (P < 0.001), but there was again no difference in gram weight (P = 0.207). There was no difference in palatability between the two canine diets (P = 0.490), whilst the panel of cats diet preferred F1 to F2 (P < 0.001).ConclusionFoods with different characteristics can decrease VFI without affecting palatability in both dogs and cats. The effects seen could be due to decreased energy content, decreased fat content, increased fibre content, different fibre source, and increased protein content. Further studies are now needed to determine whether similar findings occur in obese dogs and cats on controlled weight loss programmes.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12917-016-0899-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

An international multi-centre cohort study of weight loss in overweight cats: Differences in outcome in different geographical locations

“…These results contrast with findings from a recent study whereby owners reported increased appetite-related behaviours during weight loss in cats [ 38 ]. The reasons for the differences between studies are not clear, but might be the result of the switch to a high protein high fibre diet formulated for weight loss, known to reduce voluntary food consumption in cats compared with other diets [ 39 ]. Indeed, in the previous study, owners did not report differences in appetite-related behaviours between diet types (high fibre versus low carbohydrate), but the cats on the high fibre diet lost over twice as much weight, perhaps suggesting better compliance [ 38 ].…”

Success of a weight loss plan for overweight dogs: The results of an international weight loss study

“…Unexpectedly, most owners did not report increased food-seeking behaviour in the current study and, in fact, a significant decrease in such behaviour was noted. This observation might be because a high protein high fibre diet was used since such diets are known to reduce voluntary food intake compared with other diets [ 33 , 34 ], as well as improving outcomes of weight loss [ 10 ]. However, a genuine effect of diet cannot be confirmed because no comparator diet was used in the study by way of control.…”

Erratum to: Comparison of voluntary food intake and palatability of commercial weight loss diets in healthy dogs and cats

“…The original article [ 1 ] contains an error whereby the author Samuel Serisier’s name is displayed incorrectly as ‘Serisier Samuel’.…”