9b Lifecycle Nutrition of Dogs 1 Flashcards
What kind of puppies are more premature at birth?
- large breed
- more susceptible to malnutrition
What are the 3 critical phases during first year of life?
- nursing phase
- weaning period
- post weaning period
What is the mortality rate during first week of life and why?
- 10-30%
- birth weight highly correlated to mortality because low nutrition intake
- daily weighing
Describe the body temp of puppies at birth.
- poikilothermic during first 3 weeks
- low level of body fat
- unable to regulate body temp
- bitch may push puppy away or neglect it with low skin temp
Describe the requirement for colostrum.
- secreted within 24-48h after birth
- high DM content: viscous and sticky, suckling difficult for weak puppies
- DM content decreases 12-24 hours after birth (protein decrease)
Describe the nutrient content of colostrum.
- twice as much protein as mature milk (IgG, whereas normal milk has IgA)
- high levels of Ca, Mg, P, Fe, Zn and Cu
- high in vitamin A (born blind)
- low lactose level (1% vs 3.4% of mature milk
- laxative effect (puppies unable to control defecation)
- growth factors stimulate intestine growth
How does colostrum affect the immune system?
- depend on passive transfer of immunoglobulins
- transplacental transfer only 5-10% of IgG
- drink within 24 hours before gut closure
Describe the composition of milk.
- supports normal growth of neonates (not too fast)
- composition does not change much during lactation
Describe the energy requirement during nursing period.
- energy requirement = energy for maintenance + growth
- huddle together for warmth (decreases energy requirement during first week of life)
- puppies with lower birth weight consume same amount of milk
Describe the protein requirement during the nursing period.
- met with ingestion of adequate amounts f milk
- protein digestibility of milk up to 99% (nitrogen retention in first week 99% reflects high degree of anabolism)
- rich in arginine, lysine and branched chain amino acids
Describe the fat requirement during nursing period.
- fat reserves at birth very slow
- milk must contain a lot of fat = high energy
Describe the carb requirement during nursing period.
- primary carb lactose
- lactose readily digested after digestion (lactase high until 4 months of age, amylase low)
- lactose favours colonization of beneficial bacterial species (competitive exclusion of pathogenic bacteria)
Describe Ca and P requirement during nursing period.
- Ca and P sufficient in milk
- but calcification of skeleton does not keep pace with increase in body size until after weaning
Describe iron requirement during nursing.
- accumulation of Fe in liver during last week of pregnancy
- during first 3-4 weeks, body iron stores, hematocrit and hemoglobin values decrease below levels at birth
- milk poor source of iron
- additional food with Fe ASAP
- Fe stores normalize at 4 months
Describe how weaning occurs.
- restriction of food intake 1-2 days before weaning (less nutrients available for milk production and reduction of mammary gland engorgement)
- no food at weaning
- restriction of food 1-2 days after weaning
