Body condition of dogs fed diets containing soya hulls*

Obesity is a growing problem in dogs. Therefore, there is an increasing need of foods for obese dogs with high-fibre content to dilute energies and to reduce energy absorption. Soya hulls are cheap and are widely available as a fibre source. We aimed at evaluating the body condition of dogs fed diets containing 0 % soya hulls (0SH) or 16 % soya hulls (16SH) in replacement of maize. Twelve adult dogs, with 11·3 (se 1·6) kg average body weight (BW), 4·1 (se 0·1) years old and body condition score (BCS) between 4 and 7, were completely randomised assigned (six per treatment) and were fed the 0SH diet according to their maintenance energy requirements or the same amount in grams (g/kg BW(0·75)) of the 16SH diet once daily for 56 d. The animals were evaluated on days 0 and 57 for BW, BCS (1, very thin to 9, obese), subcutaneous fat thickness in the L7 vertebra using ultrasound (L7), canine BMI (CBMI) and body fat (BF). Data were analysed by the Student's t test and Kruskal-Wallis test (P < 0·05). The change (final - initial) in BW (-0·58 v. -0·49 kg), BCS (-1 v. -1), L7 (-2 v. 0·35 mm), CBMI (-0·85 v. -0·63 kg/m(2)) and BF (-5·0 v. -5·4 %) of dogs fed the 0SH and 16SH diets, respectively, were not different (P > 0·05). The 16SH diet, with 11·4 % restriction in metabolisable energy, did not change the BCS of adult dogs. Further studies evaluating the supply of soya hulls only to overweight/obese dogs should to be carried out, because these dogs may respond differently than the group evaluated, which had a BCS between 4 and 7 (ideal to overweight).