McGrath, Hancock, and Morris (2023) conducted a longitudinal study to evaluate whether small dogs have different caloric requirements than medium- and large-breed dogs. The researchers assessed daily caloric intake, body weight, and metabolic body weight-adjusted intake (MBW-Kcal) in both adult and senior dogs.
Key findings include:
- Higher Energy Needs: Even after adjusting for metabolic body weight, small dogs required more calories than medium (P < 0.001) and large dogs (P = 0.031).
- Activity Factor (AF): Small dogs had a significantly higher AF (1.7) than medium and large dogs (both 1.5), suggesting increased energy expenditure.
- Consistency Across Ages: Young and old small dogs showed similar MBW-Kcal and AF, indicating that this elevated caloric requirement persists across life stages.
- Variation Within Small Dogs: Small dogs displayed greater variance in caloric intake distribution compared to larger breeds, reflecting diverse individual metabolic demands.
This study underscores that nutritional guidelines should be updated to account for the unique metabolic demands of small dogs. Feeding strategies tailored by size and life stage could improve long-term health, body weight maintenance, and welfare in small breeds.
Source: McGrath, A. P., Hancock, L. B., & Morris, E. M. (2023). PSIX-13 Intake Differences in Small Dogs Suggest a Need for Size-Specific Energy Considerations. Journal of Animal Science. Authors: Allison P. McGrath, Laura B. Hancock, Elizabeth M. Morris. Journal: Journal of Animal Science.
