DIGESTIBILITY OF NUTRIENTS WITH THE INCLUSION OF CONJUGATED LINOLEIC ACID IN THE DIET OF DOGS
The inclusion of the conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) in food for dogs has been displaying greatpotential, taking into account several benefits in regard to the use of this product. To determine the effect of CLAon the digestibility of the dry matter, nutrients and energy in dogs, two experiments were performed using dogs ofBeagle type, in the age of seven and 15 months, respectively. The experimental diets were isonutritive, justdiffering by the inclusion of CLA, watching for the addition to the control-diet, of an amount of lipids in the form ofchicken fat equivalent to the amount of CLAadded (0.3%), so that the diets were isoenergetic. The coefficients ofapparent digestibility of the dry matter, crude protein, ethereal extract and nitrogen-free extract were not affectedby the inclusion of conjugated linoleic acid, showing that the addition of the product did not interfere with theprocess of digestion of nutrients. In both digestibility experiments, higher values of metabolizable energy wereobserved for the diets with inclusion of CLA(P < 0.01) when compared with the control-diet.