Selected Aspects of Mineral Nutriture of the Cat and Dog With Special Emphasis on Magnesium and Iron

109 p.Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1987.A paucity of data exists concerning the mineral requirements of dogs and cats and factors affecting these requirements. Thus, the dietary magnesium (Mg) requirement of the growing kitten was estimated. Signs of Mg deficiency (depressed serum and bone Mg, soft tissue calcification) were prevented by supplementing a casein-dextrose diet to contain 400 mg Mg/kg. In addition, the iron (Fe) requirement of young dogs and cats was determined. Based on a one-slope broken-line model analysis of hemoglobin concentration at 30 days, it was concluded that 80 mg Fe/kg diet is required by growing puppies and kittens fed a semi-purified diet devoid of fiber and phytic acid. Subsequently, the relative bioavailability of Fe supplied by plant (corn gluten meal) and animal (dried beef liver) sources was determined by hemoglobin repletion bioassays with young dogs, cats and chicks. The results indicated another nutritional idiosyncrasy of the feline since the cat appears to be unique in its ability to utilize Fe provided by dried beef liver approximately three times more efficiently than ferrous sulfate and ten times more efficiently than corn gluten meal Fe. The bioavailability of Fe supplied by common feed ingredients of plant and animal origin was estimated by chick hemoglobin repletion assays, including sesame seed meal (96%), rice bran (77%), poultry by-product meal (68%), alfalfa meal (65%), meat and bone meal (48%), soybean meal (45%), feather meal (39%), fish meal (32%), blood meal (22%) and ground corn (20%).U of I OnlyRestricted to the U of I community idenfinitely during batch ingest of legacy ETD