Royal Canin Nutritional Information

Royal Canin Nutritional Information

Diet is an integral part of treatment during the period of hospitalization. Malnutrition hampers the dog’s recovery from critical illness. (© Lanceau).

Key Points to Remember: Critical Care Nutrition of Dogs

• Ideally, a dog should retain a stable body weight during hospitalization (or gain weight where appropriate). Daily weighing is imperative. Nutritional support will be needed for a patient with inadequate food intake (real or foreseen) of 3 days or more.
• Enteral feeding is by far the best method of nutritional support: it avoids atrophy of the intestinal villi and facilitates faster recovery. When enteral feeding is impossible, the length of time that food is withheld from the intestine must be minimized.
• The energy requirement of a hospitalized dog can be compared to that of a resting dog. Its value is estimated at no less than 70 kcal/kg (BW)0.75. It must be understood however that individual variations can increase this requirement by 30%.
• The diet's energy concentration must be maximized, in order to limit meal volumes. The higher the fat content the greater the energy density. Administration of 30 - 50% of the calories as fat should be the aim. The ideal solution is a diet that has a combination of high energy density and is easy to suspend in water.
• The protein content should be sufficient to maintain a positive nitrogen balance. Provision of 30 - 50% of total calories from protein helps combat loss of lean body mass.
• Be aware that a solution with a high glucose content may promote hyperinsulinemia and hyperglycemia. Do not exceed 10 - 25% of total calories as glucose.
• The fluid-electrolytic balance must be monitored very closely in critically ill dogs: blood potassium, phosphorus and magnesium concentrations are especially important. Rehydration solutions help correct some electrolyte deficiencies.

Focus on: Glutamine

Chemical Formula of Glutamine.

The increased rate of gluconeogenesis accelerates glutamine catabolism in an animal under stress. In the presence of this greater requirement, muscle synthesis of glutamine is often insufficient and the glutamine blood concentration falls. Although glutamine is not an essential amino acid, it may become conditionally essential in some situations.

Glutamine has multiples functions: it participates in maintaining the acid-base balance, it is a precursor of puric and pyrimidic bases, it regulates some hepatic syntheses and it participates in detoxification processes.

Glutamine is a particularly important substrate for rapidly dividing cells such as the cells of the digestive tract and the immune system.

Glutamine is used by immunoglobulin A-producing cells of the intestinal mucosa. A low dietary intake combined with a high requirement in critically ill animals may affect the integrity of the intestinal barrier, leading to a greater risk of bacterial translocation and systemic infection.

While glutamine (250 - 500 mg/kg/day) is recommended for the prevention of atrophy of the intestinal villi, it is not systematically incorporated in parenteral nutrition solutions as preparations for intravenous use are difficult to obtain (Elliott, 2004).