1Department of Population Health Sciences, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA.
2Gastrointestinal Laboratory, Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX.
J Am Vet Med Assoc. 2024 Aug 14;262(12):1676-1685. doi: 10.2460/javma.24.05.0358. Print 2024 Dec 1.
To describe the demographic factors of owners and their dogs associated with owner feeding choices and the regularity with which those diets were fed to a US-based population of dogs.
This cross-sectional analysis examined 40,367 initial survey responses from US dog owners participating in the Dog Aging Project. The surveys were collected from January 2, 2020, to December 31, 2022, and included primary and secondary diet component types and dog and owner demographic variables. Each demographic variable was compared across diet type choices with a χ2 test of independence.
Most owners (82%) fed a commercially prepared extruded dry diet (kibble) as the primary diet component. Most owners (89%) reported that they fed their dogs a consistent diet over time. Owner demographic factors (income, education level) were less correlated with difference in diet choices than dog demographic factors (size, neuter status, purebred status, activity level), but owner age did correlate with choice: younger owners tended to feed kibble more compared to older owners. Home-cooked diets were most often consumed by small (< 30-lb) dogs, purebred dogs in poorer health status, and dogs with owners aged 45 years or older. Raw diets were more commonly fed to purebred, intact, and highly active dogs. Ten percent of service dogs were reportedly fed a raw diet of some sort.
Demographic variables are associated with statistically significant differences in diet types selected. Nutrition studies examining health outcomes associated with the feeding of different diet types should account for these factors during design or analysis in order to avoid bias. An epidemiological tool, the directed acyclic graph, is presented.
This information will help clinicians in their discussions with clients about pet nutrition.
描述与主人喂养选择相关的主人和他们的狗的人口统计学因素，以及这些饮食在美国狗群中的喂养规律性。
本横断面分析检查了参与犬老化项目的美国狗主人的 40367 份初始调查回复。这些调查于 2020 年 1 月 2 日至 2022 年 12 月 31 日收集，包括主要和次要饮食成分类型以及狗和主人的人口统计学变量。每个人口统计学变量都与饮食类型选择进行了卡方检验独立性比较。
大多数主人（82%）作为主要饮食成分喂养商业上制备的膨化干粮（颗粒）。大多数主人（89%）报告他们随着时间的推移给狗喂食一致的饮食。与饮食选择的差异相比，主人的人口统计学因素（收入、教育水平）与狗的人口统计学因素（大小、绝育状态、纯种状态、活动水平）相关性较小，但主人年龄与选择相关：年轻的主人比年长的主人更倾向于喂食颗粒。自制饮食最常被小（<30 磅）、健康状况较差的纯种犬和 45 岁或以上的主人的狗食用。生食饮食更常被纯种、完整和高度活跃的狗食用。据报道，有 10%的服务犬被喂食某种生食。
人口统计学变量与所选饮食类型之间存在统计学显著差异相关。在设计或分析时，研究不同饮食类型与健康结果相关的营养研究应考虑这些因素，以避免偏见。本文提出了一种流行病学工具——有向无环图。
这些信息将有助于临床医生在与客户讨论宠物营养问题时提供帮助。
