• 한국환경과학회지
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• 제32권12호
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• pp.991-994
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• 2023

This study aimed to investigate the effects of feeding mealworm pellets on protein digestibility and fecal composition of companion canines. The canine breeds used in the specification test were Maltese (average weight 2.0 kg) and Poodle (average weight 2.5 kg), with a total of six canines, three of each breed, without discriminating between males or females. The control feed for the two canines was based on 100 g of commercially available general feed, to which the dogs were allowed to adapt for approximately 3 d. Ony on Day 0 of the experiments, dogs were fed twice, in the morning and afternoon. One day later, the treated group was 80 g of regular feed with 20 g of mealworm pellets added, and the dog was fed for 1 to 7 d in the same manner as the control group. The addition of mealworm pellets increased the protein digestibility in both canine breeds, however, the differences were no significances (p>0.05). Based on the normal stool score of 3, no remarkable changes were observed in stool score from Days 1 to 6, showing that the canines had adapted to the mealworm pellet feed. In particular, on Day 7, feeding mealworm pellet appeared to affect the fecal properties differently between the two breeds. This difference can be owing to differences in the intestinal environment and digestion and absorption ability between the two breeds. Consequently, using mealworm pellets improved the protein digestibility of canines as well as maintained normal fecal properties.