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Lignocellulose is an alternative fiber source for dogs; however, it has not yet been studied as a feed ingredient for the nutrition of dogs. Eight adult Beagles were involved in the study, which consisted of 3 feeding periods of 8 to 12 wk each. All dogs received 3 different diets, which either had the same concentration of fiber sources (2.7% sugar beet pulp or lignocellulose) or were formulated for a similar concentration of approximately 3% crude fiber: 12% sugar beet pulp (highSBP; 3.1% crude fiber), 2.7% sugar beet pulp (lowSBP; 0.96% crude fiber), or 2.7% lignocellulose (LC; 2.4% crude fiber). Feces samples were collected at the end of each feeding period, and the apparent nutrient digestibility, daily amount, and DM content of feces and fecal cell numbers of relevant bacteria were analyzed. The daily feces amount was lower and the feces DM was higher when dogs were fed the LC diet and the lowSBP diet compared with the highSBP diet ( < 0.001). Apparent digestibility of CP, Na, and K was highest with the lowSBP diet followed by the LC and highSBP diets ( < 0.001). After feeding LC, the bacterial cell counts of spp., spp., and the cluster were reduced compared with feeding highSBP and even more reduced after feeding lowSBP ( < 0.001). The bacterial cell count of the cluster was lower in LC and lowSBP compared with highSBP ( < 0.001). The feces of dogs fed LC and lowSBP had lower concentrations of acetate ( < 0.001), propionate ( < 0.001), -butyrate ( = 0.015), total fatty acids ( < 0.001), and lactate ( < 0.001) compared with dogs fed highSBP. The concentration of -butyrate was higher in the feces of dogs fed with LC compared with dogs fed high and low sugar beet pulp (SBP; < 0.001). The pH of the feces of the LC-fed dogs was highest followed by lowSBP- and highSBP-fed dogs ( < 0.001). Depending on the concentration, the use of LC and SBP as fiber sources in dog feed has different impacts on the fecal microbiota and the apparent digestibility of nutrients. Therefore, different areas of application should be considered.

Monensin is a common feed additive used in various countries, where 1 of the associated benefits for use in beef cattle is improved efficiency of energy metabolism by the rumen bacteria, the animal, or both. Modeling fermentation-altering supplements is of interest, and thus, it is the purpose of this paper to quantify the change in VFA profile caused by monensin dose in high-grain-fed beef cattle. The developmental database used for meta-analysis included 58 treatment means from 16 studies from the published literature, and the proportional change in molar acetate, propionate, and butyrate (mol/100 mol) as well as total VFA (mM) with monensin feeding dose (mg/kg DM, concentration in the feed) was evaluated using the MIXED procedure (SAS Inst. Inc., Cary, NC) with the study treated as a random effect. The mean monensin dose in the literature database was 30.9 ± 3.70 mg/kg DM and ranged from 0.0 to 88.0 mg/kg DM. Mean DMI was 7.8 ± 0.26 kg DM/d, mean concentrate proportion of the diet was 0.87 ± 0.01, and mean treatment period was 42 ± 5.6 d. Results produced the following equations: proportional change in acetate (mol/100 mol) = -0.0634 (± 0.0323) × monensin (mg/kg DM)/100 (P = 0.068), proportional change in propionate (mol/100 mol) = 0.260 (± 0.0735) × monensin (mg/kg DM)/100 (P = 0.003), and proportional change in butyrate (mol/100 mol) = -0.335 (± 0.0916) × monensin (mg/kg DM)/100 (P = 0.002). The change in total VFA was not significantly related to monensin dose (P = 0.93). The results presented here indicate that the shift in VFA profile may be dose dependent, with increasing propionate and decreasing acetate and butyrate proportions (mol/100 mol). These equations could be applied within mechanistic models of rumen fermentation to represent the effect of monensin dose on the VFA profile in high-grain-fed beef cattle.

The objectives of the present experiment were 1) to study the effects of transport conditions and lairage duration on stress level, muscle glycolytic potential, and pork quality; and 2) to investigate whether the negative effects of high stress immediately preslaughter are affected by preceding handling factors (transport and lairage). In a 2 x 2 x 2 factorial design, halothane-free pigs (n = 384) were assigned to either short (50 min) and smooth or long (3 h) and rough transport; long (3 h) or short ( 0.30), tended to increase (P = 0.06) muscle glycolytic potential. Long transport tended to increase (P = 0.08) electrical conductivity, and decreased a* (P 0.40) affected by high stress, but water-holding properties (measured by electrical conductivity, filter paper moisture, and drip loss) were impaired (P 0.12) affected by any treatment. Comparisons with the "optimal" handling (short transport, long lairage, and minimal stress) revealed that, with regard to water-holding properties, the negative effects of high stress were aggravated by suboptimal transport and lairage conditions. High stress alone increased electrical conductivity by 56%, whereas high stress in combination with short lairage led to an 88% increase. However, high preslaughter stress contributed most and was the major factor responsible for reductions in pork quality.