Digestive upset and nutrient absorption in pets

When digestive upset in the form of diarrhea occurs in pets, it signals that the animal’s ability to absorb nutrients from the diet is reduced. As a result, the animal may no longer be absorbing all of the nutrients needed to maintain health.

One way to avoid or treat digestive upset is to feed a diet that contains ingredients that are highly digestible for the animal. Ingredients in pet food, however, also have the potential to cause digestive upset if they contain anti-nutrition factors (ANFs). Luckily, pet diets are one of the easiest things to control to reduce the risk of diarrhea by carefully selecting appropriate dietary ingredients.

Is soy an appropriate choice in pet food diets?

Soybeans naturally contain a variety of ANFs including oligosaccharides and trypsin inhibitors which can cause flatulence, diarrhea or poor stool quality, and lead to decreased nutrient digestibility in dogs. Removal of ANFs from soybean meal, however, has been shown to increase nutrient digestibility, improve palatability, and reduce fecal output and odor all while maintaining stool consistency. This makes soybean meal not only an appropriate option but a highly beneficial one.

Feeding trials with Hamlet Protein’s HP 300, which uses a patented production process to remove ANFs from soy, have demonstrated the benefits of including low ANF soy in pet diets. Including just 4-8% HP 300 in place of poultry by-product meal leads to an increase in total tract digestibility as well as a reduced fecal output.

These results demonstrate the benefit of feeding our specialty soy protein diets to reduce the risk of digestive upset and improve nutrient digestibility to support animal health and longevity.