If only we had an accurate and precise way to measure if a dog is obese or not; Professor Alex German, who was in the program stated in his article entitled The Growing Problem of Obesity in Dogs and Cats :
“Ideally, a test [ of Measurement of obesity in companion animals] that is both accurate and precise should be used; however, many tests for body composition are precise but not accurate, whereas some lack both precision and accuracy. Other important aspects of a test are cost, ease of use, acceptance by veterinarians and clients, and invasiveness. Currently, there is no method that cannot be criticized; therefore, the perfect tool for analysis does not yet exist.”
…I apologise if this sounds rather curt yet seeing tape measures and weighing machines used for determining obesity … somehow doesn’t seem appropriate. Sadly if the dogs lost muscle, for example, then that is no obesity improvement, that is muscle loss. And if a dog is showing more movement than usual on a different diet it may not be assumed that the dog is fitter, nor surely be assumed to be solely due to a different diet.
I’ve read their response and appreciate the ‘compulsion’ to produce a reasoned reply, yet, at the same time feel uneasy when the conclusion of a study (which rightly states competing interests), notably an extremely small study, of only 8 dogs, fed different diets for an extremely small amount of time (4 weeks total =2 weeks on one diet, then 2 weeks on another), is then inadequately quoted! ???
I wonder was the quoted study a straightforward comparison of raw food vs kibble as it may at first seem? The raw diet consisted of beef added to a watered down manufactured “complement”.
In the link there is a table of the 12 essential minerals. However, It’s difficult to accept a comparison of minerals, between the standard accepted source (be that the NRC or the EU) and any manufacturer’s “composite” meal!! To be accurate it is the comparison using the actual individual complete meals that would provide the necessary indication of mineral content.