Raw Digestion time period

[Bojacc357]

About how long is the Raw Digestion time period in a dog? Just something I've wondered. Even more so how long does it take to empty.

This is some of what I read.


-According to Kymythy Schultze, in her book "The Ultimate Diet," raw stays in the stomach 4-5 hours, cooked about 8-10 hours and kibble takes approximately 15 hours to be broken down and move out of the stomach.

-It depends on the diet. A raw food diet takes 5-6 hours. A decent kibble diet will take a bit longer (8-12 hours). A junky mostly indigestible diet of corn and other grains like Purina, Pedigree, IAMS, Science Diet, etc will take substantially longer.

-A question often asked is how long does it take for a dog to digest his meal. Probably this information is wanted to determine when it's time to let the dog out for a sanitary walk or it's just curiosity. There is no simple answer though as passage time depends on several factors. Each dog is an individual.

In general, raw dog food takes about 4 to 6 hours to move through your dog. Dry dog food takes a bit longer to digest and spends about 10 to 12 hours inside your dog.

[R2L]

theres no rule of thumb

raw is a big word, how can you speak of hours whilst it can be 100 gr or 2 kg of raw?? and obviously 1 kg of grinded meat will digest faster then a 1 kg meatbone/carcass. and as said each dog is an individual.

[Bojacc357]

Ok let me better express what I'm trying to do and my question which I feel I have an answer to now. I am trying to keep blood sugar levels up and store and use energy in time period where the dogs stomach and large intestines are empty. Meaning defecation has taking place and food being digested is in a liquid state and converted to energy. This to me will allow stronger workout with better blood sugar level and a ready energy supply. Figuring 4 to 6 hours stomach digestion and knowing when to look for my dog defecation regularity will give me a gauge on digestibilty and best work out periods feeding twice a day. Of course I'll be splitting the meal volume. If I am gauging right at 8 hrs feed to empty than my 2 workout periods would have a 4 hr window giving me 12 hour increments between digest and work twice a day. Reading this material I'm bout to post put me right on the money though and I understand I'll have to make adjustments for individuals.

[Bojacc357]

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Dog Health and Nutrition

Dog digestive system

Food gets broken down into a simple form that can be absorbed and used by the body in a process called “digestion.” In mammals, this process takes place in the digestive or alimentary tract--often simply called the “gut.” This is a hollow tube the food passes through and is acted upon by secretions from organs that discharge into the tube. These secretions contain digestive enzymes that speed up the process of hydrolysis, by which food is broken down.

The three major classes of nutrients that need to be digested are carbohydrates, protein and fat. Other nutrients (minerals, vitamins and water) are absorbed in more or less the same form as they are found in food. But they may need to be released from proteins, fats or carbohydrates before they can be absorbed.


Digestion begins in the mouth

Digestion begins in the mouth, where food is mechanically broken down and mixed with saliva before it’s swallowed. Although dogs aren’t strictly carnivores, their teeth are particularly suited to meat eating, and can cut, chew and crush food. Still, many dogs have a tendency to bolt down their food, often chewing only the toughest of foods before swallowing.

The sight and smell of food stimulates the flow of saliva, causing the dribbling and “lip smacking” often seen at mealtimes! Once the food arrives in the mouth, its taste and physical presence help increase saliva production. Saliva contains mucus, a very effective lubricant that coats the food to help with swallowing.


What the stomach does

When food is swallowed, it passes down the esophagus, whose muscles contract with a “wave” motion called peristalsis, and arrives at the stomach within a few seconds. The stomach has several functions. It’s a storage organ; it’s a mixing bag, where more digestive enzymes are added to the food; and it’s a regulator valve that controls the rate of flow into the small intestine. Protein digestion begins in the stomach.

The stomach secretions contain protein-digesting enzymes (proteases), hydrochloric acid, and mucus. The major enzyme, pepsin, is secreted in an inactive form, pepsinogen, to stop it from digesting the cells that produce it. Pepsinogen is activated in the stomach in the presence of hydrochloric acid, which also creates the correct acid environment for the enzymes to function at their optimum rate. Mucus lubricates the food, and protects the lining of the stomach wall (which is largely protein) from being digested by its own enzymes. The secretion of acid, mucus and enzymes depends on the composition and quantity of food eaten, and is regulated by hormones and nerves.

The wall of the stomach is muscular, particularly in the pyloric region. The stomach contents are mixed thoroughly, and push towards the pyloric sphincter--a muscular ring that acts as a regulator valve. By this time, the mixture is a thick milky liquid called chyme, and several factors control its passage into the small intestine. Strong waves in the stomach cause the pyloric sphincter to relax, and allow food to pass into the duodenum (the first part of the small intestine). Chyme passes through more easily when it’s very fluid.

On the other hand, the rate of emptying is reduced by the presence of chyme, acids, fats or irritants in the duodenum, which inhibit movements in the stomach. This ensures that the stomach contents are well mixed and sufficiently well digested before they leave the stomach. It also ensures that the small intestine doesn’t receive more chyme than it can cope with efficiently.


The work of the small intestine

The duodenum is the main site for digestion in the small intestine. Here, more enzymes are added to the chyme, some of which come from the intestinal wall and others from the pancreas. The pancreas is one of the major glands of the body, and has two functions: releasing digestive enzymes into the gut, and releasing hormones into the blood. Pancreatic juice also contains sodium bicarbonate, which neutralizes the acid chyme arriving in the duodenum, and provides an alkaline environment for optimum functioning of pancreatic and intestinal enzymes. These enzymes include proteases to continue protein digestion, amylase for carbohydrate digestion, and lipase for fat digestion. Enzymes in the intestinal juice generally start off the later stages of digestion.

The regulation of pancreatic juice release is largely controlled by two hormones--secretin and pancreozymin. These are secreted from cells in the wall of the small intestine. Another important function of the pancreas is to secrete the hormone insulin into the bloodstream to control blood sugar levels.

The liver is the other major organ associated with the small intestine. Bile is produced continuously in the liver, stored in the gall bladder, and passed into the gut through the bile duct when it’s needed. Bile contains bile salts that act like detergents by turning fat into tiny globules that can then be processed by the lipase enzymes in pancreatic juice. It’s the pigments in bile that give feces their characteristic color.

The digestion of food is completed in the small intestine, and once the food has been broken down to its simplest form, it can be absorbed across the wall of the intestine and into the blood. The end products of digestion are carried to the liver, where they are metabolized. Fat is absorbed into the lymph vessels, and is later transferred to the bloodstream.

The small intestines are very long, and absorption takes place along its entire length. Folds and finger-like projections, villi, in the lining of intestinal wall dramatically increase the surface area for absorption. In some dogs, the absorptive area of the small intestine may be as large as the floor of a small room!


The role of the large intestine

By the time the food that’s been eaten reaches the large intestine, most of the nutrients have been digested and absorbed. In this part of the gut, water is absorbed, and some fermentation of dietary fiber by bacteria takes place. This process is responsible for the production of gas, often associated with flatulence!

Feces are around 60-70% water, and the rest is made up of undigested food, dead bacteria and some inorganic material. The feces are stored in the rectum and evacuated through the anal sphincter. Although defecation is voluntary, problems may occur in old age or during bouts of diarrhea or other illness.


Measuring the digestibility of food

For any given food, we can discover the amount of each nutrient present, using chemical analysis. But this doesn’t give a true picture of the actual nutritional value of the food, since only nutrients absorbed from the digestive system are of use to the animal. A proportion of each nutrient eaten will inevitably be lost in the feces.

Digestibility is a better measure, because it shows the availability of the nutrient content of the food. We can calculate digestibility from the difference between the nutrient intake in food and that voided in feces.

Since feces consist not only of undigested, unabsorbed material but also cell debris and material excreted into the digestive tract, the difference between intake and output measured in this way is called “apparent digestibility.” To measure true digestibility, it’s necessary to use control diets free of the nutrient being studied, to establish the output when the intake is zero. For most practical purposes, apparent digestibility is used, as it measures the net amount of digestion.

Within the same species, digestibility is more a characteristic of the food than the individual animal. But the digestibility of a particular food will be different if it’s fed to two different species of animal—dog and cat, for example--because of differences in their digestive systems.

One way of illustrating these differences is to compare the length of the gut with body length. Herbivores such as the horse have a high ratio, since vegetative foods generally require more prolonged digestion than animal-derived materials. In omnivores such as dogs and people, the ratio is lower. And carnivores such as cats have the lowest ratio of all.

So, diets with a high vegetable content tend to have lower digestibility in dogs because of their indigestible fiber content, whereas the digestibility of meat-based diets is usually very high.
Digestibility values provide an index that can be used to estimate how much of the food must be fed to a normal, healthy individual in order to supply the correct amount of nutrients and energy. Where the digestibility value is low, a larger quantity of the food must be eaten to meet the requirements of the animal. Similarly, a diet of low digestibility will result in the production of a greater volume of feces.

[Bojacc357]

I also have this piece of material

-In part one, we learned about the history of feeding dogs and dog food manufacturing. In this discussion, we will learn about specific canine nutrition needs due to their anatomy and physiology as a carnivore.

Digestion and Anatomy of the Canine

For comparison we will look at the three distinctive types of digestion anatomy in mammals.

Herbivores have the longest digestive tracts, designed to ferment and process vegetation. Some have multiple stomachs for advanced fermentation to completely break down plant material for better digestion of these foods. These groups of animals have strong, flat molars to grind and break down grasses, and are built for grazing during most of their waking hours. Herbivores depend on vegetation for complete nutrition. They have the ability to break down the cellulose found in plant materials.

Omnivores have medium length intestines and only one stomach, giving them the ability to consume some vegetation but also to digest animal proteins. Their detention includes flat molars and sharp teeth developed for some grinding and some tearing. This group may eat either plants or animal proteins, but most often eat both. They need both categories of food for complete nutrition. They have less ability to break down cellulose found in vegetables and grains.

Carnivores have the shortest and simplest digestive tract for ease of digesting animal protein and fat. Dogs fall into this category. Carnivores have sharp, jagged, blade-shaped molars, designed for slicing, rather than flat grinding molars designed for grinding. Their jaws cannot go sideways, as in herbivores and omnivores that grind their food by chewing, but are hinged to open widely to swallow large chunks of meat whole. Carnivores have the ability to consume large quantities of food at one time and can rest between meals. This is called ‘gorging’ in the wild and has its place in hunting large game. Carnivores can consume large meals after a hunt and then rest until the next opportunity for a meal. Dogs need animal protein for a complete amino acid profile. They can live without any vegetation (carbohydrates) but can also do fine with eating small amounts. They do not have the ability to break down cellulose so plant materials are not digested well, if at all.

For a better understanding of a dog’s mouth and how the teeth are designed, see Dental Anatomy of the Dog.

Large amounts of vegetation, grains and fiber are difficult for dogs to digest. With their short and simple digestive tracts, they cannot ferment and digest these foods like herbivores, and to a smaller degree also omnivores. The result for dogs is a much larger stool volume from high grain, high fiber diets.

The canine has a short digestive tract that helps to easily digest animal flesh and fat. The food spends a much longer time in the stomach than for herbivores and omnivores and the stomach has a much higher amount of hydrochloric acid for break down of animal proteins, bones and fat. For further information on dogs as carnivores, go to my previous article, Anatomy of a Carnivore.

In the book, See Spot Live Longer (Creekobear Press, 2005), written by Steve Brown and Beth Taylor, it states:

”The stomachs of dogs (and humans) make industrial strength hydrochloric acid that can dissolve iron. Dogs hold chewed food in their stomachs for 4 to 8 hours after ingestion. The low pH of the gastric juices provides a barrier to pathogens. Only a little food at a time is released in to the intestine, which it passes through quickly. This gives any bacteria that may live through the repeated acid baths little time to colonize and produce gastrointestinal distress.

In humans, on the other hand, the food may pass through the stomach into the intestines in as little as 30 to 60 minutes. The partially digested food may spend as long as 12 to 60 hours in the intestines before it is passed into the colon, and then defecated. This means that “the intestines suffer prolonged exposure to whatever germs survive a minimal aid wash in the stomach.”

This information demonstrates how dogs can easily digest raw meat and bones and have the ability to destroy harmful bacteria. Nature is wise in her design and provides protection for these carnivores in consuming prey, drinking pond water and eating food stuff contaminated with bacteria. Problems such as salmonella, E Coli and other food borne pathogens are skillfully handled by the extended time in the strongly acidic environment of the stomach. Any surviving pathogens have little opportunity to propagate during their quick transit time though the intestines.

Most dog food recipes are created upon the premise that the digestive system of the dog is similar to humans, with a correspondingly heavy emphasis on carbohydrates. This is partly because carbohydrates are cheaper to add to processed dog food and have a longer shelf life. This thinking is also seen in most home made recipes, which are simply following the same ratio of animal protein, carbohydrates and fat found in commercial dog foods. These recipes follow the processed manufacturers’ rules, rather than being designed to meet the real nutritional needs of the canine. It is hard not to follow their lead, with their claims of nutritional standards and balanced diets, but remember these diets are designed specifically for the manufacturers’ economic and packaging needs. These formulas are designed to fit the needs of the pet food companies more than for the nutritional needs of the dog.

The National Research Council (NRC), which sets the standard for nutritional needs of dogs, does not list a carbohydrate requirement. They do include a long list of amino acids, and these are found complete in animal proteins. Fat is also listed, along with specific minerals. Meat, bones, organ meat, dairy and eggs can supply all of these requirements. Fat, protein and mineral needs will be addressed more fully in upcoming articles.

Since the small intestine of the dog moves food more quickly than that of omnivores and herbivores, dogs are not designed to deal with foods that need fermenting or further breaking down. Foods that work well in this type of environment include animal protein and fat. They are broken down in the stomach and then passed through the small intestine to retrieve and utilize the amino acids from the protein and lipids from the fat. Additions of plant materials (grains, vegetables, fruit, and fiber) simply cause gas and large odoriferous stools. With the lack of ability to ferment or break these substances down completely, it would appear little nutritional use could be made of carbohydrates in the dog.

[Blackfoot]

About how long is the Raw Digestion time period in a dog? Just something I've wondered. Even more so how long does it take to empty.

This is some of what I read.


-According to Kymythy Schultze, in her book "The Ultimate Diet," raw stays in the stomach 4-5 hours, cooked about 8-10 hours and kibble takes approximately 15 hours to be broken down and move out of the stomach.

-It depends on the diet. A raw food diet takes 5-6 hours. A decent kibble diet will take a bit longer (8-12 hours). A junky mostly indigestible diet of corn and other grains like Purina, Pedigree, IAMS, Science Diet, etc will take substantially longer.

-A question often asked is how long does it take for a dog to digest his meal. Probably this information is wanted to determine when it's time to let the dog out for a sanitary walk or it's just curiosity. There is no simple answer though as passage time depends on several factors. Each dog is an individual.

In general, raw dog food takes about 4 to 6 hours to move through your dog. Dry dog food takes a bit longer to digest and spends about 10 to 12 hours inside your dog.

Best thing to do is feed raw diced carrots in his feed...carrots like corn do not digest well. Take the dog out every 2-3 hours till he passes a stool and see if there is any signs of carrots. You get a close timeline of your dogs metabolism as well!

[Bojacc357]

Thanks bro greatly appreciated. That's a easy way to see the full process threw. Don't know why I wasn't thinking of that.

Bo

[R2L]

All i know for sure is my dogs stumics are empty in the morning when i feed them at 8pm.
As digesting cost energy whilst you want your dog to recover, the faster the better.

[Officially Retired]

theres no rule of thumb
raw is a big word, how can you speak of hours whilst it can be 100 gr or 2 kg of raw?? and obviously 1 kg of grinded meat will digest faster then a 1 kg meatbone/carcass. and as said each dog is an individual.

Good post. There is no "one" answer to any question like this, as the variables can be too great.

The only way to get to "specifics" would be to scientifically measure how fast your dog processes this meal ... because when you vary the meal (and vary the dog) you're going to get different results.

Jack

PS: Thanks for posting those quotes, Bojacc357, interesting stuff!

[Officially Retired]

To me, this is the most vital information discussed:

Carnivores have the shortest and simplest digestive tract for ease of digesting animal protein and fat. Dogs fall into this category. Carnivores have sharp, jagged, blade-shaped molars, designed for slicing, rather than flat grinding molars designed for grinding. Their jaws cannot go sideways, as in herbivores and omnivores that grind their food by chewing, but are hinged to open widely to swallow large chunks of meat whole. Carnivores have the ability to consume large quantities of food at one time and can rest between meals. This is called ‘gorging’ in the wild and has its place in hunting large game. Carnivores can consume large meals after a hunt and then rest until the next opportunity for a meal. Dogs need animal protein for a complete amino acid profile. They can live without any vegetation (carbohydrates) but can also do fine with eating small amounts. They do not have the ability to break down cellulose so plant materials are not digested well, if at all.

For a better understanding of a dog’s mouth and how the teeth are designed, see Dental Anatomy of the Dog.

Large amounts of vegetation, grains and fiber are difficult for dogs to digest. With their short and simple digestive tracts, they cannot ferment and digest these foods like herbivores, and to a smaller degree also omnivores. The result for dogs is a much larger stool volume from high grain, high fiber diets.

The canine has a short digestive tract that helps to easily digest animal flesh and fat. The food spends a much longer time in the stomach than for herbivores and omnivores and the stomach has a much higher amount of hydrochloric acid for break down of animal proteins, bones and fat. For further information on dogs as carnivores, go to my previous article, Anatomy of a Carnivore.

”The stomachs of dogs (and humans) make industrial strength hydrochloric acid that can dissolve iron. Dogs hold chewed food in their stomachs for 4 to 8 hours after ingestion. The low pH of the gastric juices provides a barrier to pathogens. Only a little food at a time is released in to the intestine, which it passes through quickly. This gives any bacteria that may live through the repeated acid baths little time to colonize and produce gastrointestinal distress.

In humans, on the other hand, the food may pass through the stomach into the intestines in as little as 30 to 60 minutes. The partially digested food may spend as long as 12 to 60 hours in the intestines before it is passed into the colon, and then defecated. This means that “the intestines suffer prolonged exposure to whatever germs survive a minimal aid wash in the stomach.”

This information demonstrates how dogs can easily digest raw meat and bones and have the ability to destroy harmful bacteria. Nature is wise in her design and provides protection for these carnivores in consuming prey, drinking pond water and eating food stuff contaminated with bacteria. Problems such as salmonella, E Coli and other food borne pathogens are skillfully handled by the extended time in the strongly acidic environment of the stomach. Any surviving pathogens have little opportunity to propagate during their quick transit time though the intestines.

This right here explains "why" dogs do not "get sick" by eating raw meat ... that would make us human beings deathly ill ...

Jack

.