Evaluating the efficacy of in vitro and in vivo methods for assessing nutrient digestibility in Sapsarees each age

This study evaluated the comparison between in vitro and in vivo methods for predicting nutrient digestibility across different life stages in Sapsarees. The research performed both in vitro methods of dog gastrointestinal conditions such as stomach and small intestine conditions and in vivo methods using 18 Sapsaree groups. Sapsarees were categorized into three groups by age and weight: six puppies (under 1 year; 9.94 ± 5.27 kg), six adult dogs (2–7 years; 23.49 ± 3.90 kg), and six senior dogs (over 8 years; 21.57 ± 2.27 kg). The nutrients examined included dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP), gross energy (GE), crude fiber (CF), and ether extract (EE). The significant differences were found in the digestibility of OM, CF, and EE between the methods (p < 0.05) except the digestibility of DM in puppies and adult dogs and gross energy GE digestibility. In puppies, there were strong linear relationships for OM, GE, CF, and EE with R² values of 0.85, 0.90, 0.85, and 0.82, respectively, between in vitro and in vivo digestibility. Also, in adult dogs, there were strong linear relationships for DM, GE, and CF with R² values of 0.85, 0.90, and 0.91, respectively, between in vitro and in vivo digestibility. In the relationship between in vitro and in vivo digestibility of senior dogs, there were strong linear relationships for OM with R² values of 0.87. The in vitro method shows a strong correlation with in vivo digestibility and is predicted to have significant potential for practical application.