Post-prandial lipemia and glycemia in dogs fed with industrialized pet food

Although lipemia is known to interfere with spectrophotometric analyses in dogs and other species, the postprandial profile of dogs fed with industrialized pet food is yet to be determined. Analytical errors, especially during postprandial peak lipemia, are likely to occur due to an increase in blood serum turbidity caused by lipoproteins. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the time to postprandial peak triglyceride and glucose levels in healthy dogs fed with commercial feed, their return to baseline levels, and whether feeding could alter lipid and glycemic profiles in dogs. Twenty healthy dogs fasted for 12 h were fed with commercial feed. Blood samples obtained hourly and biochemical analyses were performed through spectrophotometry. VLDL and LDL were calculated using Friedewald’s equation. Variables were tested for normality and compared through repeated measures ANOVA or Friedman’s test. Peak hypertriglyceridemia and glucose happened 2–5 and 1–3 h following feeding, respectively. Baseline levels were again found at 6 h for triglycerides and 4 for glucose. Total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol levels were not changed by commercial feed. In conclusion, the commercial feed used in this study alters glycemic and lipid profiles of some analytes of healthy dogs. Fasting can be reduced for biochemical determination of glucose, while no fasting period is necessary for total and HDL cholesterol determination in dogs.