Sunday, April 29, 2018

We are more genetically similar to our dogs than we thought

A study done by Dr Luis Pedro Coelho suggests that the genes of the gut micro biomes in dogs is genetically similar to the gut micro biome in humans. In fact more genetically similar than the micro biomes found in mice and pigs. The results of this study has revealed that dogs are a better model for nutrition studies than mice and pigs. The experiment showed that changes in carbohydrates and proteins has nearly the same effect on humans and dogs. The micro biomes in obese dogs were more receptive to high protein diets than in lean dogs. This same pattern can be seen in humans too. Dogs are becoming more and more obese and this is most likely because humans feed their pets food from the dinner table all the time. They are not getting fat because they can not eat human food, they are getting fat because they are eating more than they should for their size. If dogs were fed human food in a balanced diet they would not become obese because they have very similar gut micro biomes. I find this study very interesting because as a pet owner, I look at my dogs are being apart of my family. I have never been one to feed my dog food from the table because I do not want him begging every time I eat, but I may start feeding him more carbohydrates and proteins that humans would eat. There are also many different diets out there made for dogs using only "human food", the link is attached below to one of these diets.

Article: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180419131136.htm
Additional Information: https://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues/15_7/features/Home-Prepared-Dog-Food-Nutritional-Information_20568-1.html

4 comments:

  1. I found this article very interesting, as a do owner myself I am very aware that most dog foods are highly under regulated and not the best for dogs. I often incorporate lots of boiled chicken and ground turkey into my own dogs food, after reading this article I will continue to give him more "human" food

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  2. wow this is super interesting, it makes sense though because of how many years we have evolved together.

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  3. This is really outstanding, and I hope that in the future researchers find other animals that are closer to humans as well.

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  4. This is so interesting to read about, I have a small Jack Russell and he always begs for food, and I guess this article makes me consider giving him a some human food but only according to his size.

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