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Body Mass, Maintenance and Basal Metabolism in Dogs¹

Department of Physiological Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA 95616

Basal metabolism and body mass are related by the metabolic power function: P = aM^b, where P = basal metabolism in Watts, a = mass coefficient, M = body mass in kg, and b = mass exponent. The mass exponent of 117 dogs from the literature b_dog = 0.885 0.024 (r = 0.960; F = 1387; df = 1, 115). This mass exponent is significantly greater than the commonly accepted value of 0.75 for mammals. The dog's 95% confidence ellipse is compared with that of mammals with body mass (M) < 3.2 kg (the lower limit of the mass range in dogs) and > 3.2 kg. When M > 3.2 kg the interspecific metabolic mass exponent (b₁) in mammals is also significantly greater than 0.75 and not different from b_dog (b₁ = 0.869 0.034; r = 0.919; F = 648; df = 1, 120). In mammals M < 3.2 kg b₁ is significantly smaller than 0.75 (b₁ = 0.634 0.010; r = 0.941; F = 4319; df = 1, 561). These data show that in mammals the relationship between the logarithms of basal metabolism and body mass is not accurately described by a single regression line. They also indicate that the commonly accepted 0.75 mass exponent is not applicable to the prediction of basal metabolism in dogs and mammals. The relationship between body mass and maintenance energy metabolism (MEM) in 332 dogs shows that the prediction interval is too wide to reasonably predict MEM in individual dogs. However, the minimum maintenance energy metabolism (MMEM in Watts) can be accurately predicted by a simple algorithm: MMEM = 10.3 + 1.41 x M. The theoretical meaning of the basal metabolic power function is discussed.

KEY WORDS: • symposium • dogs • basal metabolism • body mass • maintenance metabolism • minimum maintenance metabolism

¹ Presented as part of the Waltham International Symposium on Nutrition of Small Companion Animals, at University of California, Davis, CA 95616, on September 4–8, 1990. Guest editors for the symposium were James G. Morris, D'Ann C. Finley and Quinton R. Rogers.

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