Adverse Effects of Some Amino Acid Supplements in Low-Protein Diets for Growing Dogs

Abstract

It is concluded that caution should be used in trying to improve low-protein diets for young, growing dogs by the additions of single amino acids. The average gains in weight of 8 or 9 pups per group for 10 or 12 weeks showed that an individual supplement of either L-lysine or DL-methionine caused a retardation in the growth which was already suboptimal. When both of these amino acids were added simultaneously, the growth repression caused by either alone was overcome by the combination, and in one instance the growth was greatly improved over that obtained with the basal diet alone. These observations are interpreted as showing evidence of the importance of amino acid balance in low-protein diets for growing dogs.