Cranberries (Vacciniummacrocarpon aiton) in dog nutrition: influence on diet digestibility and palatability and in the course of urinary tract infections

ABSTRACT The objective was to evaluate the effects of cranberry on blood and urinary parameters of dogs (experiment I), digestibility of nutrients (experiment II), palatability of diet (experiment III) and the influence of cranberry on E. coli UPEC-MRHA fimbriae in vitro (experiment IV). For experiment I and II, ten dogs were fed with diets containing 0% or 0.4% cranberry for 30 days. Experiment III compared the diets containing 0% and 0.4% cranberry using 16 adult dogs. There were no statistical differences (P>0.05) in the blood parameters evaluated. Dogs consuming cranberry presented lighter color and appearance of urine, compared to the control group (P