Canine and feline stool scores, expressed as means ± SEM, using a 1 to 5 grading system* are shown for foods classified as either low or high† with regard to the amount of protein or fiber that was available to enter the large intestine.

*A grade of 1 was assigned to feces that did not have solid form and was more than 75% liquid. A grade of 2 was assigned to feces that was soft and mounded, and approximately 50% solid and 50% liquid. A grade of 3 was assigned to feces if it had some cylindrical shape and was more than 75% formed and solid. A grade of 4 was assigned to feces that were greater than 75% cylindrical and if more than 50% of the feces was firm. A grade of 5 was assigned to feces if it was cylindrically shaped and if more than 80% of the feces were firm.†A high or low classification was assigned to each food based on the amount of dietary protein or fiber that was available to enter the large intestine. The absolute amount of protein (or fiber) that was not absorbed from each food was calculated by multiplying the amount of protein (or fiber) in each food by the percentage that was not digested (100– percentage digested = percentage not digested). This calculation estimated the amount of protein (or fiber) that was available to enter the large intestine for that food. Foods above the median value were classified as high for this variable, whereas foods below the median value were classified as low for this variable.a,bMeans with different superscripts within a row under the large intestinal protein or fiber columns are different (P≤0.05). The fiber effect was a main effect with no interaction with species, whereas the protein effect had a species by protein interaction and mean separation was completed independently within each species.