How do dogs eat food?

Your role in canine digestion usually involves the “before and after” stages. Here’s an overview of what happens during the “during” stage.

Nutrition 101

Healthy dogs need nutritious food. Dogs need to eat nutritious food. The nutrients are the components that provide them with energy and raw materials.

How to digest?

In a process known as “digestion,” food is broken down into simple forms absorbed by the body. This happens in mammals’ digestive tract or alimentary tube, also known as the “gut”. This hollow tube is where food passes through. It is activated by enzymes and acids from organs like the stomach or small intestine, which then discharge into the tube. Hydrolysis is the process by which food can be broken down.

Carbohydrates, protein, fat are the three main classes of nutrients that must be absorbed. Other nutrients, such as vitamins, minerals, and water, are absorbed in a similar way to food. They may have to be separated from carbohydrates, proteins, and fats before they can be absorbed.

Start to digest

The mouth is where digestion begins. Food is mechanically broken down, mixed with saliva before being swallowed. Dogs aren’t strictly carnivores, but their teeth can be used to cut, chew and crush meat. Many dogs will eat their food fast, chewing only the hardest foods and then swallowing them.

The smell and sight of food stimulates saliva flow, leading to the “lip smacking”, or dribbling of food at mealtime. The food’s taste and physical appearance help to increase saliva production once it has reached the mouth. Mucus is a powerful lubricant that coats food in saliva.

The heart and soul of the matter: the stomach

After food is swallowed, it travels down the esophagus. The muscles contract in a wave motion called peristalsis and reaches the stomach within a matter of seconds. There are many functions to the stomach. It is a storage organ, a mixing bag (where additional digestive enzymes can be added to food), and a regulator valve which controls flow into the small intestine. The stomach is where protein digestion starts.

The stomach secretions are made up of proteases, hydrochloric acid and mucus. To stop the major enzyme pepsin from being digested by cells that make it, it is secreted in an inactive state, called pepsinogen. Hydrochloric acid, which is the acid produced by the stomach to digest food, activates pepsinogen in the stomach. This creates the right environment for enzymes to work at their best. Mucus helps to lubricate the food and prevents it from being broken down by the stomach’s own enzymes. Hormones and nerves regulate the amount and composition of the food that is eaten.

Muscularity is found in the wall of the stomach, especially in the pyloric area, which connects the stomach to the intestines. Mix the stomach contents thoroughly and push toward the pyloric Sphincter, a muscular ring which acts as a regulator valve. The mixture becomes a thick, milky liquid called “chyme” and is then allowed to pass into the small intestine. Strong stomach waves cause the pyloric and pyloric muscles to relax. This allows food to enter the duodenum, the first part of the small intestine. Fluids are more fluid and chyme flows through the body faster.

The presence of chyme or acids, fats, irritants, or irritants within the duodenum can slow down the rate at which the stomach emptys. These irritants inhibit stomach movements. This allows the stomach contents to be well mixed and properly digested before leaving the stomach. This ensures that the small intestinal tract doesn’t get more chyme than it can handle.

Small intestine – Big job

The main site of digestion in the small intestinal tract is the duodenum. The chyme is supplemented with enzymes from the intestinal wall as well as the pancreas. The pancreas, one of the most important glands in the body, has two functions. It releases digestive enzymes into your gut and then releases hormones into your blood.

The sodium bicarbonate in pancreatic juice neutralizes acidic chyme that has reached the duodenum and creates an alkaline environment to support optimal functioning of intestinal and pancreatic enzymes. These enzymes include amylase (for carbohydrate digesting), proteases (for protein digestion), and lipase [for fat digestion].

Two hormones, secretin and pancreozymin (also known as cholecystokinin), are key to controlling the release of pancreatic juice. These hormones are secreted by cells in the small intestinal wall. The pancreas also has an important function: it secretes insulin into the bloodstream, which helps to regulate blood sugar.