Dietary supplementation with improved growth performance, serum biochemical Indices, antioxidant status, and intestinal health in growing raccoon dogs ().

This study was conducted to investigate whether different dietary levels affect growth performance, serum immunity, antioxidant capacity, and intestinal microbiota in growing raccoon dogs. Forty-five healthy male raccoon dogs were randomly assigned to three treatment groups, with 15 raccoon dogs per group. Each raccoon dog was housed in an individual cage. The raccoon dogs in the three groups were fed diets supplemented with at dosages of 0 (N group), 1 × 10 (L group) and 5 × 10 CFU/g (H group). A 7-day pretest period preceded a formal test period of 30 days. The results showed that in the L and H groups improved average daily gain (ADG) ( < 0.05) and decreased the ratio of feed to weight (F/G) ( < 0.05). Serum immunoglobulins A and G levels were increased in the L and H groups compared to the N group ( < 0.05). in the L and H groups increased serum superoxide dismutase activity ( < 0.05), and serum glutathione peroxidase activity was increased in the L group compared to the N group ( < 0.05). The relative abundance of Firmicutes and Actinobacteriota were increased, and the relative abundance of Bacteroidota was decreased in the L and H groups compared to the N group ( < 0.05). The relative abundance of Proteobacteria and Cyanobacteria was increased in the H group compared to the other two groups ( < 0.05). The ratio of Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes in the supplementation groups increased compared with the N group ( < 0.05). The relative abundance of and were increased, and the relative abundance of was decreased in the L and H groups compared to the N group ( < 0.05). The relative abundance of was increased, while the relative abundance of was decreased in the H group compared to the other two groups ( < 0.05). The relative abundance of was decreased in the H group compared to the N group ( < 0.05). In conclusion, dietary supplementation with increased growth performance, serum immunity, antioxidant capacity, and improved intestinal microbiota in growing raccoon dogs. can therefore be used as a growth promoter in raccoon dogs.