Nutrient digestibility, but not mineral absorption, is age-dependent in cats: Mineral absorption and digestibility in young and old cats (original) (raw)
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Animals : an Open Access Journal from MDPI, 2021
Simple Summary Preventative healthcare and provision of optimal nutrition from early ages is increasing the life expectancy of companion animals today. However, as part of the normal ageing process, changes in the capacity to digest and use dietary nutrients may occur, which could contribute to deficiency in energy and/or essential nutrients. Based on previous studies, an effect of ageing on nutrient digestibility has primarily been observed when feeding low-fat or high-fibre diets. In this study, we evaluated the effect of age on nutrient digestibility using healthy dogs and cats up to 14 years old by feeding diets differing in fat and fibre contents. Older dogs and cats had a preserved nutrient digestibility, in some cases showed an enhanced digestibility of fibre and calcium. Interestingly, older cats had a lower nutrient digestibility with one of the diets, which was unrelated to fat and fibre levels, but was possibly associated with other ingredients in the formulation. Our fin...
Feeding Mature Adult Cats: Middle Aged and Older
2009
More pet cats are getting older. Thirty-five percent of cats in the United States are at least seven years of age (Lund et al, 1999). The number of pet cats older than six years in the U.S. nearly doubled (from 24 to 47%) over a recent decade (Stratton-Phelps, 1999). Similarly, in Europe, the number of cats older than seven years increased by 100% between 1983 and 1995 (Kraft, 1998). For the purposes of this chapter, the term “mature” indicates cats that are seven to eight years old and older. It includes cats that could be considered “middleaged,” “senior” and “geriatric.” Age-related diseases begin to increase in prevalence around seven or eight years of age; this prevalence is coupled with the gradual onset of behavioral, physical and metabolic changes related to aging (Lund et al, 1999). Instituting appropriate changes in nutritional management and preventive care at this point are important to reduce risk factors for common ageassociated diseases (Table 20-1), thereby helping t...
Nutritional Peculiarities and Diet Palatability in the Cat
Veterinary Research Communications, 2005
Cats have become the most popular companion animal in Western Europe. Unlike other domestic animals, cats are strict carnivores and this influences both their nutritional requirements and food preferences. Cats have very high protein requirements and their diet must contain some nutrients, such as arginine, taurine, niacin, vitamin A and arachidonic acid. Besides its nutritional value, a diet for cats must also be highly palatable. This paper offers a quick overview of feline nutritional peculiarities and the factors that influence food palatability in cats.
Feeding Young Adult Cats: Before Middle Age
2009
Cats generally reach adulthood between 10 to 12 months of age and, not uncommonly, live up to 20 years or more. The span of time from 12 months to death represents the total adult life of cats. After approximately six to eight years of age, however, there is an increasing prevalence of age-related diseases and onset of mild behavioral, physical and metabolic changes related to aging. In this chapter, the term “young adult” refers to non-reproducing cats one to six or seven years of age. The term “mature adult” (Chapter 21) refers to cats seven or eight years of age (beginning of middle age) and older. The feeding goals for young adult pet cats include ensuring that the food fed and the feeding methods used will help maximize health, longevity and quality of life (disease prevention). Nutritional requirements for young adult cats tend to be the most broadly defined of any lifestage. This is partly because healthy young adult cats have the greatest ability to tolerate or compensate fo...
Journal of feline medicine and surgery, 2017
Objectives The aim of this study was to compare the carbohydrate content of grain-containing and grain-free dry cat diets and compare major protein and carbohydrate sources of these diets. Methods This was a cross-sectional study of 77 randomly selected dry cat diets (42 grain-containing, 35 grain-free). Reported carbohydrate values were compared between grain-containing and grain-free cat diets. A subset of 25% of diets from each category (grain-containing and grain-free) was analyzed and nitrogen-free extract was calculated as an estimate of carbohydrate content. These calculated values were compared with reported values from the manufacturer. Animal- and plant-sourced ingredients were also compared between grain-containing and grain-free diets. Results Mean reported carbohydrate content of the grain-free diets (n = 35) was lower than the grain-containing diets (n = 41; 64 ± 16 vs 86 ± 22 g/1000 kcal; P <0.001). Reported carbohydrate values were higher than analyzed nitrogen-fr...
Impact of food type on long term consumption kinetics in group-housed domestic cats (Felis catus)
Annals of Warsaw University of Life Sciences - SGGW - Animal Science
Impact of food type on long term consumption kinetics in group-housed domestic cats (Felis catus). The aim of the current research was to assess the impact of the type of dry food on the long term acceptance in cats, expressed as consumption curves. A group of 14 adult neutered domestic cats were subsequently offered three types of products: economy, medium and premium. The consumption of food has been carefully monitored each day of the experiment, which enabled the drawing of the precise consumption curve. The average daily consumption showed differences between feeding periods (98.33, 61.17 and 55.04% for premium, medium and economy diet type, respectively). In all groups the monotony effect has been observed, but the relative stability of the consumption has been observed only in cats fed with the premium type of food. The attractiveness of the economy type of food was distinctively low, resulting in a regularly waved consumption curve. It can be concluded, that the prolonged offering of a particular type of complete dry pet food within the limits of metabolizable energy requirements may potentially lead to adverse consequences for cats. The food consumption level that supplies the minimal daily energy amount can likely result in imbalanced macronutrient intake.
Journal of Animal Science, 2019
There is dearth of knowledge with regards to mineral digestibility of ingredients in canines, and current knowledge is focused on the digestibility of supplemented minerals, not on intrinsic mineral digestibility of ingredients. The objectives of the present study were to determine the apparent and true digestibility (TD) of macronutrients and micronutrients, and the total tract gastrointestinal endogenous nutrient outputs in canines fed either animal-or vegetable-based adult maintenance diets. Eight purpose bred Beagles (two intact males, six spayed females) of similar age (2.12 ± 0.35 yr, mean ± SD) and weight (9.92 ± 0.73 kg, mean ± SD) were pair housed in kennels but fed individually based on individual maintenance energy requirements. Two basal diets (animal and vegetable protein based) were formulated to meet nutritional requirements of adult canines. Two additional trial diets were created, using the basal diets, by diluting diets by 50% with anhydrous α-d-glucose to attempt to quantify endogenous mineral losses and enable calculation of TD. All diets contained titanium dioxide at 0.3% for calculations of nutrient digestibility. Dogs were provided with deionized water as their only source of water throughout the trial. Dogs in a specific kennel were randomly assigned to an experimental diet for 10 d (experimental period), and fecal samples were collected the last 4 d of each period. All dogs were fed all experimental diets in random order based on a 4 × 4 replicated Latin square design. Dogs fed intact diets had a higher apparent mineral digestibility compared to dogs fed diluted diets (P < 0.05). Apparent phosphorus digestibility was higher for dogs fed the diet 2 compared with the diet 1 (P = 0.01) and the diluted diets (P < 0.001). There was a trend towards a greater TD of Cu for dogs fed the diet 2 compared with the diet 1 (P = 0.08). P, Mg, Zn, and Mn true digestibilities were higher for dogs fed the diet 2 compared with the diet 1 (P < 0.05, P = 0.01, P = 0.02, P = 0.009, respectively). These results suggest that apparent and TD do not result in similar values. Further research should be conducted on TD in canines only if a better model is developed.
Animals
This retrospective study used 226 dogs and 296 cats to evaluate whether protein absorption was influenced by species, and within species, what influence increasing the percentage of total dietary protein, as plant protein, had on protein absorption. Each food was evaluated by at least one study with a minimum of six dogs or cats assigned to each study. Dietary inclusion of animal and plant based protein was calculated by analysis of ingredients and dietary inclusion level. Both dogs and cats were able to digest dietary plant protein, with protein digestibility in dogs unchanged as plant protein increased, while in cats, eating dry food, an increase in plant protein, was associated with increased protein digestibility. When individual plant high-concentration protein sources (excluding the protein from whole grains) were evaluated (i.e., soybean meal, soybean protein isolate, corn gluten meal, and rice protein concentrate) there was no response to increasing protein from these source...
Effect of Nutrition on Age-Related Metabolic Markers and the Gut Microbiota in Cats
Microorganisms
Age-related changes in the gut microbiota and metabolites are associated with the increased risk of detrimental conditions also seen with age. This study evaluated whether a test food with potential anti-aging benefits results in favorable changes in plasma and fecal metabolites and the fecal microbiota in senior cats. Forty healthy domestic cats aged 8.3–13.5 years were fed a washout food for 30 days, then control or test food for 30 days. After another 30-day washout, cats were switched to the other study food for 30 days. Assessment of plasma and fecal metabolites showed lower levels of metabolites associated with detrimental processes (e.g., uremic toxins) and higher levels of metabolites associated with beneficial processes (e.g., tocopherols) after cats consumed the test food compared with the control food. A shift toward proteolysis with the control food is supported by higher levels of amino acid metabolites and lower levels of carbohydrate metabolites. Operational taxonomic...
Journal of Animal Science, 2008
The effects of diets with different starch sources on the total tract apparent digestibility and glucose and insulin responses in cats were investigated. Six experimental diets consisting of 35% starch were extruded, each containing one of the following ingredients: cassava flour, brewers rice, corn, sorghum, peas, or lentils. The experiment was carried out on 36 cats with 6 replications per diet in a completely randomized block design. The brewers rice diet offered greater DM, OM, and GE digestibility than the sorghum, corn, lentil, and pea diets (P < 0.05). For starch digestibility, the brewers rice diet had greater values (98.6%) than the sorghum (93.9%), lentil (95.2%), and pea (96.3%) diets (P < 0.05); however, starch digestibility was >93% for all the diets, proving that despite the low carbohydrate content of carnivorous diets, cats can efficiently digest this nutrient when it is properly processed into kibble. Mean and maximum glucose concentration and area under the glucose curve were greater for the cornbased diet than the cassava flour, sorghum, lentil, and pea diets (P < 0.05). The corn-based diets led to greater values for the mean glucose incremental concentration (10.2 mg/dL), maximum glucose incremental concentration (24.8 mg/dL), and area under the incremental glucose curve (185.5 mg⋅dL −1 ⋅h −1) than the lentil diet (2.9 mg/dL, 3.1 mg/dL, and −40.4 mg⋅dL −1 ⋅h −1 , respectively; P < 0.05). When compared with baseline values, only the corn diet stimulated an increase in the glucose response, occurring at 4 and 10 h postmeal (P < 0.05). The corn-based diet resulted in greater values for maximum incremental insulin concentration and area under the incremental insulin curve than the lentil-based diet (P < 0.05). However, plasma insulin concentrations rose in relation to the basal values for cats fed corn, sorghum, pea, and brewers rice diets (P < 0.05). Variations in diet digestibility and postprandial response can be explained by differences in the chemical composition of the starch source, including fiber content and granule structure, and also differences in the chemical compositions of the diets. The data suggest that starch has less of an effect on the cat postprandial glucose and insulin responses than on those of dogs and humans. This can be explained by the metabolic peculiarities of felines, which may slow and prolong starch digestion and absorption, leading to the delayed, less pronounced effects on their blood responses.