TITLE:
Dehydrated Natural Feed for Cats: Influence on Apparent Digestibility Coefficient, Feces Scores, and Serum Immune, Antioxidant, and Metabolic Biomarkers
AUTHORS:
Bruno Giorgio de Oliveira Cécere, Guilherme Luiz Deolindo, Bianca F. Bissacotti, Priscila Marquezin Copetti, Maria Rosa Chitolina Schetinger, Bruna Klein, Matheus Delamea Baldissera, Thiago Pereira Ribeiro, Walter Hugo Cuelho Suarez, Daniel Pigatto Monteiro, Aleksandro Schafer Da Silva
KEYWORDS:
Alternative Feed, Antioxidant, Companion Animals, Health
JOURNAL NAME:
Food and Nutrition Sciences,
Vol.15 No.7,
July
30,
2024
ABSTRACT: The present study aimed to determine whether natural dehydrated feed (DNF) can replace dry extruded feed while preserving the required daily intake, nutrient digestibility and benefits for immunity and antioxidant response in cats. The animals were divided into two groups of seven animals each. One group received DNF, and the other consumed commercial extruded dry feed (DCF). The experiment lasted 45 days and we measured daily consumption and collected blood and feces samples. The animals in the DNF group showed greater digestibility of fiber and mineral matter than DCF. Cats in the DNF group had a higher volume of feces. DNF cats had lower leukocyte and granulocyte counts and cholesterol levels. Serum enzymatic antioxidant responses and non-enzymatic were higher in DNF cats. Cats in the DNF group showed lower serum acute phase proteins in addition to a tendency toward a higher concentration of transferrin than in the DCF group. Fecal Escherichia coli and total coliform counts of cats fed DNF were higher than DCF. We conclude that the daily consumption of cats is adequate. This feed had greater digestibility of fiber and mineral matter, in addition to an improvement in antioxidant and immunological responses.