PSXIII-9 Essential amino acid intake in obese cats before and after weight loss on a veterinary therapeutic food intended for maintenance and weight loss.

摘要

Insufficient data exists regarding provision of adequate amounts of essential nutrients to obese cats during energy restriction. This study aimed to investigate predicted dietary intake of essential amino acids (AA) in obese cats undergoing energy restriction for weight loss and compare with National Research Council (NRC) 2006 recommendations. Sixteen obese cats, included in a non-randomized retrospective observational study, were fed a veterinary therapeutic food intended for maintenance and weight loss during a 4-week weight maintenance period (100Kcal/kg^0.67) followed by 10-weeks of energy restriction (0.6 x 130Kcal/kg^0.4). All procedures were approved by the University of Guelph Animal Care and Use Committee (AUP#2496). Essential AA including arginine, histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, phenylalanine, tyrosine, threonine, tryptophan and valine were determined. Each cat’s minimum, maximum and average daily intake of AA were calculated from food logs, and compared to NRC recommended allowance (RA), and adequate intake (AI) for adult cats. Energy consumption was 221.5 ± 24.4 kcal/day during the weight maintenance period and 138.2 ± 10.2 kcal/ day during energy restriction. Cats lost 672 g ± 303 g during energy restriction, representing a weight loss rate of 0.94 ± 0.28 %/week. Intakes of all measured AA, except arginine, were within NRC RA per (kg ideal body weight)^0.67 for all 16 cats. During weight maintenance, average daily arginine intake was 8.42% below AI and RA for one cat and minimum intakes 24.74% (2.10–36.32%) below AI and RA for five cats. Minimum, maximum and average daily arginine intakes were 20.53% (12.11–27.9%), 16.84% (8.95–24.74%), and 19.47% (12.11–26.84%) below AI and RA respectively during energy restriction. Despite lower calculated intakes of arginine compared to published recommendations, cats remained clinically healthy and showed no clinical signs of deficiency. Arginine requirements and health risks associated with intakes below recommended allowances during energy restriction in obese cats warrant further investigation.