Investigation of Various Factors on Nutrients Digestibility of Cat toward Animal Welfare

Abstract

The objectives of these experiments were 1) to investigate the effect of adaptation period on nutrient digestibility and blood profiles in cats fed dry feed and canned feed, 2) to evaluate the effect of different levels of deboned chicken meat inclusion as a protein source on nutrient digestibility and blood profiles in cats fed dry feed, and 3) to investigate the effect of environmental housing conditions on stress response and nutrient digestibility in cats.

Experiment I. Effect of Adaptation Period on Nutrient Digestibility and Blood Profiles in Cats fed Dry Feed and Canned Feed

This study was conducted to determine the effect of adaptation period on nutrient digestibility and blood profiles in cats fed dry feed and canned feed. A total of 12 cats (felis catus: four long hair cats and eight short hair cats), averaging body weight (BW) of 4.30 ± 1.05 kg, were used in a 16-day trial. Cats were allocated completely randomized design (CRD) into two treatments according to BW and type of cats hair (six replicates with two long hair cats and four short hair cats, one cat per cage). Dietary treatments included: 1) canned feed (commercial product) and 2) dry feed (Iskhan, Daehan feed company). When cats fed canned feed, digestibility of dry matter increased at d 4, d 8 and d 12 compared to cats fed the dry feed (P < 0.05). The crude protein digestibility of cats fed dry feed was increased compared to canned feed treatment on d 4, d 8, d 12, and d 16, respectively (P < 0.05). Cats fed canned feed showed decreased dry matter and crude protein digestibility at d 16 of adaptation period compared to digestibility at d 4 and d 8 of adaptation period (P < 0.05). When cats fed dry feed, digestibilities of dry matter, crude protein, crude ash, and ether extract were continually decreased at d 12 and d 16 compared to that of early time at d 4 and d 8 (P < 0.01). Consequently content of fecal dry matter of cat was increased when cats were fed dry fed for long period of time (P=0.01). In conclusion, the adaptation period needed to reduce when cats fed dry feed (for d 12) compared to cats fed canned feed (for d 16). The albumin level in blood was higher when cats fed dry feed than that of canned feed treatment. No significant difference was observed in total protein, globulin, and creatinine concentrations between two treatments (P > 0.05).

Experiment II. Effect of Different Levels of Deboned Chicken Meat Inclusion as a Protein Source on Nutrient Digestibility and Blood Profiles in Cats fed Dry Feed

This study was conducted to determine the effect of different levels of deboned chicken meat inclusion as a protein source on nutrient digestibility and blood profiles in cats dry feed. A total of 16 cats (seven long hair cats and nine short hair cats), averaging body weight (BW) of 4.79 ± 1.19 kg, were used in a 21-day trial. Cats were allocated into two treatments according to BW and type of cats hair (four replicates with two long hair cats and two short hair cats, one cat per cage) in a complete randomized design (CRD). Dietary treatments were: 1) dry feed (basal feed from Daehan feed company), 2) basal feed + 25% deboned chicken meat of protein source, 3) basal feed + 45% deboned chicken meat of protein source, and 4) basal feed + 70% deboned chicken meat of protein source. The digestibility of dry matter and crude protein was increased linearly and quadratically (P < 0.05) with increasing deboned chicken meat inclusion in feed. Regression analysis showed that the digestibilities of dry matter and crude protein were the highest at 42.38 and 48.20% of inclusion level of deboned chicken meat, respectively. Moreover, digestibility of ether extract reached the highest point at 45.56% of inclusion level of deboned chicken meat. There were no significant differences in total protein, albumin, globulin, BUN, and creatinine levels in blood among four treatments (P > 0.05). In conclusion, these results demonstrated that inclusion of deboned chicken meat as a protein source improved the cats nutrient digestibility, and it was the highest approximately 45% of deboned chicken meat inclusion.

Experiment III. Effect of Environmental Housing Conditions on Nutrient Digestibility and Stress Response in Cats

This study was conducted to determine the effect of environmental housing conditions on nutrient digestibility and stress response in cats. A total of 12 cats (six long hair cats and six short hair cats), averaging body weight (BW) of 4.30 ± 0.85 kg, were used in a 21-day trial. Cats were allocated into two different breeding environments according to BW and type of cats hair in six replicates with three long hair cats and three short hair cats, one cat per cage by complete randomized design (CRD). Treatments were: 1) cats in the small cage were housed singly in stainless-steel cages measuring 0.77 × 0.51 × 0.63 m (length × width × height) 2) cats in the large room were housed singly in wooden wall room measuring 1.2 × 1.5 × 2.5 m, respectively. When cats were housed in the large room for 13~16d had a greater the digestibility of crude protein than that of small cage treatment (P < 0.05). A slight increased digestibility of dry matter (P = 0.09) was observed when cats were housed in the large room. However, no significant differences (P > 0.05) were observed in digestibility of dry matter, crude protein, crude ash, and ether extract between two treatments during d 17 ~ 20. There was no significant difference in cortisol level in blood between two treatments at initial, d 7, and d 21 of experiment. The stress response was decreased significantly in cats housed in large room during d 8 ~ 21. However, any significant difference in stress levels was not observed in cats housed in small cage in different experimental periods. In conclusion, cats housed in the large room improved the digestibility of dry matter and crude protein during d 13 ~ 16 and decreased the stress levels compared to cats housed in the small cage treatment.