Homemade diet as nutritional support for a dog suffering from chronic pancreatitis and inflammatory bowel disease

A spayed Boston terrier was referred for nutritional advice after failing to respond to long-term medical and dietary treatment for chronic pancreatitis. Based on clinical appearance, consecutive bloodwork and ultrasound examination, the concomitant occurrence of inflammatory bowel disease was likely. An exclusion diet (novel protein approach) and a stepwise balancing schedule were formulated to address combined nutritional recommendations, as well as the possibility for hypersensitivity to play a role. After initiation of the exclusion diet, the patient relapsed twice. Once due to noncompliance of the owner, once due to reaction to an added supplement. After correction, no major relapses were noted for at least 1 year. To the authors’ knowledge, this report is the first to describe the successful supportive care of chronic pancreatitis and concurrent inflammatory bowel disease by prescribing a homemade diet

Anaerobic fermentation of rice bran with rumen liquor for reducing their fiber components to use as chicken feed

Rice bran is a very cheap and abundant agricultural by-products in rice producing countries. Additionally, many developing countries used these by products as poultry feed. Rice bran (RB) contains high fiber and chicken is not capable to digest those fibrous feed effectively, resulting in low production performance. The main objectives of this study were to decrease fiber components of RB through fermentation by adding rumen liquor to increase their utilization efficacy in chicken. A single-step fermentation of RB was conducted for 12 h (n=6) under anaerobic conditions, maintaining proper temperature and ideal pH. Rice bran, buffer substances, and rumen liquor were mixed at the ratio of 1:2:3, respectively. The fresh and fermented rice brans were examined for the content of acid detergent fiber (ADF), crude fiber (CF), dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent lignin (ADL). Other fiber components were determined by substracting the value of ADL from ADF (celluloses) and ADF from NDF (hemicelluloses), respectively. One-way analysis of variance was done to compare the mean nutrient components followed by Tukey’s multiple comparison tests at P<0.05. The pH of fermented brans were decreased with growing fermentation period but appropriate pH was maintained due to the developed protocol. After fermentation, the fiber components of RB were reduced significantly (P<0.05). However, CP component was not altered significantly after the fermentation of brans. The NDF, ADF, cellulose, hemicellulose contents were reduced by 16.2±0.52, 7.2±0.32, 20.0±0.38 and 23.6±0.54%, respectively compared to the fresh brans. As the fiber content reduced significantly after fermentation that clearly, increases the usability of brans as chicken feed

Effect of a two-step fermentation method with rumen liquor on protein quality of wheat bran and rice bran to use as poultry feed

The availability of high quality protein rich feed in many developing countries is limited as well as expensive. Low-quality agro-industrial by-products, i.e., rice bran (RB) and wheat bran (WB), are therefore used as poultry feed irrespective of their low protein content. The main objective of the present study was to improve the protein content and the amino acid profiles of these by-products through rumen liquor mixed fermentation process. A two-step fermentation of some agricultural by-products (e.g., WB and RB) was performed in a controlled environment for 3h and 6h. In the 1st and 2nd steps, feedstuff (brans), McDougall buffer as well as collected rumen liquor were mixed with following the proportion of 1:2:3, respectively. After fermentation, brans were dried at 100 °C in an oven. Dried sample were used to analyze the crude protein (CP) as well as amino acid (AA) content. In 1st and 2nd fermentation of the WB, CP content increased 3.3±0.2% (3h), 4.3±0.2% (6h) and 7.7±0.1% (3h), 8.5±0.1% (6h), respectively compared to control. On the other hand, RB protein content increased by 3.3±0.1% (3h), 0.8±0.1% (6h) and 7.3±0.3% (3h), 4.0±0.1% (6h) in the 1st and 2nd fermentation step, respectively compared to control. Majority of the AA increased compared to control during the 1st fermentation step for RB and WB. However, In WB, some of the AA did not show significant difference. A number of AA were decreased after the 2nd step for both RB and WB except Methionine, which increased in both steps. In 1st and 2nd steps, Methionine increased by 24.9±5.1% (3h), 25.9±5.8% (6h) for WB and 12.2±3.2% (3h), 13.0±4.5% (6h) for RB, respectively compared to control. In conclusion brans protein and amino acid quality optimization might be possible through methodical rumen liquor mixed fermentation process for better utilization as poultry diet

Energy Requirement and Food Intake Behaviour in Young Adult Intact Male Cats with and without Predisposition to Overweight

Obesity is a common problem in cats. In the experimental cat family of the institute of animal nutrition besides a “normal” lean phenotype, cats with predisposition to an overweight phenotype are present. To investigate energy requirements and food intake behaviour of intact male cats of different phenotypes, six “normal” lean cats (GL) and six cats disposed to overweight (GO) were used. At the beginning of the experiment, all cats had an ideal body condition score of 5. To reach this the GO cats had to pass a weight-loss program. Energy requirements of the cats were determined using respiration chambers, whereas the amount and frequency of food intake was measured with a feeding station recording the data automatically. Energy requirement at weight constancy of the GO cats was even on fat-free mass (FFM) significantly (P = 0.02) lower (162.6 kJ/kg FFM/d) than that of the “normal” lean cats (246 kJ/kg FFM/d). The GO cats also showed a higher food intake 34.5 ± 1.5 g dry matter/kg body weight0.67 compared to the GL cats (24.0 ± 2.1 g dry matter/kg body weight0.67)(P = 0.001). In conclusion quantifiable differences in food intake and behaviour in cats predisposed to overweight compared to “normal” lean cats were found

Method development to reduce the fiber content of wheat bran and rice bran through anaerobic fermentation with rumen liquor for use in poultry feed

Objective Wheat bran (WB) and rice bran (RB) are the agricultural by-products used as poultry feed in many developing countries. However, their use for poultry feed is limited due to high fiber and the presence of anti-nutritional substances (e.g. β-glucans). The objective of this study was to develop a method to improve the quality of those brans by reducing the fiber content. Methods A two-step fermentation method was developed where the second fermentation of first fermented dry bran was carried out. Fermentation was performed at a controlled environment for 3 h and 6 h (n = 6). The composition of brans, buffer solution and rumen liquor was maintained in a ratio of 1:2:3, respectively. Brans were analyzed for dry matter, crude fiber (CF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), and acid detergent lignin (ADL) content. Celluloses and hemicelluloses were calculated from the difference of ADF-ADL and NDF-ADF, respectively. Samples were compared by two-factor analysis of variance followed by Tukey’s multiple comparison tests (p<0.05). Results CF %, ADF % and cellulose tended to decrease and NDF % and hemicellulose content was reduced significantly (p<0.05). After the 1st fermentation step, NDF decreased 10.7%± 0.55% after 3 h vs 17.0%±0.78% after 6 h in case of WB. Whereas, these values were 2.3%± 0.30% (3 h) and 7.5%±0.69% (6 h) in case of RB. However, after the 2nd fermentation step, the decrease in the NDF content amounted to 9.1%±0.72% (3 h), 17.4%±1.13% (6 h) and 9.3%±0.46% (3 h), 10.0%±0.68% (6 h) in WB and RB, respectively. Cellulose and hemicellulose content was reduced up to 15.6%±0.85% (WB), 15.8%±2.20% (RB) and 36.6%±2.42% (WB), 15.9%±3.53% (RB), respectively after 2nd fermentation of 6 h. Conclusion Two-step fermentation process improved the quality of the brans for their use in poultry feed

Melanocortin-4 receptor and proopiomelanocortin: Candidate genes for obesity in domestic shorthair cats

Obesity is an escalating global health problem affecting both humans and companion animals. In cats it is associated with increased mortality and multiple diseases, including diabetes mellitus. Two genes coding for proteins known to play a critical role in energy homeostasis across species are the proopiomelanocortin (POMC) gene and the melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R) gene. A missense variant in the coding sequence of the feline MC4R (MC4R:c.92C>T) has been reported to be associated with diabetes and overweight in domestic shorthair cats, and while variants in the POMC gene are known to cause obesity in humans and dogs, variants in POMC and their association with feline obesity and diabetes mellitus have not been investigated to date. The current study aimed to assess the association between the previously described MC4R variant and body condition score (BCS), as well as body fat content (%BF) in 89 non-diabetic domestic shorthair cats. Furthermore, we investigated the feline POMC gene as a potential candidate gene for obesity. Our results indicate that the MC4R:c.92C>T polymorphism is not associated with BCS or %BF in non-diabetic domestic shorthair cats. The mutation analysis of all POMC exons identified two missense variants, with a variant in exon 1 (c.28G>C; p.G10R) predicted to be damaging. The variant was subsequently assessed in all 89 cats, and cats heterozygous for the variant had a significantly increased body condition score (p = 0.03) compared with cats homozygous for the wild-type allele. Results from our study provide additional evidence that the previously described variant in MC4R is not associated with obesity in domestic shorthair cats. More importantly, we have identified a novel variant in the POMC gene, which might play a role in increased body condition score and body fat content in domestic shorthair cats