COLUMBIA, Mo. Although society is accustomed to seeing Garfield-sized cats, obese, middle-aged cats can have a variety of problems including diabetes mellitus, which can be fatal. The causes of diabetes mellitus in cats remain unknown although there has been a strong debate about whether a dry food diet puts cats at greater risk for diabetes. A new study from a University of Missouri-Columbia veterinarian suggests that weight gain, not the type of diet, is more important when trying to prevent diabetes in cats.
Because dry cat food contains more starch and more carbohydrates than canned cat food, some have argued that a diet containing large amounts of carbohydrates is unnatural for a cat that is anatomically and physiologically designed to be a carnivore. Carbohydrates constitute between 30 percent and 40 percent of dry cat food. Some have been concerned that this unnatural diet is harmful to cats and leads to increased incidence of diabetes. Wet cat food, on the other hand, is high in protein and more similar to a natural carnivore diet.
In the study, Robert Backus, assistant professor and director of the Nestle Purina Endowed Small Animal Nutrition Program at MU, and his team of researchers compared a colony of cats in California raised on dry food with a colony of cats in New Zealand raised on canned food. After comparing glucose-tolerance tests, which measures blood samples and indicates how fast glucose is being cleared from the blood after eating, researchers found no significant difference between a dry food diet and a wet food diet. They also compared the results between cats less than three years of age and cats older than three. The MU veterinarian indicated that allowing cats to eat enough to become overweight is more detrimental to their health than the type of food they eat.
Little bits of too much energy lead to weight gain overtime, Backus said. We did find that cats on canned or wet food diets have less of a ten
'/>"/>
| Contact: Christian Basi BasiC@missouri.edu 573-882-4430 University of Missouri-Columbia Source:Eurekalert |
Related biology news :
1. New drug makes weight loss safer
2. How mother of thousands makes plantlets
3. For honey bee queens, multiple mating makes a difference
4. Scientists spy enzyme that makes us unique
5. Thinking makes it so: Science extends reach of prosthetic arms
6. Mothers little helpers
7. St. Jude influenza survey uncovers key differences between bird flu and human flu
8. Claims of sex-related differences in genetic association studies often not properly validated
9. Genetic differences in clover make one type toxic
10. Analysis of breast and colon cancer genes finds many areas of differences between tumors
11. Worms take the sniff test to reveal sex differences in brain
| Copyright © 2003-2012 Bio-Medicine. All rights reserved. ABOUT | CONTACT US | DISCLAIMER | PRIVACY POLICY | TERMS AND CONDITIONS |  |