Body condition scoring (BCS) provides a readily available technique that can be used by both veterinary professionals and owners to assess the body condition of cats, and diagnose overweight or underweight conditions. The objective of this study was to evaluate a five-point BCS system with half-point delineations using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Four evaluators (a veterinarian, veterinary technician, trained scorer and untrained scorer) assessed 133 neutered adult cats. For all scorers, BCS score was more strongly correlated with percent body fat than with body weight. Percent body fat increased by approximately 7% within each step increase in BCS. The veterinarian had the strongest correlation coefficient between BCS and percent fat (r = 0.80). Mean body fat in cats classified as being in ideal body condition was 12 and 19%, for 3.0 and 3.5 BCS, respectively. Within BCS category, male cats were significantly heavier in body weight than females within the same assigned BCS category. However, DXA-measured percent body fat did not differ significantly between male and female cats within BCS category, as assigned by the veterinarian (P >0.13). Conversely, when assessed by others, mean percent body fat within BCS category was lower in males than females for cats classified as being overweight (BCS >4.0). The results of this study show that using a BCS system that has been validated within a range of normal weight to moderately overweight cats can help to differentiate between lean cats and cats that may not be excessively overweight, but that still carry a higher proportion of body fat.
L‐carnitine (LC) is included in weight loss diets to reduce hepatic lipidosis that often accompanies weight loss in cats; however, a majority of cats are fed maintenance diets. The objective of this study was to assess supplemental dietary LC (100 ppm) in a maintenance diet (17.8% fat, 35% protein) fed to adult cats. Twenty cats (2–4 yrs, 4.41 ± 0.34 kg BW) received a control (CON) diet for 3 wks. Calorimetry was performed at the end of the 3‐wk washout following an overnight fast and for 15 hr post feeding. After, cats were allocated to CON or CON + LC and fed to maintain BW for 42 d. Calorimetry was performed on d 21 and 42 of feeding. BW did not differ between treatments at baseline and throughout the study. On d 14 and 42, AUC for energy expenditure (EE) and respiratory quotient (RQ) were not different between treatments for lean cats (body condition score (BCS)≤3.0), but moderately overweight cats (BCS > 3.0) fed LC had greater AUC EE for the entire 15 hrs post feeding at d 21 and 42 and a lower AUC RQ from 0 – 210 minutes post feeding on d 42. These results suggest that dietary LC results in greater EE and lower RQ in overweight, but not lean, cats fed to maintain weight. Supported by P&G.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.