This study evaluated the fecal microbiota of 12 healthy pet dogs and 12 pet cats using bacterial and fungal tag-encoded FLX-Titanium amplicon pyrosequencing. A total of 120,406 pyrosequencing reads for bacteria (mean 5017) and 5359 sequences (one pool each for dogs and cats) for fungi were analyzed. Additionally, group-specific 16S rRNA gene clone libraries for Bifidobacterium spp. and lactic acid-producing bacteria (LAB) were constructed. The most abundant bacterial phylum was Firmicutes, followed by Bacteroidetes in dogs and Actinobacteria in cats. The most prevalent bacterial class in dogs and cats was Clostridia, dominated by the genera Clostridium (clusters XIVa and XI) and Ruminococcus. At the genus level, 85 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were identified in dogs and 113 OTUs in cats. Seventeen LAB and eight Bifidobacterium spp. were detected in canine feces. Ascomycota was the only fungal phylum detected in cats, while Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, Glomeromycota, and Zygomycota were identified in dogs. Nacaseomyces was the most abundant fungal genus in dogs; Saccharomyces and Aspergillus were predominant in cats. At the genus level, 33 different fungal OTUs were observed in dogs and 17 OTUs in cats. In conclusion, this study revealed a highly diverse bacterial and fungal microbiota in canine and feline feces.

Previous work has shown obesity to be associated with changes in intestinal microbiota. While obesity is common in dogs, limited information is available about the role of the intestinal microbiota. The aim of this study was to investigate whether alterations in the intestinal microbiota may be associated with canine obesity. Using 16S rRNA gene pyrosequencing and quantitative real-time PCR, we evaluated the composition of the faecal microbiota in 22 lean and 21 obese pet dogs, as well as in five research dogs fed ad libitum and four research dogs serving as lean controls. Firmicutes, Fusobacteria and Actinobacteria were the predominant bacterial phyla. The phylum Actinobacteria and the genus Roseburia were significantly more abundant in the obese pet dogs. The order Clostridiales significantly increased under ad libitum feeding in the research dogs. Canine intestinal microbiota is highly diverse and shows considerable interindividual variation. In the pet dogs, influence on the intestinal microbiota besides body condition, like age, breed, diet or lifestyle, might have masked the effect of obesity. The study population of research dogs was small, and further work is required before the role of the intestinal microbiota in canine obesity is clarified.

Urine ketone measurement is routinely performed in cats with diabetes mellitus to identify impending or established ketoacidosis. Studies using the urinary ketone dipstick test have shown that ketonuria is common in cats with newly diagnosed untreated diabetes mellitus. This test has a low sensitivity as it quantifies the less abundant ketone acetoacetate. The objective of the present study was to determine if ketonaemia is an inherent biochemical finding in untreated feline diabetes mellitus by measuring plasma ss-hydroxybutyrate (ss-OHB) in acutely sick cats. In 122 sick cats (37 diabetic and 85 non-diabetic cats) plasma ss-OHB, glucose, fructosamine, total protein and thyroxine were measured as part of the routine work up. Diabetic cats had significantly elevated ss-OHB values and ss-OHB measurement was a sensitive and specific test to identify diabetes mellitus. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was 0.93. The cut off value with the highest positive likelihood ratio was 0.58 mmol/l. These results suggest that determination of plasma ss-OHB concentration is a useful method to distinguish between diabetic and non-diabetic sick cats.

The canine radioimmunoassay for the measurement of calprotectin is analytically sensitive, linear, reproducible, accurate, and sufficiently precise (CV ≤ 43.2%) for use with feline feces (with a loss of accuracy at high calprotectin concentrations). The RIs for feline fecal calprotectin are comparable to those established for dogs. Independence of fecal calprotectin from age and sex agrees with findings in dogs.

Two female spayed dogs belonging to the same owner were admitted for further examinations because of clinical signs and laboratory values compatible with hyperthyroidism. Sonography of the ventral aspect of the neck revealed small thyroid glands in both dogs. The hypothesis that the dogs suffered from alimentary hyperthyroidism caused by feeding head meat containing thyroid gland tissue was confirmed by consultation of the slaughtering plant, determination of iodine concentrations in deep-frozen samples and hormone measurements in 5 other dogs receiving head meat from the same supplier. After changing the diet, thyroxine concentrations declined and clinical signs were no longer observed.

Oregano possesses high antioxidant activity and could therefore be used to enhance oxidative stability of eggs high in omega3 fatty acids. In this study, 20 female quails were fed a diet containing 4% linseed oil. They were divided into two groups, one receiving oregano, and the other grass meal as control (2% respectively). Cholesterol oxidation products were analysed in fresh eggs, in stored eggs and in the livers. Trolox equivalent antioxidative capacity of plasma was measured. No significant differences were seen between the groups.

ABSTRACT:The objective of this study was to determine the threonine (Thr) requirement of a modern crossbred growing pig from Austria in the finisher stage (67 to 113 kg body weight). For on average 50 days, 30 castrated male and 30 female pigs were fed isonitrogenous diets (135 g/kg crude protein, 8.0 g/kg lysine) supplemented with increasing levels of crystalline Thr. Total dietary Thr contents (g/kg) were 4.9 (basal diet), 5.0, 5.4, 5.8, 6.1, 6.5, corresponding to a Thr:Lys ratio of about 0.60, 0.64, 0.68, 0.73, 0.76, 0.81. Dietary Thr concentration of 5.4 g/kg improved daily gains by about 15 percentage points (p < 0.05) and the feed conversion ratio by about 7 percentage points, compared to pigs fed the basal diet (4.9 g/kg Thr). Increasing dietary Thr above 5.4 g/kg had no further effects on performance. The blood plasma urea concentration was minimized at a dietary Thr concentration of 6.1 g/kg. For all treatments there was a low effect of dietary Thr supply on carcass quality. Goblet cell density in the small intestine and colon did not differ between different levels of dietary Thr. Based on the results of growth performance, an optimum total dietary Thr:Lys ratio in the finisher stage of pigs ranges from 0.66 to 0.68.

Nutrition is a popular and often emotional topic among dog owners, which rather rely on information from the Internet or from lay people, like breeders, dog trainers, pet shop assistants or other dog owners (Handl, Zimmermann, & Iben, 2012) than from veterinarians. The image of commercial dog food has suffered over the last years from rumours and conspiracy theories about low-quality ingredients and negative health effects, spread mainly on social media, but also in the daily press and books (Grimm, 2007;Ziegler, 2016). There is a strong tendency to regard dogs as "little wolves on the sofa" although they have adapted to human lifestyle over the last thousands of years and even changed their digestive physiology (Axelsson et al., 2013). Thus, marketing strategies using these clichés and emotionalized pictures have become popular (e.g. to avoid unpopular wording like "additives"; Gerstner & Liesegang, 2018).On the other hand, homemade diets and especially raw feeding (Biologically Appropriate Raw Feeding [BARF]) are on the rise, entailing not only risks for both owners and pets alike (Dillitzer, Becker,