Effect of diet on the incidence of and mortality owing to gastritis and renal disease in captive cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) in South Africa

Abstract

Seventy-two adult cheetahs were evaluated for the degree of gastritis by endoscopic biopsy and for renal disease by serum creatinine. Cheetahs free of Grade 3 gastritis and renal disease were placed on Trial A; remaining cheetahs were placed on Trial B, which ran concurrently. All cheetahs were monitored for 4 years. Cheetahs exited Trial A and entered Trial B if they developed Grade 3 gastritis or renal disease. Cheetahs exited Trial B if they developed clinical gastritis or renal disease that required a dietary change or aggressive medical therapy or died owing to either disease. Cheetahs on Trial A were fed either a supplemented meat diet (N = 26) or commercial cat food (N = 22). Cheetahs on Trial B were fed either the same meat diet (N = 28) or a commercial dry cat food formulated for renal disease (N = 16). Cheetahs fed meat on Trial A had a daily hazard of developing Grade 3 gastritis 2.21 times higher (95% CI 0.95-5.15) than cheetahs fed commercial cat food. This hazard was not statistically significant (P = 0.07). Mean gastritis scores were not significantly different between the two groups. Cheetahs fed commercial cat food in both Trials had lower serum urea levels and higher creatinine levels than those fed meat. Evidence for the effect of diet in cheetahs with gastritis and/or renal disease (Trial B) was inconclusive. The number of cheetahs dying of gastritis or renal disease at the facility has dropped markedly since the study began. These results indicate that diet may play an important role in the incidence of Grade 3 gastritis and that dietary and/or therapeutic management of gastritis may reduce mortality owing to gastritis and renal disease in captive cheetahs.

Dietary Factors Associated with Faecal Consistency and Other Indicators of Gastrointestinal Health in the Captive Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus)

“…The “firm and dry” faecal type was most common in cheetahs fed raw meat, compared to the other diet categories, which is encouraging given the high utilisation of this diet type. The increased incidence of liquid faeces in cheetahs consuming commercially prepared diets determined here builds on the preliminary study of Lane et al [ 26 ], in which loose stools were also associated with a commercial cat food when fed to captive cheetahs. Moreover, cheetahs reported as being fed carcasses in the current study were more likely to produce “extremely dry” faeces, indicating the potential for the non-meat carcass components to act as stool bulking or firming agents.…”

Intrinsic factors, adrenal gland morphology, and disease burden in captive cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) in South Africa

“…This individual variability in stress responses is known to occur in cheetahs [Wielebnowski et al, ; Terio et al, , ; Wells et al, ; Ludwig et al, ; Koester et al, ] as well as in domestic cats [Galuppi et al, ; Ellis et al, ], jaguars [Conforti et al, ], and tigers [Bhattacharjee et al, ]. Other factors, such as diet, also affect the development of gastritis [Lane et al, ]. Our study therefore suggests that disease burden in general, and gastritis and myocardial fibrosis in particular are at least partly stress related.…”

Diseases Impacting Captive and Free-Ranging Cheetahs

“…Therefore, antibiotic treatment is recommended only in severely affected or symptomatic cheetahs. Diet may contribute to and or ameliorate signs of gastritis, but there are contradictory results on the impact of diet on gastritis severity (Lane et al, 2012;Whitehouse-Tedd et al, 2015).…”

“…Treatment is supportive. Feeding diets formulated for renal disease or commercial cat diets rather than raw meat may provide some clinical improvement, particularly in serum urea nitrogen (Lane et al, 2012). The cause of glomerulosclerosis is not known.…”