Nutritional composition and digestibility by ocelots (Leopardus pardalis) of whole animals and a commercial diet

Abstract

Felids are adapted to eat whole prey, but in North American zoos are usually fed processed diets based on muscle meat. We analyzed proximate nutrient composition and digestibility by ocelots of a commercial processed diet and whole animals of five species. The processed diet did not differ significantly from the whole animals in proximate composition, although it was at one end of the range of results for all nutrients. Domestic chicks were significantly lower than all other dietary items tested in digestibility of energy and fat, and lower than rabbits and quail in digestibility of dry matter. There were no other significant differences. These results suggest that the commercial diet tested provides an appropriate nutritional environment for ocelots with respect to proximate constituents. Studies of vitamin and mineral composition and digestibility and comparisons to wild prey species should be conducted to permit a full evaluation.

Apparent total tract macronutrient and energy digestibility of 1- to- 3-day-old whole chicks, adult ground chicken, and extruded and canned chicken-based diets in African wildcats (Felis silvestris lybica)

“…The apparent total tract GE digestibility for Whole was similar to that reported by Bennett et al [] for ocelots ( Leopardus pardalis ) fed whole chicks (82%). For Ground, GE digestibility was higher than that reported by Golley et al [] for bobcats ( Lynx rufus ) fed whole chicken (91%).…”

“…However, determining the cause of decreased fat digestibility is outside the scope of this study, and requires further research. Bennett et al [] did not report decreased fat digestibility for ocelots fed whole chick diets (96% fat digestibility). The OM and GE fractions of whole chicks should be largely due to the contributions of fat and protein, and very little from NFE.…”

“…The OM and GE fractions of whole chicks should be largely due to the contributions of fat and protein, and very little from NFE. However, Bennett et al [] reported that fat (11.3% of DM) and CP (65.9% of DM) only accounted for 85% of the OM (90.6% of DM). Additionally, the reported digestibility of fat (96%) and CP (85%) were both higher than their reported GE digestibility (82%).…”

“…Specifically, little research has been done to evaluate the nutrient composition concurrently with apparent total tract nutrient digestibility of whole prey diets by cats. Few studies have presented data pertaining to macronutrient digestibility of whole prey measured in captive exotic cats [Golley et al, ; Powers et al, ; Baker et al, ; Bennett et al, ]. None, however, have compared the digestibility of whole prey to those of traditional canned and extruded diet types.…”

Comparison of methods for determination of nutrient digestibility of a dry kibble diet for ocelots

“…The employment of dry kibble was only studied for two species of small wild cats, Felis margarita (Crissey et al 1997) and Felis lybica (Vester et al 2010). For ocelots, only Bennett et al (2009) studied the digestibility of whole preys and one type of commercial moist diet. The lack of literature data may be related to the experimental limitations mentioned by Vester et al (2009), which highlighted the difficulty in accomplishing the experiments due to the reduced quantity of animals, as well as limitations in their handling and restraining.…”