Matt Barnett,1,2 Bermingham EN,1 Young W1 and Roy NC1,2,3
1 Food Nutrition & Health Team, Food & Bio-based Products Group, AgResearch Grasslands, Palmerston North; 2 Gravida: National Centre for Growth and Development, ; 3 Riddet Institute, Massey University, Palmerston North
Unlike us omnivorous human beings, the domestic cat (Felis catus) is an obligate carnivore, having evolved on a high-protein, low-carbohydrate meat diet. However, in spite of our varied dietary preferences, among the many things we share with cats is an increasing propensity towards obesity. There is a growing body of evidence implicating the vast numbers of microbes populating the intestinal tract (collectively known as the intestinal microbiota) in the development of obesity in humans, and in rodent models. More recently, we have shown that this is also likely to be the case in cats. This talk will describe research using 454 Titanium pyrosequencing to characterise bacterial populations within cat faecal samples. This work suggests that relatively short-term exposure to different diets can have profound effects on the balance of bacterial species within the feline intestine, which in turn affect the ability of the cat to process macronutrients. The possibility that such changes, if occurring at critical early periods, can have long-term consequences will also be discussed.