Emily Chan
“When the cats are on the special diet formulated for weight loss, propionic acid goes up and stays high, and then goes back down when they’re put back on the maintenance diet. So it really is a dietary change,” said Winston.
“This paper highlights that when we calorie-restrict cats that are obese, we can alter their microbial ecosystem — and those community shifts that we see likely correlate with some metabolic outcomes.”
The results also indicated that the changes in the gut bacteria of pet cats could provide crucial information on how dieting affects the gut microbiome of humans.
Winston is now supervising two large clinical trials that aim to help overweight dogs and cats lose weight.
The cat food for the weight loss diet in this study was provided by Nestle Purina, which also helped fund the research. The study was published in Scientific Reports.
