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Cat owners who overfeed their pets risk unwittingly causing harm to their furry pals. Overeating causes weight gain, but a new study found it can also reduce the cat's nutrient digestion and cause changes in their gut microbiota.
Their research involved 11 'lean' cats, all spayed adult females. The cats were fed a commercially available, balanced and measured nutritional diet for two weeks while Swanson and his colleagues took baseline measurements. Then, for 18 weeks, the animals were given the same kind of food but were allowed to eat as much and as often as they wanted.
The cats wasted no time increasing the amount of food they ate once permitted, and unsurprisingly gained weight. As cats ate more and grew in mass, their body fat levels increased and their ability to digest nutrients decreased. "In humans, a low fecal pH indicates poor absorption of carbohydrates and fat. Our findings correlate with this, as reduced fecal pH aligned with higher food intake and reduced digestibility," SwansonThe researchers discovered differences in the types of microbes living in the guts of the cats before and after 18 weeks of free feeding. Additionally, gastrointestinal transit time decreased by about 25 percent as the cats packed on the pounds.
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