Page 146 - Small Animal Clinical Nutrition 5th Edition

Minerals and Vitamins 147

Assess the Food and Feeding Method
VetBooks.ir The cats were fed a commercial moist cat food for six months.The food was not a complete and balanced product but was designed
as a “complementary” food to be mixed with other complete dry foods.Two different lots of the moist food contained 0.56 and 0.04
mg thiamin/kg food. Assuming the food contained 75% water and had a metabolizable energy content of 1.25 kcal/g as fed, the
food should contain at least 1.25 mg/kg food of thiamin for kittens and 0.5 mg/kg food of thiamin for adult cats.

Treatment and Feeding Plan
The other severely affected cats were treated with intravenous fluids and intramuscular injections of vitamin B complex for five days.
These cats responded to therapy within 12 hours and were clinically normal five days later. No other cases have occurred since the
humane shelter switched to a complete and balanced moist cat food.

Bibliography
Davidson MG. Thiamin deficiency in a colony of cats. Veterinary Record 1992; 130: 94-97.
Finke MD. Alpo Viewpoints in Veterinary Medicine 1993; 3(1).

CASE 6-10

Skin and Hair Disorders in a Group of Kittens
Patient Assessment
Twenty female kittens were involved in a feeding trial to evaluate dietary phosphorus requirements. The kittens were eight weeks
old at the beginning of the trial. After eating the experimental food for 11 weeks, most kittens developed dried secretions around
the eyes, mouth, nose and feet, focal dermatitis of the lips near the canine teeth, alopecia along the back, neck and tail, achro-
motrichia, dull fur and a brownish appearance of the skin. Growth of the kittens was not impaired. Results of hemograms and uri-
nalyses were normal.

Assess the Food and Feeding Method
The food was a purified diet that contained dried egg whites, fish meal, beef tallow, corn oil, glucose, cooked starch, cellulose, tau-
rine, vitamins and minerals. Food and demineralized water were provided free choice.

Feeding Plan
A tentative diagnosis of biotin deficiency was made based on the dietary history and clinical signs. The biotin content of the food
was increased from 0.066 mg/kg to 3.0 mg/kg of food.

Reassessment
The kittens were markedly improved after eating the biotin-supplemented food for 10 weeks. Serum biotin concentrations of kit-
tens fed unsupplemented food was about one-fifth of that of adult female cats fed a commercial complete and balanced dry cat
food. Serum biotin concentrations responded to increased biotin intake.

Comments
Biotin deficiency induced by avidin in raw egg whites is a classic example of vitamin deficiency in experimental nutrition. Avidin
is a glycoprotein that irreversibly binds biotin and renders it unavailable. Biotin deficiency was an unwanted side effect in this group
of research cats due to egg whites in the formulation. The researchers ordered ovalbumin expecting to receive a purified fraction of
egg protein. However, they received dried total egg whites, which contained avidin.

Bibliography
Pastoor FJH, Van Herck H, Van’t Klooster ATh, et al. Biotin deficiency in cats as induced by feeding a purified diet containing egg
white (expanded abstract). Journal of Nutrition 1991; 121: S73-S74.