Progress 01/01/06 to 06/30/08
Outputs
OUTPUTS: To determine the effect of dietary lysine supplementation on incidence and severity of clinical signs of infectious upper respiratory disease (IURD) and the extent of ocular shedding of Chlamydophila felis (previously Chlamydia psittaci), feline calicivirus (FCV), and feline herpesvirus (FHV-1) in cats in an environment where IURD is enzootic. Major findings: Results. By study end, plasma lysine concentration in cats receiving the supplemented ration was greater than at baseline and than in cats receiving the basal ration. There was no difference between dietary groups in the number of cats developing mild disease. However, more cats in the supplemented group than those in the basal group developed marked disease during Week 4. During Week 2, cats in the supplemented group were more likely to shed FHV-1 than those in the unsupplemented group. These differences were independent of gender. There was no detectable effect on shedding of Chlamydophila felis or FCV. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance. Cats ingesting a diet containing 5.7% lysine developed severe illness and shed FHV-1 more frequently than cats on a basal ration despite achieving plasma lysine concentrations similar to those that were successful in bolus administration studies. This suggests that dietary lysine supplementation is ineffective in reducing clinical signs of IURD or organism shedding. PARTICIPANTS: Not relevant to this project. TARGET AUDIENCES: Not relevant to this project. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.
Impacts
Data from this study suggest that cats in a shelter provided a diet containing 5.7% lysine developed severe IURD and shed FHV-1 more frequently compared with cats on a basal ration containing usual amounts of lysine. This occurred despite the fact that cats ingesting the high-lysine diet achieved plasma lysine concentrations similar to those that were successful in bolus administration studies. This suggests that dietary lysine supplementation is ineffective in reducing clinical signs of IURD or organism shedding in a shelter. Our data will be of immense practical value to shelter managers and veterinarians advising owners and managers of large multicat populations because it provides strong evidence that lysine supplementation of diets is not successful for controlling IURD in such populations. Therefore shelters currently utilizing this method might save considerable staff time and resources by redirecting their efforts to control IURD by alternate methods.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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