Male poults were fed diets containing 0, 4, 8, or 12% tallow or 4, 8, or 12% animal-vegetable fat blend (A-V Fat) from 1 day to 8 weeks of age. Supplemental fat improved 8-week body weight and feed efficiency, irrespective of fat source. Fat retention (fat consumed-fat excreted) was not affected by fat level or by fat source after 2 weeks of age. At 2 weeks, fat retention by poults fed tallow was less than that of poults fed A-V Fat. Fat retention increased with age, irrespective of fat source or level. Fat retentions ranged from 66.4 to 83.7 at 2 weeks and from 90.8 to 96.5 at 8 weeks of age. Changes in metabolizable energy (ME) values of the fats with age paralleled those of fat retention, whether ME were estimated by multiplying fat retention percentages times gross energy of the fats or by regression analysis of changes in diet ME associated with increments of fats. On the basis of changes in diet ME, the ME of tallow was 6808 kcal/kg at 2 weeks and 8551 kcal/kg at 8 weeks. Analagous values for A-V Fat were 7114 and 8924 kcal/kg, respectively. Fatty acid analysis of dietary and excreta fat indicated that, as turkeys aged, improvements in retention were greatest for palmitic and stearic acids, especially in the instance of tallow. Fatty acid binding protein (FABP) assay of intestines from poults fed no added fat, 12% tallow, or 12% A-V Fat showed that fat level did not significantly affect FABP activity. There was, however, a marked increase in intestinal FABP in 6- and 8-week-old poults as compared with 2- or 4-week-old poults.

Feline polycystic kidney disease (PKD), an inherited autosomal dominant disease, has been reported to occur mostly in Persian or Persian related cats, and to be associated with a mutation from C to A at position 10063 in exon 29 of the feline PKD1 gene ( PKD1 mutation). Many clinical cases have been recognized in Japan, but the mutation rate in cats has not been reported. The objective of this study was to determine epidemiological characteristics and clinical features in cats with the PKD1 mutation. Referring veterinarians sent blood samples of 377 cats for the PKD1 gene evaluation. The blood samples were from 159 cats with renal cysts confirmed by ultrasonography, 60 cats without renal cysts, and 158 cats that did not undergo ultrasonography. In total, 150 cats carried the PKD1 mutation and the signalment, site and number of renal cysts, and results of blood test were evaluated in cats with the PKD1 mutation. The breeds with the highest rate of the PKD1 mutation were Persian (46%), Scottish Fold (54%) and American Shorthair cats (47%). However, mixed breed cats also showed high rates of the PKD1 mutation. Of cats with the mutation, the incidence of high plasma creatinine (≥1.6 mg/d l ) was greater in cats ≥3 years old, although a few cats ≥9 years of age had low plasma creatinine (<1.6 mg/d l ). The coincidence of renal and hepatic cysts was 12.6%, with the high prevalence in Persian cats (31%).