Cats need a minimum amount of space even in animal shelters. In this study the effects of single caging and cage size on the behavior and stress level of domestic cats were investigated. Six neutered cats (2-15 years old) that had been housed in a group for at least 7 months were moved to three kinds of single cages (small, medium and large) by rotation on a Latin square design. They experienced each cage size for 6 days. Cats could use vertical dimensions when housed in a group room and the large cage. Behavioral observation was conducted for 3 h in the evening, and stress levels were assessed by urine cortisol-to-creatinine ratios. The amounts (estimated proportions) of time spent in locomotion and social/solitary play were lower even in large cages than in group housing (both P < 0.05). Conversely, the amount of time spent resting tended to increase when housed singly (P = 0.104). The urine cortisol-to-creatinine ratios of singly housed cats tended to be higher than that of group-housed cats (P = 0.086). The results indicate that cats become less active when they are housed singly in cages regardless of the cage size. Cats seem to feel no undue stress even in small cages if the stay is short.

No abstract

LSG and LSG-DJB improved obesity and type 2 diabetes in Japanese patients with obesity, but the impact of LSG-DJB on the intestinal microbiota differed from that of LSG. This difference in the impact on the intestinal environment could explain the different efficacies of LSG and LSG-DJB in terms of their ability to resolve metabolic disorders in the clinical setting.

No abstract

Patients receiving hemodialysis also manifest gastrointestinal symptoms, such as constipation, caused by restriction of water intake and the loss of body water balance. Because dietary carnitine deficiency is considered to cause smooth muscle dysmotility of the gastrointestinal tract similarly to that in skeletal muscles, carnitine deficiency in hemodialysis patients may be one cause of gastrointestinal discomfort and dysfunctions. We performed a multicenter nonrandomized single-arm prospective clinical trial. Fifteen Japanese patients receiving hemodialysis were administered L-carnitine tablets (900 mg) for 3 months, and clinical and biochemical analyses were performed before and after treatment. The serum total carnitine level was increased significantly by supplementation with L-carnitine for 3 months (from 40.9 ± 2.6 μmol/l to 172.3 ± 19.0 μmol/l, p<0.05). The myasthenia score was decreased significantly by the supplementation (from 1.3 ± 0.3 to 0.8 ± 0.2, p<0.05). The frequency of passing stool tended to increase with the treatment for 3 months (from 4.2 ± 0.5 times/week to 4.8 ± 0.5 times/week). A phyla-level analysis of the microbiota showed that the composition of the individual microbiota was not different between before and after supplementation. A genus-level analysis, however, revealed that the relative abundance of genus Clostridium subcluster 4 was significantly decreased by the supplementation (from 7.7 ± 1.9% to 4.7 ± 1.3%, p<0.05). Oral supplementation of L-carnitine to the patients receiving hemodialysis improved not only their muscle discomfort but also their gastrointestinal disorders and microbiota, although its effect on the prognosis of hemodialysis patients should be further investigated.