Effects of combined use of keratinolytic enzymes and sugarcane fibre on the hairball excretion in cats

Abstract

Grooming is a natural hygienic behaviour of cats that favours the formation of hairballs. Increased fibre concentration in the diets is a strategy to minimize hairball formation, but it is not fully effective. Because cat hair is formed mostly by keratin, the addition of keratinases in the diets might be an alternative for hairball control. Thus, the objective was to evaluate the effect of the combined use of sugarcane fibre and a protease complex to reduce the hairball excretion in cats. Twenty‐four adult cats were divided into four treatment groups (n = 6 per treatment) in a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement. Treatments were as follows: control diet (Control; containing low concentration of insoluble fibre, 5.34% of total dietary fibre), control diet plus enzyme (Co‐e), high‐fibre diet (HF; containing high amounts of insoluble fibre, 17.8% of total dietary fibre), and HF diet plus enzyme (HF‐e). Proteases from Bacillus licheniformis PWD‐1 were administered orally (5 mg/day) as gastro‐resistant capsules. Total collection of faeces was carried out to determine the number of excreted hairballs and the coefficient of total tract apparent digestibilities (CTTAD) of the diets. Separate addition of insoluble fibre (HF; p = .5947) or enzyme complex (Co‐e; p = .3633) had no effect on the hairballs excreted in the faeces. However, the combined use of insoluble fibre and enzymes (HF‐e) reduced (p = .0344) the total number of hairballs excreted. The size distribution of hairballs (small, medium, or large) was not affected by treatments (p = .3763). The CTTAD of crude protein was not affected by protease addition (p = .781) but was reduced by HF and HF‐e treatments. Sugarcane fibre associated to keratinolytic enzymes reduces the hairball excretion in cats. This strategy can be adopted for this purpose; however, methods for faecal hairball quantification must be improved. If you have not already completed a Copyright Transfer Agreement, please log on to Wiley Author Serivices, https://authorservices.wiley.com/bauthor/, sign‐in and complete the License Agreement form"

Dietary fiber aids in the management of canine and feline gastrointestinal disease

“…Increasing dietary fiber is one of the primary nutritional recommendations for hairball management, presuming that fiber might stimulate hair excretion in the feces. The majority of studies 38,[118][119][120][121] investigating this premise have documented a benefit of dietary fiber in hairball management. Two studies 119,121 have documented a benefit of sugarcane fiber with or without other additives.…”

“…The majority of studies 38,[118][119][120][121] investigating this premise have documented a benefit of dietary fiber in hairball management. Two studies 119,121 have documented a benefit of sugarcane fiber with or without other additives. In the first study, 119 sugarcane fiber reduced fecal hairball elimination in cats without other intervention.…”

“…In the first study, 119 sugarcane fiber reduced fecal hairball elimination in cats without other intervention. In the second study, 121 sugarcane fiber was co-administered with keratinolytic enzymes. The sugarcane fiber was identified as the main effector in the study findings showing reduction in hairball excretion in cats.…”