Food MArketing & Technology In India CC for web-HIgh Res | Page 28

Pet Nutrition
Prebiotics in cat food
Dr A C Beynen
was professor of
veterinary nutrition
at the Faculty
of Veterinary
Medicine, Utrecht
University, Th e
Netherlands in the
period of 1993-2007.
Prebiotics can be defi ned as dietary carbohydrates that
resist the cats’ digestive enzymes and pass to the hindgut
where they fall prey to bacteria. In other words, prebiotics
are indigestible, fermentable carbohydrates. Most plant
ingredients in cat foods carry with them variable types and
amounts of prebiotics. Wet food may contain thickening agents
with prebiotic properties, such as guar gum and carrageenan.
The focus here is on high-purity prebiotics that are added to
cat foods to support a claim for gut health.
Cat foods promising gut health mostly contain added
FOS (fructo-oligosaccharides), beet pulp, MOS
(mannanoligosaccharides), XOS (xylo-oligosacharides) or
lactosucrose as highlighted ingredient. Those foods generally
purport to stimulate growth of the good gut bacteria toward
a healthier community and to aid in the cat’s digestion.
Uncurbed intakes of prebiotics, meanwhile, expand fecal bulk,
due to more water and solids, while appearing as loose stool.
The research literature provides limited information on the
effects of prebiotics in cats, but some tentative comments
can be made. High intakes of FOS, beet pulp or guar gum
depress the net digestive effi ciency for dietary dry substances,
whereas MOS acts augmentative. Digestive measures appear
unreported for XOS, lactosucrose and carrageenan. Dietary
FOS and lactosucrose, rather than XOS, may enhance putative
good bacteria in the large intestine.
28
Whether or not cat food featuring a certain prebiotic lives up
to its promise of boosting gut health, depends on the backing
evidence. Claim substantiation should be based on controlled
research in cats fed the same amount and type of the prebiotic
in the marketed food. That information seems unavailable in
the public domain. Cat lovers may contact the appropriate
food-brand proprietor for proof of effi cacy.
Creature Companion | August 2019 • Vol. XII • Issue 8 • Noida