Suitability of Dried Blood Spots for Accelerating Veterinary Biobank Collections and Identifying Metabolomics Biomarkers With Minimal Resources.

Biomarker discovery using biobank samples collected from veterinary clinics would deliver insights into the diverse population of pets and accelerate diagnostic development. The acquisition, preparation, processing, and storage of biofluid samples in sufficient volumes and at a quality suitable for later analysis with most suitable discovery methods remain challenging. Metabolomics analysis is a valuable approach to detect health/disease phenotypes.

Clinical progression of cats with early-stage chronic kidney disease fed diets with varying protein and phosphorus contents and calcium to phosphorus ratios.

Background: Dietary protein and phosphorus (P) restriction is the mainstay for nutritional management of chronic kidney disease (CKD). However, adequate restriction levels for cats with early CKD remain unclear.

Objectives: To investigate responses in cats with early CKD to varying dietary protein, P, and calcium (Ca) : P ratio.

Towards establishing no observed adverse effect levels (NOAEL) for different sources of dietary phosphorus in feline adult diets: results from a 7-month feeding study.

High dietary phosphorus (P), particularly soluble salts, may contribute to chronic kidney disease development in cats. The aim of the present study was to assess the safety of P supplied at 1 g/1000 kcal (4184kJ) from a highly soluble P salt in P-rich dry format feline diets. Seventy-five healthy adult cats (n 25/group) were fed either a low P control (1·4 g/1000 kcal [4184kJ]; Ca:P ratio 0·97) or one of two test diets with 4 g/1000 kcal (4184 kJ); Ca:P 1·04 or 5 g/1000 kcal (4184kJ); Ca:P 1·27, both incorporating 1 g/1000 kcal (4184 kJ) sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP) - for a period of 30 weeks in a randomised parallel-group study.