Age and diet affect faecal microbial composition in the domestic cat (Felis catus)

Commercially available kibbled and canned diets were fed to cats after being fed the opposing diet over a time period of 5 years to determine the affects of each diet on the cats. Fecal samples were collected at At approximately 8, 17, 104 and 260 weeks of age. 16S rDNA amplicon sequencing was done on these samples and significant differences over time were found between the diets.

本研究先为实验猫饲喂对立日粮长达5年，随后为其喂食市售膨化型日粮与罐头型日粮，以探究两种日粮对猫的影响。分别在猫约8、17、104及260周龄时采集粪便样本，对样本开展16S rDNA扩增子测序（16S rDNA amplicon sequencing）分析，结果发现两种日粮组间随时间推移存在显著差异。