White and Red Sorghum as Primary Carbohydrate Sources in Extruded Diets of Felines

- The research objectives were to evaluate the effect of dietary supplementation of white (WSH) and red (RSH) sorghum grains on gastrointestinal health of felines through the determination of apparent total tract macronutrient digestibility (ATTD), fecal characteristics, fermentative end-products, and microbiota, compared with a traditional corn-based diet (Control). <br>- Nine, intact, male domestic shorthaired cats (average age: 0.8 ± 0.00 yr; average weight: 4.5 ± 0.23 kg) were used in a triplicated 3 × 3 Latin square design. Total DNA from fresh fecal samples was extracted using Mo-Bio PowerSoil kits (MO BIO Laboratories, Inc., Carlsbad, CA). Amplification of the 292 bp-fragment of V4 region from the 16S rRNA gene was completed using a Fluidigm Access Array (Fluidigm Corporation, South San Francisco, CA). Paired-end Illumina sequencing was performed on a MiSeq using v3 reagents (Illumina Inc., San Diego, CA) at the Roy J. Carver Biotechnology Center at the University of Illinois. <br>- Filenames are composed of animal name identifier, supplement (C=control; RS=red sorghum grain; WS= white sorghum grain) and period replicate number (P1, P2 and P3).