Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
High fat and triglycerides in obese cats compared to lean cats
By Jordan, E et al.·Published in Domestic animal endocrinology·2008·Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Dyslipidemia in obese cats.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A study found that obese cats have higher levels of certain fats in their blood compared to lean cats, which can increase their risk for health issues like diabetes. Researchers looked at how different diets affected these fat levels in both lean and obese cats. They discovered that while the obese cats had more unhealthy fats, changing their diet didn’t significantly improve their blood fat levels. This suggests that while obesity can lead to unhealthy blood fat levels, it may not directly cause other serious conditions like high blood pressure or heart disease in cats.
People also search for: cat obesity health risks · cat diet for weight loss · symptoms of diabetes in cats
Abstract
Obesity is an important endocrine disorder in cats and is a risk factor for diabetes similar to humans. The goal of this study was to examine the effect of long-term obesity and different diets (high protein, and high carbohydrate supplemented with saturated fatty acids or n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids) on plasma lipids in the fasted and fed states in 12 lean (LEAN) and 12 obese (OBESE) cats with ultracentrifugation, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. OBESE had higher plasma non-esterified fatty acids and triglycerides, as well as very-low-density-lipoproteins (VLDL) consisting primarily of medium-sized particles. The concentration of low-density-lipoproteins (LDL) was comparable between the groups, although OBESE had mostly very small, whereas LEAN had mostly large particles. The concentration of high-density-lipoproteins (HDL) was lower in OBESE and consisted primarily of small particles. Plasma triglycerides, and triglycerides and cholesterol in all lipoproteins increased postprandially. Different diets had little effect on lipids. Our results show that long-term obese cats develop similar lipoprotein changes to humans, yet, hypertension and atherosclerosis have not been described in obese cats. This suggests that dyslipidemia alone is not sufficient to induce hypertension and atherosclerosis. Other anti-atherogenic factors may be present in the obese, dyslipidemic cat.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18692343/