Measurement of plasma rapid turnover proteins (RTPs) such as transferrin (Tf) and retinol-binding protein (RBP) have been used as dynamic assessment of protein nutrition in human medicine. The purpose of the present study is to evaluate the clinical usefulness of plasma Tf and RBP levels as a nutritional marker in dogs. We performed the shortterm controlled feeding tests with changing the total calorie in healthy dogs. Plasma Tf levels were significantly decreased during the calorie reduction period, then moderately increased during the calorie re-increased period. In contrast, RBP and albumin (ALB) levels showed no significant change throughout the test. Furthermore, Tf levels were significantly decreased in anorexic (<50% RER, over the last week) dogs with chronic gastrointestinal (GI) diseases compared with no-anorexic (≥50% RER) patients. Tf levels were also serially monitored in two GI patients during aggressive (perenteral and/or enteral feeding) nutritional therapy. As the result, the dog with continuously increased Tf levels recovered but another patient with decreased Tf levels died during hospitalization. Taken together, the serial measurement of plasma Tf levels may be useful to evaluate short-term nutritional status in dogs.

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Previously the rice bran fermented powder (RBFP), which went through lactic fermentation by applying the lactic bacterium of vegetable origin to rice bran, was developed by Ohtomo, et al., and it is proved that the RBFP decreases the amount of visceral fat, and normalizes both the levels of the serum triglyceride and cholesterol in the blood when orally given to rats as a dietary food supplement on an ongoing basis. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of the dietary food supplement containing RBFP in various kinds of privately-owned dogs in Japan. The survey was conducted by giving the RBFP supplement to 44 dogs (1.25g/kg/day) for 8 consecutive weeks, and having those owners fill out questionnaires. The questionnaire contains a list of questions as to dogs' body weights, waist circumferences, and noticeable physiological changes, as well as behavioral alterations. The questionnaires were collected at 5 times; before the RBFP application, after 2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks of the application. Significant decreases were detected in the rate of changes for waist circumferences at after 4, 6, and 8 weeks of the application. It shows a certain effect of the supplement in many dogs under the various breeding conditions. On the other hand, the significant decreases in the rate of changes for body weights were not detected at any time. For the question as to the supplement palatability, 70.4 % (at after 8 weeks of the application) of the owners answered “well acceptable than any other foods” or “as acceptable as other foods“. It is notable that the palatability of RBFP supplement is reliably as high as other foods.

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We established the determination of mercury concentration using ICP-MS in cat hair. Hair samples collected from head, cervix, back, abdomen and tail of cats were washed with acetone and detergent. Hair samples were subsequently wet-ashed by a microwave digestion system under the high pressure, diluted with deionized water and then the mercury concentration was determined by ICP-MS. The validation using a certified reference material (human hair) indicated that intra-assay CV and inter-assay CV were 1.9% and 3.0%, respectively, and that trueness was 103%. In our assay condition, the lower detection limit was 0.088mg/kg. 5 cats, supplied wetfood (mercury concentration: 1.73 mg/kg DM) were used to investigate the difference of hair mercury concentration between sampling sites. Hair mercury concentration, collected from back was near the average of all samples. Subsequently 20 cats were supplied wetfood (mercury concentration: 1.73 mg/kg DM) or dryfood (mercury concentration: 0.04 mg/kg DM) for 28 weeks and mercury concentration collected from the back hair was determined. Hair mercury concentration was significantly higher in the cats supplied the wetfood than in the cats supplied the dryfood (p ⟨ 0.01). In the present study, all hair samples were measurable. In conclusion, we can measure mercury concentration in cat hair in the present method, and mercury concentration in cat hair probably reflects mercury intake.

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