Serum triglyceride (TG) and Total Cholesterol (T-Cho) concentrations have been known to elevate postprandially. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of dietary therapy on the postprandial change of serum TG and T-Cho concentrations in dogs. Healthy 6 Beagles were randomly divided into 3 groups, and fed with high-energy diet, low-fat diet, or high-fiber diet for 2 weeks under 3×3 Latin Square protocol. Baseline and postprandial (2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 hours after feeding) serum TG and T-Cho concentrations were measured and compared among the 3 dietary therapies. Only high-energy diet induced significant elevation of serum TG concentration postprandially. Serum TG concentrations 2–10 hours after feeding with high-energy diet were significantly higher than those with other 2 diets. Serum TG concentration was returned within reference range 12 hours after feeding with each diet. Serum T-Cho concentration did not show postprandial elevation. High-energy diet provided with a tendency to elevate the baseline serum T-Cho concentration when compared with other 2 diets, but there was no statistically significant difference. Although the baseline concentrations of TG and T-Cho was equivalent, high-energy diet could induce potential hypertriglyceridemia due to the dairy postprandial elevation of serum TG concentration. The effect of dietary therapy on the dogs with hyperlipidemia needs to be investigated.

To determine changes in the intestinal microflora (fecal microflora and digestibility coefficients) of cats fed a meat diet, four adult castrated male cats were fed a control food (commercial dry food) and a test food that was a mixture of the control food and a commercial venison wet food for 30 days (a 25-day acclimation period and a 5-day fecal collection period). The control and test foods were termed dry and dry＋wet foods, respectively. The dry (commercial dry food) and wet (commercial venison wet food) foods were mixed in a ratio of 1 : 4 for preparing the dry＋wet food. The feeding trial was conducted in accordance with the experimental design of the cross-over design, in which two types of food were fed. At the family level, the percentages of Coriobacteriaceae, Peptostreptococcaceae, Fusobacteriaceae, and Sutterellaceae were higher in cats fed with the dry＋wet food than in cats fed with the dry food (P＜0.05). The percentage of Erysipelotrichaceae was lower in cats fed with the dry＋wet food (P＜0.05). The cats fed the dry＋wet food had higher percentages of Fusobacterium and Sutterella at the genus level (P＜0.05). Thus, these results indicate that feeding a meat diet to cats alters their intestinal microflora. As for digestibility coefficients, digestibility of crude protein was lower when cats were fed the dry＋wet food than cats fed with the dry food (P＜0.05). These results may be related to the fact that the dry＋ wet food is a high-protein food.