Table 3. Serum chemistries and urine analytes in healthy cats (H cats) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) cats at baseline (BSL, after feeding pre-trial food1 for 14 days), and after feeding Food A2 (containing scFOS) or Food B3 (containing apple pomace) as fiber sources for 4 weeks each.
| Mean Values | Group Effect‡ | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| H Cats | CKD Cats | Overall Effect of Health | Overall Effect of Both Treatments | H Cats: Treatment with Food B versus Food A¥ | CKD Cats: Treatment with Food B versus Food A¥ | Overall Effect of Interaction | |||||
| Serum Chemistries | BSL | Food A | Food B | BSL | Food A | Food B | P-value | P-value | P-value | P-value | P-value |
| Cr, mg/dL | 1.23# | 1.23 | 1.25 | 1.58# | 1.47 | 1.41 | 0.09 | 0.65 | 0.60 | 0.30 | 0.42 |
| BUN, mg/dL | 16.8# | 17.3 | 16.9 | 18.6# | 18.0 | 19.4 | 0.20 | 0.75 | 0.24 | 0.49 | 0.19 |
| Albumin, g/dL | 3.34# | 3.28 | 3.34 | 3.07# | 3.07 | 3.06 | 0.02 | 0.50 | 0.17 | 0.90 | 0.66 |
| Urine Analytes | |||||||||||
| pH | 5.96# | 5.99 | 5.77 | 6.24# | 6.31 | 6.15 | 0.03 | 0.02 | 0.03 | 0.15 | 0.58 |
| USG | 1.046# | 1.046 | 1.045 | 1.039# | 1.041 | 1.039 | 0.03 | 0.32 | 0.66 | 0.33 | 0.69 |
1Baseline (BSL; pre-trial) food was Prescription Diet® k/d® Feline with chicken, dry.
2 Food A was prepared by Hill’s Pet Nutrition, Inc. and was similar to the pre-trial food, with the exception that it was supplemented with betaine (0.500%), oat beta glucan (0.586%), and 0.407% short chain FOS (scFOS).
3Food B was prepared by Hill’s Pet Nutrition, Inc. and was similar to the pre-trial food, with the exception that it contained 0.500% betaine, 0.586% oat beta glucan, and 3.44% apple pomace.
‡A mixed model was used with cat identity as random effect to test whether means were different based on health status of cats (healthy versus CKD), type of fiber fed (scFOS versus apple pomace), or an interaction between health status and type of fiber fed.
¥The mixed model was used to test whether means were different after treatment with apple pomace versus scFOS as a fiber source within healthy cats and within CKD cats.
#The mixed model was used to test whether means were different at baseline based on health status of cats (healthy versus CKD).
Significance was established when P ≤ 0.05 (for type 1 error).