Waltham Petcare Science Institute, Mars Petcare, Waltham on the Wolds, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, United Kingdom.
Institute of Life Course and Medical Sciences, University of Liverpool, Neston, Cheshire, United Kingdom.
PLoS One. 2022 Nov 21;17(11):e0277531. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0277531. eCollection 2022.
The optimal growth of domesticated cats has not yet been well defined. This study first aimed to create evidence-based growth standards for healthy pet domestic shorthair (DSH) kittens, and then compare the pattern of growth curves depicted by the standards with growth patterns in other healthy DSH kittens and those with abnormal body condition. Data were derived from the clinical records of the BANFIELD® Pet Hospital (BANFIELD) network in the USA and from a research population in the UK (Waltham Petcare Science Institute, UK). A 'modelling' dataset was first created from the BANFIELD records, comprising bodyweight data from immature client-owned DSH cats that had remained healthy and in ideal body condition within the first 2.5y of life. This was used to construct growth centile curves for male and female kittens, covering the age range 8 to 78 weeks, using Generalised Additive Models for Location, Shape and Scale. Growth patterns depicted by the centile curves were compared with the growth patterns of healthy DSH kittens from both research colonies and kittens attending BANFIELD that were classified as overweight or underweight. Overall, there was a broad agreement to the growth standards with approximately half of the research population (206/507, 49%) staying within 2 centile lines of their starting centile, and upward and downward movements outside this range being roughly equally distributed. Compared with the growth standards, the 122 overweight BANFIELD kittens were heavier on average at the start of monitoring and subsequently grew more quickly with 63 (52%) crossing at least 2 standard centile lines upwards. Only 4 underweight DSH kittens were available in the BANFIELD database; compared with the standards, there was a marked initial dip in growth followed by subsequent catch-up growth and 2/4 kittens crossed 2 or more centile lines downwards at some point. Evidence-based growth standards are developed here for male and female sexually-intact DSH kittens. Crossing centiles in an upwards and downwards direction is associated with cats becoming overweight or underweight by early adulthood, respectively. Further work is required to determine whether the clinical use of these growth standards will improve the health and wellbeing of pet cats.
家猫的最佳生长尚未得到很好的定义。本研究首先旨在为健康的宠物家短毛（DSH）小猫建立基于证据的生长标准，然后比较标准描绘的生长曲线模式与其他健康的 DSH 小猫以及身体状况异常的小猫的生长模式。数据来自美国 BANFIELD® 宠物医院（BANFIELD）网络的临床记录和英国的一个研究人群（Waltham Petcare Science Institute，英国）。首先从 BANFIELD 记录中创建一个“建模”数据集，其中包括在生命的前 2.5 年内保持健康和理想身体状况的不成熟客户拥有的 DSH 猫的体重数据。使用广义加性模型对位置、形状和比例，为雄性和雌性小猫构建了从 8 周到 78 周年龄的生长百分位数曲线。百分位数曲线所描绘的生长模式与来自两个研究群体的健康 DSH 小猫的生长模式以及被归类为超重或体重不足的 BANFIELD 就诊小猫的生长模式进行了比较。总体而言，生长标准得到了广泛的认可，大约一半的研究人群（206/507，49%）在其起始百分位数的 2 个百分位线内，而在这个范围之外的向上和向下移动大致相等。与生长标准相比，122 只超重的 BANFIELD 小猫在开始监测时平均体重更重，随后生长速度更快，其中 63 只（52%）至少向上跨越了 2 个标准百分位线。BANFIELD 数据库中只有 4 只体重不足的 DSH 小猫；与标准相比，生长开始时明显下降，随后是后续的追赶生长，其中 4 只中有 2 只在某个时候向下跨越了 2 个或更多百分位线。这里为性成熟的雄性和雌性 DSH 小猫制定了基于证据的生长标准。向上和向下跨越百分位线分别与小猫在成年早期超重或体重不足有关。还需要进一步研究这些生长标准的临床应用是否会改善宠物猫的健康和福利。
