Evaluation of grooming behaviour and apparent digestibility method in cats

Abstract

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the behavioural time budget for grooming and grooming patterns for shorthair and longhair cats, and to assess the effect of grooming behaviour on apparent digestibility of nutrients in domestic cats ( Felis catus) by comparing hair-included faeces and hair-removed faeces. A total of 10 adult domestic cats, with a mean ± SD body weight of 4.3 ± 0.89 kg and a mean ± SD age of 3.5 ± 1.38 years, were used for behavioural observation. Cats were housed individually in stainless steel cages at the animal hospital. The cats' behaviour was recorded on a webcam videotaping system for one 24 h period; then, faecal samples were collected and analysed to measure apparent digestibility. There was no significant difference between longhair and shorthair cats in behavioural time budget for grooming and grooming patterns. The apparent digestibility of dry matter, crude protein, crude ash, acid detergent fibre (ADF) and neutral detergent fibre (NDF) of hair-removed faeces was significantly higher than that of hair-included faeces: about 6% ( P <0.01), 7% ( P <0.01), 14% ( P <0.01), 12% ( P = 0.01) and 10% ( P <0.01), respectively. There was no difference in grooming patterns between longhair cats and shorthair cats. Also, the digestibility of dry matter, crude protein, crude ash, ADF and NDF has been underestimated by approximately 6%, 7%, 14%, 12%, and 10%, respectively, when they have been calculated using the conventional digestibility method for domestic cats.