The effect of fruit containing diets on the feline intestinal ecosystem.

Twenty-four adult cats were randomly assigned to three groups (apple, pineapple, papaya) to evaluate the effect of fruit containing diets (2% on a DM basis) on composition and metabolism of the intestinal microbiota. The study consisted of three phases: adaptation to the basal diet (no fruit, day 1-14), basal diet added with fruit (day 15-28), wash-out (no fruit, day 29-35). At the end of each feeding period a fresh faecal sample was collected from each cat and immediately frozen for further analysis (moisture, pH, ammonia, bifidobacteria, lactobacilli, coliforms, enterococci, Bacteroides spp., Clostridium spp. and C. Perfringens). All cats remained in good health. Dietary supplementation with fruit had no effect on faecal moisture, pH and bacterial populations. Ammonia faecal concentrations were decreased by fruit (P < 0.01) and the effect still persisted after the wash out period