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Various nutritional peculiarities including important features of protein and carbohydrate as well as fat metabolism are well known in cats (Rogers and Morris 1991). In this study, we investigated whether dietary changes have the same effect on plasma parameters of lipid metabolism in cats as in other species. For this purpose, triglycerides (TGL), cholesterol (CHOL), [Beta]-hydroxybutyrate ([Beta]HB) and free fatty acids (FFA) were determined after feeding different test meals. Materials and methods. Nine adult healthy European short-haired cats were available for this investigation. They were fed either a commercial canned cat food (COM) or one of three tuna-based test diets with goose fat, glucose or without addition (FAT, GLUC, PROT, Table 1) for 3 wk before the trial. After this period, blood samples were taken preprandially (12 h after the last meal) and 3 h after the test meal (postprandially) for determination of metabolites. For determination of [Beta]-hydroxybutyrate in blood (denatured with 0.33 mol/L perchloric acid), the method of Williamson and Mellanby (1974) was used. The FFA were measured by the method of Itaya (1977), a modification of the method of Duncombe. TGL and CHOL were determined with commercial test kits (Test-combination Triglycerides GPOPAP, Boehringer, Mannheim, Germany and CHOD-PAP method, Diagnostica Merck, Darmstadt, Germany). The fatty acid patterns of the test meals were determined by gas chromatography (Klaus et al. 1995). Data are expressed as means [+ or -] SD. The influence of diet composition and sampling time were analyzed by two-way ANOVA. Means were compared by Student's t test to determine significant differences between sampling times or by one-way ANOVA and Tukey's test to determine significant differences between the diets. The study was approved by the Regierung of Oberbayern, which is the proper authority according to German laws on animal welfare (Tierschutzgesetz). Results. The two-way ANOVA revealed a significant influence of sampling time and diet composition for all determined plasma parameters of lipid metabolism in cats except for the effect of time on plasma CHOL. The level of TGL was influenced mainly by the time after feeding but also by diet composition [ILLUSTRATION FOR FIGURE 1 OMITTED]. As expected, the highest concentrations of TGL in plasma were found 3 h postprandially in the diets rich in fat (FAT, COM). The values of FFA ranged between 0.4 and 0.71 mmol/L [ILLUSTRATION FOR FIGURE 2 OMITTED]. Significant differences between the sampling times were seen only in group GLUC. This diet led to a decrease in plasma FFA concentration especially after feeding. The plasma CHOL [ILLUSTRATION FOR FIGURE 3 OMITTED] was influenced only by diet composition, i.e., fat and cholesterol content in the diet as well as fatty acid pattern. The highest values were found after the high fat diets (FAT and COM, Table 2) were fed. Diets nearly free of carbohydrates led to high plasma concentrations of [Beta]-HB (FAT and PROT, [ILLUSTRATION FOR FIGURE 4 OMITTED]). In conclusion the fat metabolism parameters studied are influenced in a similar way in cats as described for other species (Barth et al. 1990, Freudenthal 1990). KEY WORDS: * cats * diet * lipid metabolism * blood parameters

Interpretive phenomenology was used to analyze interviews with 14 women who were recruited from a Midwestern program that provides prostitution-specific services. The participants described day-to-day experiences living with labeling, violence, and discrimination that were directed at them because of their involvement in prostitution and substance use. They also discussed their perceptions of being altered permanently by their activities as well as the ways in which they resist internalizing the negative messages that were directed at them. In this article, the construct of stigma is used to characterize these experiences. This article details the women's experience of living with stigma and presents implications for direct practice and policy.