Effect of feeding a selected combination of galacto-oligosaccharides and a strain of Bifidobacterium pseudocatenulatum on the intestinal microbiota of cats

Objective—To evaluate the growth kinetics of a strain of Bifidobacterium pseudocatenulatum (BP) on 4 oligo- or polysaccharides and the effect of feeding a selected probiotic-prebiotic combination on intestinal microbiota in cats. Animals—10 healthy adult cats. Procedures—Growth kinetics of a strain of cat-origin BP (BP-B82) on fructo-oligosaccharides, galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS), lactitol, or pectins was determined, and the combination of GOS and BP-B82 was selected. Cats received supplemental once-daily feeding of 1% GOS–BP-B82 (1010 CFUs/d) for 15 days; fecal samples were collected for analysis the day before (day 0) and 1 and 10 days after the feeding period (day 16 and 25, respectively). Results—Compared with the prefeeding value, mean fecal ammonia concentration was significantly lower on days 16 and 25 (288 and 281 μmol/g of fecal dry matter [fDM], respectively, vs 353 μmol/g of fDM); fecal acetic acid concentration was higher on day 16 (171 μmol/g of fDM vs 132 μmol/g of fDM). On day 16, fecal concentrations of lactic, n-valeric, and isovaleric acids (3.61, 1.52, and 3.55 μmol/g of fDM, respectively) were significantly lower than on days 0 (5.08, 18.4, and 6.48 μmol/g of fDM, respectively) and 25 (4.24, 17.3, and 6.17 μmol/g of fDM, respectively). A significant increase in fecal bifidobacteria content was observed on days 16 and 25 (7.98 and 7.52 log10 CFUs/g of fDM, respectively), compared with the prefeeding value (5.63 log10 CFUs/g of fDM). Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Results suggested that feeding 1% GOS–BP-B82 combination had some positive effects on the intestinal microbiota in cats