Introduction
Feline obesity is the most common nutritional disorder. Many drugs has been used with variable results. The purpose of this investigation is evaluate the efficacy of chromium picolinate in the management of feline obesity.
Material and methods
26 overweight or obese cats from natural cases were used according to a body condition scale. They were divided in two groups A and B respectively. Both groups fed a feline adult diet (Royal Canine) according with the caloric density calculation and caloric needs. The group B was treated with 20 micrograms chromium picolinate per kg of body weight per os every 48 hours. All the cats were weighed weekly under the same conditions.
Results
After 25 weeks the cats from the group B reached the target weight and return to a body condition scale of 3. The mean 6.9 kg - 8.2 kg (7.2 +/- 0.3) (p<0.01 student's test). The cats from the group A reached the target weight and return to a body condition scale in 36 weeks. 6.8-8.2 kg (7.2+/- 0.3) (p<0.05 student's test) The rate of weight loss varied from 1.2 to 2.8 % weekly (mean 1.8% +/- SEM 0..4) in group B and 0.9 to 1.7 % weekly (mean 1.4 % +/- SEM 0.03) in group A. No secondary effects were observed by the chromium picolinate supplementation.
Conclusions
Chromium picolinate is effective for the management of feline obesity because develop a short obesity program versus another kind of strategy. I recommend the use of this drug because no collateral effects were observed, and it is cheap and easy to give.
References
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2. Appleton, D. J. et asl: Dietary chromium tripicolinate supplementation reduces glucose concentrations and improves glucose tolerance in normal weight cats. J. Fel Med. and Surg., 4 (1), 13-25:2000
3. Cohn, L. A. et al: Effect of chromium on glucose tolerance in normal weight and obese cats. Proceedings of the ACVIM Forum, 1998:730.
4. Mc Grady, H. I., The clinical and metabolic effects of rapid weight loss in obese pet cats and the influence of supplemental oral L-carnitine. J. Vet. N7ut.Med., 14(6), 598-608,2000.