Insoluble fibres,satiety and food intake in cats fed kibble diets

Fibre is generally considered to dilute food energy, alter intestinal transit time and promote satiety; however, in cats, conflicting results have been found. In this study, two insoluble fibres were evaluated in four feline diets: control (no added fibre); diet with 10% sugar cane fibre; diet with 20% sugar cane fibre; and diet with 10% cellulose. The experiment was conducted with 32 cats, eight animals per diet, over 42 days: 1–7 for diet adaptation; 8–14 for total collection of faeces for digestibility; 15–17 for fresh faeces collection for fermentation products measurements; 18–20 for gastrointestinal transit time determination; 21 and 37 to evaluate the pattern of food intake; and 22 and 42 to assess satiety. Means were compared by analysis of variance and orthogonal contrasts, and the pattern of food intake was compared by repeated‐measures analysis of variance (p < 0.05). The cats exhibited increased food intake after fibre addition to the diets (p < 0.05), achieving similar energy consumption. Cellulose and the two levels of sugar cane fibre reduced nutrient availability and energy digestibility, but only sugar cane fibre reduced fat digestibility (p < 0.05). Faecal output and the number of defecations per day increased with fibre inclusion (p < 0.05). Gastrointestinal transit time did not change with sugar cane fibre inclusion, but it was reduced with cellulose addition (p = 0.032). The pattern of food intake did not change, but cats fed fibre‐supplemented diets exhibited greater consumption of a challenge meal, increasing energy intake (p < 0.01) when exposed to a palatable, energy‐dense food.