Study identifies bacteria in feline plaque

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A study has identified 267 bacterial species associated with health, gingivitis, or mild periodontitis in feline plaque. According to the abstract: “Knowledge of these species is a first step in understanding the potential for improving oral health of cats via dietary interventions that alter the proportions of influential species.”

Researchers from Mars Petcare’s Waltham Centre for Pet Nutrition together with veterinary dentists and The Forsyth Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, published “A pyrosequencing investigation of differences in the feline subgingival microbiota in health, gingivitis and mild periodontitis” on Nov. 25, 2015, in PLOS One, a multidisciplinary online journal of the Public Library of Science.

Subgingival plaque samples were collected from 92 cats. “Porphyromonas was the most abundant genus in all gingival health categories,” according to the study abstract. Meanwhile, “The Peptostreptococcaceae were the most abundant family in gingivitis and mild periodontitis.” 

The studies also revealed that the bacterial species in feline plaque were more similar to those in canine plaque than to those in human plaque. According to the abstract, “This suggests that interventions targeted at human pathogenic species will not be effective for use in cats but there is more potential for commonalities in interventions for cats and dogs.” 

The study is available here.  

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