Effect of diet type on serum and faecal concentration of S100/calgranulins in the captive cheetah

Published source details Depauw S., Heilmann R.M., Whitehouse-Tedd K., Hesta M., Steiner J.M., Suchodolski J.S. & Janssens G.P.J. (2014) Effect of diet type on serum and faecal concentration of S100/calgranulins in the captive cheetah. Journal of Zoo and Aquatic Research, 2, 33-38.
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This study is summarised as evidence for the following.

	Action	Category
	Carnivores: Feed whole carcasses (with or without organs/gastrointestinal tract) Action Link

Carnivores: Feed whole carcasses (with or without organs/gastrointestinal tract)

A replicated, before-and-after study in 2014 of cheetahs Acinonyx jubatus in a safari park in Denmark found that when fed whole rabbit, the cheetahs exhibited lower faecal S100A12 (indicator of inflamed bowels) concentrations compared to when fed a supplemented beef diet. When fed whole rabbit, cheetahs had lower faecal S100A12 (301 ng/g) compared to a supplemented beef diet (1671 ng/g). There were no significant differences between diet groups for calprotectin or blood S100A12. Twelve cheetahs were part of a cross-over study which investigated the microbial fermentation of two diets. All cheetahs were fed a supplemented beef diet prior to the investigation. The two diets investigated were un-supplemented whole rabbit (2.5–3 kg diet/animal/day) or beef (1.2–1.6 kg diet/animal/day) supplemented with vitamin and mineral premix (10 g/kg meat). Ten of the cheetahs were anaesthetised as part of a routine veterinary procedure during the investigation and four blood samples from cheetahs fed whole rabbit and six from cheetahs fed supplemented beef were taken.