Liviana Prola

University of Turin | UNITO · Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie

Introduction Recently, increasing effort has been directed toward environmental sustainability in pet food. The aim of this study was to evaluate the extrusion parameters, nutrient digestibility, fecal characteristics, palatability and insulinemic and glycaemic curves of a complete diet for dogs in which the main carbohydrate source was a red lenti...

Growing attention is being directed toward insects as a novel and sustainable source of protein for pet food. The aim of the study was to evaluate nutrient digestibility of a diet containing black soldier fly larvae as its main protein source. Moreover, the purpose of the study was to compare the traditional in vivo total collection method with the...

Fresh mechanically deboned meat (MDM) is usually claimed as high-quality ingredient on dry pet food recipes and this aspect may positively influence consumer choice. It is important to determine the scientifically sustainability of this claim and to assess the microbiological safety of MDM inclusion in dry pet food. Objectives were: 1) to evaluate...

Thyroid diseases, and in particular hyperthyroidism, have frequently been diagnosed in cats by both pathologists and clinicians over the last 20-30 years. Hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism are common endocrine disorders in elderly pets. Although the causes are not yet fully understood, it appears that a proper intake of iodine in the diet can redu...

Abstract Background Over recent years, pet owners have started to demonstrate increased sensitivity toward their companion animals, which includes an increase in the attention paid towards their nutrition, seen as a way of safeguarding their pets’ welfare. The aim of this study was to identify how pet food quality traits are perceived as being the...

Background. There has recently been a growth in sensitivity toward pet animals, and this has also involved an increase in attention toward their nutrition, which is seen as a way of guaranteeing the welfare of their pets. However, it is difficult for pet owners to understand the quality of products, due to a lack of clear information on the label....

Background. In these last years there is a growing sensibility of public opinion towards pet animal, that involves also an in increasing attention on their nutrition, seen as a way to guarantee welfare. However, it is difficult for the consumer to understand the quality of a product because label information is not always clear to the consumer. The...

The objectives of this study were: (a) to evaluate the effect of inclusion of mechanically separated chicken meat (MSCM) in dry dog food on fatty acid profile, in vivo and in vitro digestibility, and palatability as compared with dry dog food containing meat by-products (MBP); (b) to determine, whether or not, the inclusion of the one or the other...

Background: Adverse food reactions (AFRs) are defined as abnormal responses to an ingested food or food additive. Diagnosis and treatment of AFRs consist of the complete elimination of these ingredients in the dietary trial. Previous studies have demonstrated the presence of undeclared ingredients in commercial limited-antigen dry food diets that...

Introduction: Dietary free-nucleotides has been shown to influence positively the immune function and the immune response raised against Leishmania infantum, playing a key role in the evolution of the disease. 1 A recent randomized controlled trial in dogs affected by L.infantum reported that dietary nucleotides can modulate the immune response wit...

Objectives: Cats are commonly affected by chronic kidney disease (CKD). Many reactive carbonyl intermediates and end products originating from the oxidative stress pathways are recognised as uraemic toxins and may play a role in CKD progression. The aim of the present study is to confirm whether carbonyl end-product formation is higher in cats aff...

A growing trend of nucleotides supplementation in pets is occurring in recent years with the final goal of reinforcing the immune system and promoting intestinal function. Despite that, data evaluating possible alterations of nucleotides during pet food processing are lacking. The aim of the study was to evaluate the recovery percentage of nucleoti...

Since companion animals are taking on more important roles in family life, the aim of this study was to evaluate the perception of parents about the relationship between their children and pets. A number of parents were asked to fill in a questionnaire; the principal topics were: pet ownership, pet care, relationship between pets and children, and...

Introduction Urolithiasis is a clinical comorbidity sometimes described in dogs with hyperadrenocorticism (HAC). The etiology of urinary calculi in dogs with HAC has not been determined. The underlying pathogenesis is generally assumed to be due to altered urine electrolyte balances associated with chronic glucocorticoid excess, which ultimately re...

Introduction A recent review reports the prevalence of feline cutaneous adverse food reactions (CAFRs) ranging from 5% to13% in cats with allergic skin disease and from 12% to 21% in cats with pruritus. A case series of cats with non-seasonal pruritus and positive response to elimination trial diet is presented. Clinical Reports Seven adult cats, 6...

Introduction - European animal welfare legislation (2008/119/EC) poses limitations on the current management practices of Valle d'Aosta breeders. Aim - The haematological profiles, salivary cortisol concentrations, and behavioural responses of Valdostana calves housed in either tie-stalls (TS) or multiple pens (MP) were evaluated in relation to the...

Introduction: Iodine is an essential nutritional element. Its major biological role is in thyroid function where it is incorporated in thyroxine and tri-iodiothyroxine hormones. Previous studies suggested that both low or high levels of dietary iodine played an important role in the development of canine and feline thyroid diseases (Edinboro et al....

Introduction: Food allergy refers to immunologically-mediated reactions to food [1]. Diagnosis of food allergies relies on the elimination of allergens from the diet. Previous studies have demonstrated that contamination with undeclared ingredients in limited antigen commercial diets can compromise the results and efficacy of dietary elimination tr...

The goals of this study were to estimate the prevalence of feather picking (FP) in Italian pet parrots and evaluate the risk factors and possible ethological correlation. A web survey was created and addressed to owners of all species of companion parrots, distributed through on line parrots association websites, social networks and by mail. The su...

The Italian Piedmontese cattle breed is traditionally housed in tie-stalls and, to a lesser extent, in loose housing systems with free stalls. The present study has compared the same group of 15 cattle before and after stable renovation (tie-stall vs free-stall housing) funded by Regulation (EU) No. 1305/2013. All the animals remained healthy durin...

Objective: Source of protein included in animal feed was identified as the major contributor to land occupation, acidification, climate change, energy use and water dependence (Mungkung et al., 2013). Pet food production increases each year (globally +4% in the last year) with a global production of over than 17 mln of tons and, in Europe, it is a...

Fecal corticosterone concentration (FCC) was measured in 14 buck rabbits individually housed in standard-dimension cages (SC) or in bigger cages (BC; with a volume more than double that of SC and equipped with a plastic foot mat) during 4 consecutive reproductive cycles. Cage type and reproductive phase (estrous synchronization of doe rabbits, arti...

Dimethylglycine (DMG) is a naturally occurring glycine derivative, which is useful as additive to broiler diets as it improves nutrient digestibility and reduces the development of broiler ascites syndrome. This study evaluated the efficacy of dietary DMG to enhance performance of broiler chickens. Three trials were conducted to evaluate the effect...

The objective of this study was to determine whether: (1) lysozyme supplementation would influence coat quality in dog and (2) coat quality improvement would be related withh aematological parameters, fur composition and faecal quality. Eight dogs were divided into two groups and fed a diet supplemented with 0.2% lysozyme. Blood samples were analys...

The objective of this study was to assess the effect of supplementation with sodium salt of N,N-dimethylglycine (DMG-Na) on apparent digestibility (AD) in broiler chickens fed low- and high-fat diets. Twenty-eight 1-d-old broiler chickens were fed one of the dietary treatments: a low-fat diet (LF) or a high-fat diet (HF) supplemented with or withou...

Fecal corticosterone concentration (FCC) is increasingly being used as a noninvasive indicator of stress in assessment of nonhuman animal welfare. The aim of this study was to evaluate effects of breed, cage type, reproductive phase, and their interactions on FCC levels in doe rabbits. A total of 252 doe rabbits were randomly assigned to 2 groups....

The trial was carried out to investigate the effects on oxidative status of the rabbit of adding different levels of false flax (Camelina sativa) seeds. About 30 weaned crossbred rabbits aged 70 days and weighing on average 2316 g were equally divided into 3 groups of 10 (sex ratio 1:1). Animals were assigned to three isocaloric and isonitrogenous...

Individual identification in pigs is a key point for management, traceability and trade control. The aim of this experiment was to study retention rate and functionality of electronic identification systems in pigs, injected in different sites, to evaluate traceability of animals and highlight histopathological alterations of tissues in different i...

In sporting horses the use of dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) could enhance performance because these fatty acids are very important in membrane permeability, and in particular they seem to increase the possibility of long chain fatty acids entering mythochondria to be burnt. The composition of cellular membranes and lipoprotein fatty a...

In dogs, faeces quality and nutrients digestibility were affected by different types of cellulose (Wichert et al., 2002). In this study, it was investigated whether there are comparable effects of cellulose type in cats. Seven adult, healthy cats were fed a moist commercial complete cat food with three different cellulose type added at a level of 4...

The aim of this research, carried out in an enclosure for hares restocking practice, was to study the evolution of dry matter, chemical composition and gross energy of pasture mainly composed by lucerne (Medicago sativa) and Johnson grass (Sorghum halepense) during summer period and to evaluate food preferences using acid insoluble ash (AIA) as mar...

An experiment has been conducted to study the effects of various levels of false flax (Camelina sativa L.) seed (FFS) in the diet on the growth performance, some carcass characteristics and fatty acid profile of rabbits meat and fat. In the experiment, a total of 30 weaned crossbred rabbits aged 70 days and weighing, on average, 2316 g were equally...