2018 ACVIM Forum Research Abstract Program: Seattle, Washington, June 14 - 15, 2018

In this cross-sectional study, all cats had a complete blood count, chemistry panel, total T4, urinalysis, blood pressure, and fecal flotation at enrollment. CKD cats had creatinine > 1.6 mg/dL and USG < 1.035 or an elevated creatinine at at least two time points in addition to an elevated SDMA > 14 ug/dL. Healthy cats were > 8 years of age and had a creatinine < 1.6 mg/dL and USG > 1.035. Exclusion criteria were a history of antibiotic, probiotic, or antacid administration < 6 weeks prior to enrollment or a history of uncontrolled hyperthyroidism and known or suspect gastrointestinal disease. A fresh fecal sample was The number of observed species and Chao 1 were significantly decreased in CKD cats when compared to healthy cats, p = 0.026 and p = 0.0284 respectively. The Shannon diversity index was decreased in CKD cats compared to healthy cats, however it was not significant (p = 0.0617). There was no significant difference in overall clustering of microbial communities between CKD cats and healthy cats (p = 0.72). However, when individual bacterial groups were analyzed based on LDA effect size (LEfSe) several bacterial taxa were identified as being significantly different among the groups. When comparing healthy cats to CKD cats, CKD cats had significantly decreased bacterial populations belonging to the genera Holdemania, Adlercreutzia, Eubacterium, Slackia, and Mogibacterium. No significant differences in the functional potential of the microbiota were found between CKD cats and healthy cats after correcting for multiple comparisons. IS levels were found to be significantly higher in CKD cats compared to healthy cats (p < 0.0001). Healthy control cats had significantly lower IS levels compared to stage 2 (p = 0.01) and stage 3 & 4 (p = 0.0006) CKD cats. No significant difference was found between Stage 2 and Stage 3 & 4 CKD cat groups. pCS levels were not significantly different between CKD and healthy controls.