ArticlePloS one2015
A Longitudinal Study of the Feline Faecal Microbiome Identifies Changes into Early Adulthood Irrespective of Sexual Development.
Article in PloS one, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 55 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
55 citing papers in PubMed, 84 citations in OpenAlex.
- A Comprehensive Review of the Equine Gut Microbiome in Health and Disease.Veterinary sciences · 2026Review
- Gut Microbiome Disruption in Shelter Cats with Feline Panleukopenia: Virome Co-Detection and Enteric Dysbiosis.Biology · 2026Review
- A placebo-controlled study of the effects of Saccharomyces cerevisiae var. boulardii CNCM I-1079 probiotic on faecal quality, microbiota and immunity in weaned kittens.Animal microbiome · 2026Article
- Discovery of BilV reveals a multienzymatic basis for bilirubin reduction across vertebrate gut microbiomes.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Temporal variability is an inherent feature of the healthy canine microbiome assessed by full-length 16S rRNA gene sequencing.Animal microbiome · 2026Article
- Serum metabolomics identifies metabolic changes in obese cats fed enzymatically hydrolyzed poultry byproduct meal.Journal of veterinary internal medicine · 2026Article
- A Dietary Supplement Containing Nucleotides, Oligosaccharides, Vitamin E and β-Carotene Promotes Immune Response and Gut Microbiota Changes in Kittens.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Article
- A Review of Probiotic Supplementation and Its Impact on the Health and Well-Being of Domestic Cats.Veterinary sciences · 2025Review
- Common scents? A review of potentially shared chemical signals in the order Carnivora.Chemical senses · 2025Review
- Dynamic development of gut microbiota and metabolism during and after weaning of kittens.Animal microbiome · 2025Article
- Use of biotics in animals: impact on nutrition, health, and food production.Journal of animal science · 2025Review
- Characterization of the gut microbiome in Wuhuang pigs and their crossbred offspring.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2025Article
- Delineating the fecal microbiome of healthy domestic short-hair cats in South Korea.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2025Article
- Decoding the Gut Microbiome in Companion Animals: Impacts and Innovations.Microorganisms · 2024Review
- Nutritional needs and health outcomes of ageing cats and dogs: is it time for updated nutrient guidelines?Animal frontiers : the review magazine of animal agriculture · 2024Article
- Collaborative Metabolism: Gut Microbes Play a Key Role in Canine and Feline Bile Acid Metabolism.Veterinary sciences · 2024Review
- Comprehensive profile of the companion animal gut microbiome integrating reference-based and reference-free methods.The ISME journal · 2024Article
- Restricted feeding of weight control diets induces weight loss and affects body composition, voluntary physical activity, blood metabolites, hormones, and oxidative stress markers, and fecal metabolites and microbiota of obese cats.Journal of animal science · 2024Article
- Gut microbiota in cats with inflammatory bowel disease and low-grade intestinal T-cell lymphoma.Frontiers in microbiology · 2024Review
- Validation of method for faecal sampling in cats and dogs for faecal microbiome analysis.BMC veterinary research · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Companion animals provide an excellent model for studies of the gut microbiome because potential confounders such as diet and environment can be more readily controlled for than in humans. Additionally, domestic cats and dogs are typically neutered early in life, enabling an investigation into the potential effect of sex hormones on the microbiome. In a longitudinal study to investigate the potential effects of neutering, neutering age and gender on the gut microbiome during growth, the faeces of kittens (16 male, 14 female) were sampled at 18, 30 and 42 weeks of age. DNA was shotgun sequenced on the Illumina platform and sequence reads were annotated for taxonomy and function by comparison to a database of protein coding genes. In a statistical analysis of diversity, taxonomy and functional potential of the microbiomes, age was identified as the only factor with significant associations. No significant effects were detected for gender, neutering, or age when neutered (19 or 31 weeks). At 18 weeks of age the microbiome was dominated by the genera Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium (35% and 20% average abundance). Structural and functional diversity was significantly increased by week 30 but there was no further significant increase. At 42 weeks of age the most abundant genera were Bacteroides (16%), Prevotella (14%) and Megasphaera (8%). Significant differences in functional potential included an enrichment for genes in energy metabolism (carbon metabolism and oxidative phosphorylation) and depletion in cell motility (flagella and chemotaxis). We conclude that the feline faecal microbiome is predominantly determined by age when diet and environment are controlled for. We suggest this finding may also be informative for studies of the human microbiome, where control over such factors is usually limited.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.