ReviewVeterinary sciences2017
Cats and Carbohydrates: The Carnivore Fantasy?
Review in Veterinary sciences, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 69 citations in OpenAlex.
- A meta-analysis: dietary carbohydrates do not increase body fat or fasted insulin and glucose in cats.Journal of animal science · 2025Pooled it
- Feline chronic diarrhea: causes and nutritional management.Veterinary and animal science · 2026Review
- Beyond Body Condition Score: A Proposed Interspecies Framework for Tissue-by-Tissue Nutritional Assessment in Veterinary Practice.Veterinary sciences · 2026Review
- Physicochemical Quality and Chemical Safety of Commercial Wet Cat Food: Composition, Oxidation, Biogenic Amines, and Trace Elements.Journal of animal physiology and animal nutrition · 2026Article
- Guidelines for nutritional management of feline diabetes mellitus: a proposed classification system integrating medical considerations.Journal of feline medicine and surgery · 2026Review
- Dietary Fiber Regulation of Gut Microbiota and Bile Acid Metabolism in Animals: Implications for Animal Nutrition.Veterinary sciences · 2026Review
- Carbohydrate source modulates protein and amino acid digestibility patterns in domestic cats.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2026Article
- Cats on dry kibble diet have significantly different microbiome than those on canned wet food.npj veterinary sciences · 2026Article
- Human Digestive Physiology and Evolutionary Diet: A Metabolomic Perspective on Carnivorous and Scavenger Adaptations.Metabolites · 2025Review
- Article
- Assessment of macronutrients and fat quality in cat food.Veterinary research communications · 2025Article
- Isoenergetic reduction of dietary macronutrients affects body composition, physical activity, and post-prandial hormone responses in lean and obese cats fed to maintain body weight.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2025Article
- Overweight and obesity in domestic cats: epidemiological risk factors and associated pathologies.Journal of feline medicine and surgery · 2024Review
- Dietary fiber monosaccharide content alters gut microbiome composition and fermentation.Applied and environmental microbiology · 2024Article
- Feline Cognition and the Role of Nutrition: An Evolutionary Perspective and Historical Review.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2024Review
- The role of carbohydrates in canine and feline nutrition.Animal frontiers : the review magazine of animal agriculture · 2024Article
- Comprehensive profile of the companion animal gut microbiome integrating reference-based and reference-free methods.The ISME journal · 2024Article
- Cat caregivers' perceptions, motivations, and behaviours for feeding treats: A cross sectional study.PloS one · 2024Article
- Characteristics of Nutrition and Metabolism in Dogs and Cats.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2024Article
- Drivers of Palatability for Cats and Dogs-What It Means for Pet Food Development.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The domestic cat's wild ancestors are obligate carnivores that consume prey containing only minimal amounts of carbohydrates. Evolutionary events adapted the cat's metabolism and physiology to this diet strictly composed of animal tissues and led to unique digestive and metabolic peculiarities of carbohydrate metabolism. The domestic cat still closely resembles its wild ancestor. Although the carnivore connection of domestic cats is well recognised, little is known about the precise nutrient profile to which the digestive physiology and metabolism of the cat have adapted throughout evolution. Moreover, studies show that domestic cats balance macronutrient intake by selecting low-carbohydrate foods. The fact that cats evolved consuming low-carbohydrate prey has led to speculations that high-carbohydrate diets could be detrimental for a cat's health. More specifically, it has been suggested that excess carbohydrates could lead to feline obesity and diabetes mellitus. Additionally, the chances for remission of diabetes mellitus are higher in cats that consume a low-carbohydrate diet. This literature review will summarise current carbohydrate knowledge pertaining to digestion, absorption and metabolism of carbohydrates, food selection and macronutrient balancing in healthy, obese and diabetic cats, as well as the role of carbohydrates in prevention and treatment of obesity and diabetes mellitus.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.