Efficacy and safety of a diet enriched with EPA and DHA, turmeric extract and hydrolysed collagen in management of naturally occurring osteoarthritis in cats: A prospective, randomised, blinded, placebo- and time-controlled study
Efficacy and safety of a diet enriched with EPA and DHA, turmeric extract and hydrolysed collagen in management of naturally occurring osteoarthritis in cats: A prospective, randomised, blinded, placebo- and time-controlled study
Open access
In our edition of: Feb 2025
In our categories of: small animals
our summary:
Lefort-Holguin, M. et al. (2024) Efficacy and safety of a diet enriched with EPA and DHA, turmeric extract and hydrolysed collagen in management of naturally occurring osteoarthritis in cats: A prospective, randomised, blinded, placebo- and time-controlled study. Animals, 14 (22), no. 3298.
The aim of this prospective, randomised, blinded and placebo-controlled study was to investigate the efficacy and safety of a test diet (TD) containing a high level of EPA and DHA, turmeric extract and hydrolysed collagen compared to a placebo diet (PD), in cats with naturally occurring osteoarthritis (OA).
The study, which was funded by Royal Canin, was carried out at the laboratory of one of the authors between January and July 2022. Two cohorts of cats with naturally occurring OA, from the laboratory colony were selected, cats with chronic kidney disease up to and including International Renal Interest Society (IRIS) stage 1 were eligible to enrol providing the disease was stable.
Both the TD and PD diets consisted of balanced dry food for adult cats, supplied by the manufacturer in neutral bags. In addition, the TD contained a mix of marine oil, hydrolysed collagen and turmeric extract. The marine oil mix was composed of a combination of fish oil and algal oil which gave the diet a specific ratio of EPA:DHA (0.69:1).
The study was structured in four phases: acclimation phase (six weeks before the first day of both diets administration), baseline phase (week minus three to week minus one), treatment phase (week 0 to week 12), and recovery phase (week 13 to week 16).
Four validated outcome measures were used: gait analysis using a pressure sensitive mat; stairs assay compliance; night-time actimetry monitoring, and the Montreal Instrument for Cat Arthritis Testing, for use by Veterinarians (MI-CAT(V)).
There were 15 cats in each diet group, including four cats with stable CKD-IRIS 1, two in each group. One cat in the PD group was withdrawn as it became CKD-IRIS 2 and a second cat in that group was euthanased at week 15 due to an oral neoplastic mass, leaving 13 cats for final analysis in the PD group.
Results showed that compared to the PD the TD significantly improved peak vertical force, correlating to improved weight bearing; performance on stairs suggesting reduced fatigue relating to OA pain; night-time activity, and decreased MI-CAT(V) scores suggesting a reduction in functional impairments.
Both diets were seen to be palatable, and bodyweights remained stable in both groups.
Limitations of the study include the small study population and that the therapeutic diet contained a mixture of active ingredients, so the clinical efficacy of each ingredient was unclear.
This study provides some preliminary evidence that this therapeutic diet can improve the quality of life of cats with osteoarthritis. Further studies are required with a large cohort of client-owned cats.
The following may also be of interest:
Quality of life assessment tools: arthritis/DJD pain assessment: cats [inFOCUS][online]. Available from: https://infocus.rcvsknowledge.org/qol-quality-of-life-assessment-tools-disease-specific-assessment-tools-arthritis-DJD-cats/ [Accessed 20 February 2025]
Taylor, S. et al. (2024) 2024 ISFM and AAFP consensus guidelines on the long-term use of NSAIDs in cats. Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery, 26 (4). https://doi.org/10.1177/1098612X241241951.
An inFOCUS summary is available
Ray, M. et al. (2021) 2021 AAFP Feline Senior Care Guidelines. Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery, 23 (7) pp. 613-638. https://doi.org/10.1177/1098612X211021538
An inFOCUS summary is available
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