Common shellfish supplement ‘could ease age-related joint pain in big cats’

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A shellfish supplement generally given to pets may additionally assist ease age-related joint pain in big cats akin to lions and tigers, early analysis suggests.

Scientists have discovered captive felines who took antinol – a meals supplement derived from a kind of shellfish often called the New Zealand green-lipped mussel – recurrently for six weeks noticed an enchancment in their mobility by as much as 30%.

Dr Jon Bielby, an animal welfare researcher at Liverpool John Moores University’s School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, stated: “Big cats in captivity tend to live longer than their wilder counterparts.

“Many develop musculoskeletal diseases such as osteoarthritis and degenerative joint disease that compromises the welfare.”

He stated this makes them “more inactive and, sadly, less visible to zoo publics”.

Dr Bielby stated that whereas surgical procedure is an choice for treating these circumstances, it may be invasive and is sort of dangerous, particularly beneath basic anaesthetic.

Medication may also show pricey and comes with negative effects, he added, making meals dietary supplements akin to antinol – typically given to canine and cats – a less expensive and probably viable different.

For the examine, printed in the journal Vet Records, the researchers recruited 13 completely different species of big cats, together with lions, tigers, leopards, pumas, jaguars and lynx, on the Big Cat Sanctuary in Kent.

A complete of 18 animals, aged between 4 and 18 years, got a day by day antinol supplement with their meals and the dosage was based mostly on their weight.

The researchers measured the variety of steps every big cat took per minute for a interval of six weeks.

Results confirmed the steps per minute elevated between 7% and 30% after the dietary supplements took impact.

While it’s not clear how the supplement works, Dr Bielby stated antinol might include sure lipids – like fatty acids – that assist cut back irritation, and consequently, ease joint pain.

Dr Bielby stated: “This suggests that green-lipped mussel extracts is associated with some alleviation of age-related pain and increased mobility in these animals.”

He is now hoping additional analysis may be completed to know how the supplement works and whether or not it will possibly have an effect on pace in addition to various kinds of actions.

Dr Bielby stated: “For a starting point, we have got quite a strong signal across quite a mismatched group of animals.

“This is something we can think about using now within zoos because there’s a decent amount of evidence here that green-lipped mussels extract actually does something.”