[Vitamin A excess by feeding with horse meat products containing high levels of liver].

OBJECTIVE

Horse meat is often used in the context of an elimination diet. For reasons of practicability some pet owners feed canned horse meat, which is commercially available. Based on a report of a cat with food allergy that displayed cervical spondylosis, the vitamin A content was analyzed in various horse meat products.

MATERIAL AND

METHODS

The vitamin A (retinol) content was analyzed in 14 commercially available horse meat products. The content of metabolizable energy was calculated on the basis of the declaration by using estimation equations.

RESULTS

High amounts of vitamin A were found in some products for which liver, offal or animal by-products were labelled as contents. When feeding exclusively with one of these products, the vitamin A supply was just below the safe upper limit for cats while above the safe upper limit for dogs.

CONCLUSION

Labelling and content of all-meat-products should be thoroughly checked to identify products with high liver percentages.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE: An excessive vitamin A intake can occur when feeding with horse-meat products with a high liver content over a long period.