Vitamin K deficiency in cats fed commercial fish-based diets

Clinical signs of vitamin K deficiency have been observed in cats offered two commercial canned diets high in salmon or tuna. Some of the queens and kittens offered these diets had died while survivors had increased coagulation times. Necropsies revealed hepatic and, or, gastrointestinal haemorrhages. Coagulation times of survivors returned to normal after vitamin K therapy. The purpose of this study was to induce a vitamin K deficiency in kittens and determine the dietary requirement. Kittens were offered vitamin K-deficient purified diets containing antibiotics and, or, substances inherent in canned fish diets that may have contributed to the deficiency. Clinical signs of vitamin K deficiency were not observed, even though one purified diet contained only 4 micrograms K1/kg diet compared with 60 micrograms in the commercial tuna diet. Therefore, a minimum vitamin K requirement could not be determined using purified diets; nevertheless, canned commercial diets formulated primarily with fish should contain more than 60 micrograms K1/kg diet.