Feline Gut Microbiota Across Age Groups, 83 Cats

83 domestic cats across five age groups were analyzed using 16S rRNA gene sequencing to characterize gut microbiome differences. Alpha-diversity was lowest in Pre-weaning kittens, peaked in Young adults, and declined in Mature adults, with beta-diversity showing distinct clustering among groups (PERMANOVA, R²=0.33). The study by Yan Wang, last updated in 2026, identified taxonomic shifts, such as enrichment of Proteobacteria in Pre-weaning kittens and higher Faecalibacterium abundance in Young adults.

Use Cases

• Modeling microbial alpha-diversity trends based on host age groups.
• Classifying feline gut microbiome profiles according to defined life stages.
• Identifying taxonomic biomarkers like Escherichia-Shigella or Faecalibacterium associated with specific age groups.

Strengths

• Includes data from 83 cats across five distinct age groups with defined sample sizes.
• Reports specific statistical results, including PERMANOVA R² values of 0.33 and 0.48 from sensitivity analysis.
• Explicitly details taxonomic shifts, such as changes in Proteobacteria and Bifidobacterium abundance.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The 697.5 KB file size suggests a limited scope, likely containing summary results rather than raw sequence data.

Provenance

Source

Yan Wang via figshare

Collection Method

16S rRNA gene sequencing.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-12 15:27:13; freshness should be verified.