Safety study of polyunsaturated fatty acids extracted from New Zealand green lipped mussel and krill on hematology and blood chemistry profiles of healthy dogs and cats

New Zealand green-lipped mussel (Perna canaliculus) is a shellfish with a green shell containing many types of fatty acids, especially polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). The aim of the present study was to investigate the safety of dietary PUFAs supplementation on blood hematology, chemistry and coagulogram pancreatic enzymes in dogs and cats. Twelve healthy beagle dogs and healthy mature cats were used in these studies. Complete randomized block and triplicate 4×4 Latin square designs were used for these dog and cat safety studies, respectively. Experimental diets composed of sham control (0X) and 3 treatment groups, including 1X, 3X, and 10X of PUFAs capsules containing extracted mussel (60% or 30 mg/capsule) and krill (40% or 20 mg/capsule), were given consecutively for 56 days. Blood samples were collected every 28 days for hematology, chemistry and coagulogram, and pancreatic enzyme analysis. Hematology and blood chemistry results were in normal ranges and no animals appeared to reveal any abnormal signs. Dogs fed 3X had significantly (P<0.05) higher in creatine compared to 0X and 1X at D28. Likewise, there were statistically significant differences in the time of cat’s ALT and lipase. Group of cats fed 10X significant reduction in ALT at D56 compared to D0 (P<0.01) and D28 (P<0.05). In the group of cats fed at 1X, there was a significant within group difference between the values of ALT levels for baseline (D0) and D56 (P<0.05). At D56, cats in all groups had a significantly higher amount of lipase levels than those at D0 (P<0.05). The prothrombin time of cats in the 0X and 10X groups showed a significant within-group difference between the values for D0 and D56 (P<0.05). PLI of dogs and cats showed good pancreatic function based on precision accuracy. Overall, EAB-277 contains PUFAs and appears to be safe and improves liver function, especially in cats receiving 10 X administration of EAB-277.