Investigation of serum visfatin and C-reactive protein levels with selected serum biochemistry parameters in healthy obese cats

Obesity is one of the most common clinical problems among cats admitted to veterinary clinics. In addition to being a risk factor for other conditions such as diabetes mellitus and hepatic lipidosis, it not only causes increased morbidity in affected cats, but also shortens the cat's life expectancy. The presence of a total body weight of more than 20% of the ideal body weight in a cat is called obesity. Obesity in cats, apart from being a cosmetic problem, will lead to various disorders such as osteoarthritis, lower urinary tract disease, oral cavity diseases, lameness, neoplasia, dermatological disorders, hepatic lipidosis and diabetes. Therefore, understanding the pathophysiology that occurs in the body in the presence of obesity, preventing obesity in young cats, healthy and effective is very important to implement weight loss programs. Studies have reported that the prevalence of obesity in domestic cats reaches 60%, although it is affected by many factors such as nutrition and geographical factors. Investigation of the pathophysiology of cat obesity, which has a pathology similar to human obesity cases, with various markers (visfatin and C- reactive protein) and selected serum biochemistry parameters may indicate the onset of inflammatory and/or pathological processes in clinically healthy creatures and allow early intervention. In case of obesity, which causes a low-grade inflammatory state, investigating current biomarkers with pro-inflammatory properties with other traditional markers and parameters may enable the discovery of new diagnostic biomarkers in obese cats and their transfer into clinical practice. For this reason, the aim of this thesis study is to investigate selected serum biochemistry parameters and serum visfatin and C-reactive protein levels in clinically healthy obese cats, and with the results obtained, to determine subclinical pathologies and to enable the initiation of appropriate weight loss and treatment protocols for cats at risk. KEYWORDS: Obesity , Biomarker, Diagnosis, Serum Biochemistry, CAT