Ammonia intoxication in the near-adult cat as a result of a dietary deficiency of arginine.
Near-adult cats, fasted overnight, and given a single meal of a complete amino acid diet without arginine, developed hyperammonemia and showed clinical symptoms of ammonia toxicity within 2 hours. One cat (2.7 kilograms) died 4.5 hours after ingesting only 8 grams of the diet. Since ornithine also prevented hyperammonemia, it appears that the domestic cat cannot synthesize ornithine.
D000596:Amino Acids / Q000378:metabolism; D000641:Ammonia / Q000097:blood* / Q000633:toxicity; D000824:Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D000818:Animals; D001120:Arginine / Q000172:deficiency* / Q000378:metabolism; D002415:Cats / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D009952:Ornithine / Q000378:metabolism; D013997:Time Factors
D000596:Amino Acids; D000641:Ammonia; D001120:Arginine; D009952:Ornithine