This SALT_KittenGrowthDataset_Readme.txt file was generated on 2021-09-13 by ALEXANDER GERMAN ------------------- GENERAL INFORMATION ------------------- 1. Title of Dataset: Growth standard charts for monitoring bodyweight in Domestic Shorthair kittens - SUPPORTING DATA 2. Author Information A. Principal Investigator Contact Information Name: Alexander J German Institution: University of Liverpool, Institute of Life Course and Medical Sciences Address: Leahurst Campus, Chester High Road, Neston, CH64 7TE, UK Email: ajgerman@liverpool.ac.uk B. Associate or Co-investigator Contact Information Name: Carina Salt Institution: WALTHAM Centre for Pet Nutrition Address: Mars Petcare, Waltham on the Wolds, Leicestershire, United Kingdom Email: carina.salt@effem.com Name: Richard Butterwick Institution: WALTHAM Centre for Pet Nutrition Address: Mars Petcare, Waltham on the Wolds, Leicestershire, United Kingdom Email: richard.butterwick@effem.com 3. Date of data collection: 1994 to 2016 4. Geographic location of data collection Data were derived from a research population and Veterinary Client Records... 1. Research colony data were derived from DSH cats housed at the WALTHAM Petcare Science Institute (WALTHAM) in the UK. 2. Veterinary Client Records Data were collected from the electronic patient medical records of Banfield Pet Hospitals, a network of over 900 primary care veterinary hospitals located mainly in the USA. 5. Information about funding sources that supported the collection of the data: WALTHAM Petcare Science Institute / MARS PETCARE -------------------------- SHARING/ACCESS INFORMATION -------------------------- 1. Licenses/restrictions placed on the data: The dataset has been fully anonymised by removing any client and animal details that might enable the client to be identified. 2. Links to publications that cite or use the data: 3. Links to other publicly accessible locations of the data: N/A 4. Links/relationships to ancillary data sets: N/A 5. Was data derived from another source? No 6. Recommended citation for this dataset: -------------------- DATA & FILE OVERVIEW -------------------- 1. File List: KGC1_dataset.csv Data from sexually-intact, healthy domestic shorthair cats that had at least one bodyweight recorded between the ages of 0.10 years (~5 weeks) and 1.75 years (1 year 9 months). 2. Relationship between files, if important: N/A 3. Additional related data collected that was not included in the current data package: N/A 4. Are there multiple versions of the dataset? No METHODOLOGICAL INFORMATION 1. Description of methods used for collection/generation of data: Both databases were searched for weight measurements from DSH cats under 2.5y age, calculated from measurement date and date of birth. In addition, kittens had to be sexually intact at the time of the weight measurement. Data from cats that were neutered were eligible for inclusion provided that they were sexually intact at the time the weight measurement was taken; once neutered, any further observations from that cat were excluded from the dataset. Observations for which information on any of age, sex, neuter status or weight were unavailable were excluded, as were those from cats whose records indicated a pregnancy before the age of 2.5y. Neutering dates were available for all research colony neutered cats and for all cats that were castrated or spayed at a BANFIELD hospital. However, since neutering dates were not available for client-owned cats neutered elsewhere, these cats were excluded from the BANFIELD study population. Client-owned pet cat data were subject to additional eligibility criteria. First, only data from cats visiting for routine preventive healthcare or where the diagnosis was recorded as ‘healthy pet’, were included. Measurements were excluded from the dataset if the recorded bodyweight had been rolled over from a previous visit (which occasionally happens when weigh scales were unavailable at the time the kitten is checked in) or if the medical records indicated that the cat had been weighed whilst still in a pet carrier. Also excluded, were all observations from cats where there was some doubt over the recorded sex (e.g., male cats that had apparently undergone ovariohysterectomy), or if the cat had received a diagnosis of a health condition associated with an altered pattern of growth before 4yrs of age, for example ‘diabetes mellitus’, ‘dwarfism’ or ‘hyperthyroidism’. Finally, only kittens with at least one bodyweight recorded between the ages of 0.10 years (~5 weeks) and 1.75 years (1 year 9 months) were included. This age range was chosen to ensure that the complete growth period was covered apart from the first 5 weeks, where data were too sparse to model reliably. At this point, the client-owned pet data were assigned to three subsets, based upon the body condition recorded by the attending veterinarian at the time of the visit (see below). The modelling subset comprised data from cats that had received a body condition rating of ‘normal’ or ‘ideal’ at one or more visits between the ages of 1.5y and 2.5y (taken as an indicator of having optimal body condition in young adulthood), and had never received an abnormal body condition rating (e.g., very thin, thin, heavy, overweight, markedly obese) at any point up to the age of 2.5y. The overweight subset comprised cats whose body condition was recorded as ‘heavy’, ‘overweight’ or ‘markedly obese’ between the ages of 1.5 and 2.5 years and had not received a body condition assessment of ‘normal’ during that age range. The underweight subset comprised data from cats had the equivalent definition for body conditions of ‘thin’ or ‘very thin’. The modelling subset was used to create the growth standards, whilst the overweight and underweight subsets were used for generating comparisons with the growth standards (described in detail below). For the research colony data, any cat receiving a body condition score (BCS) other than a 4 or 5 on a 9-point scale [15] at any age up to 2.5y, were excluded. 2. Methods for processing the data: To create the current file, the raw study data have been exported as a ".csv" file. Datasets have been fully anonymised by removing any client and animal details that might enable the client to be identified. 3. Instrument- or software-specific information needed to interpret the data: .csv is a common data exchange format that is widely supported by consumer, business, and scientific applications including Excel (Microsoft) and Numbers (Apple). 4. Standards and calibration information, if appropriate: N/A 5. Environmental/experimental conditions: N/A 6. Describe any quality-assurance procedures performed on the data: The raw study data have been provided. 7. People involved with sample collection, processing, analysis and/or submission: Carina Salt (WALTHAM) ----------------------------------------- DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: KGC 1 dataset.csv ----------------------------------------- 1. Number of variables: 5 2. Number of rows: 93,899 / 22,631 cats 3. Variable List: A. Name: DataSet Description: Name of data set ('Modelling', 'Overweight', 'Underweight' or 'Research Colony') Value labels: Modelling, Overweight, Underweight, Research Colony B. Name: Cat_ID Description: Anonymised individual identifier (comprising data set name and sequential number) C. Name: SEX Description: sex of the cat Value labels: M – male, F – female D. Name: Visit_Age_Yrs Description: Age at weight measurement (yrs) E. Name: Weight_kg Description: Weight measurement (kg) 4. Missing data codes: None 5. Specialized formats or other abbreviations used: N/A