Measuring the enjoyment a cat experiences whereas consuming meals and treats isn’t as simple as measuring how a lot they devour total, however it offers insights that pet meals makers wouldn’t have in any other case. Cesar Garrasino, AFB Worldwide technical supervisor for Latin America, defined how observing cats’ habits whereas feeding below managed situations can profit pet meals firms throughout his presentation on the Latin American Pet Meals Congress (Congreso de la Industria de Pet Meals en America Latina, CIPAL), Sept. 28 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Learning cats’ enjoyment of 1 meals over one other will help pet meals producers in 3 ways, past what might be realized from total consumption. Most immediately, it helps enhance merchandise. For instance, two sorts of cat meals might be introduced in a paired bowl assessments to find out which of the 2 the cats appear to love consuming extra, even when they eat the identical quantity of each. Second, observing cats’ enjoyment offers a method to enhance proprietor interplay with their pets. Particularly for pet treats, homeowners’ interactions with their cats in the end drives a lot of an individual’s resolution to purchase a specific model. The extra the cats appear to take pleasure in their meals and treats, the higher. Third, though enjoyment can’t change vitamin, measuring cats’ delight at dinner offers a method to interpret efficiency of a cat meals or deal with based mostly on completely different standards than digestibility and palatability.
Measuring cats’ enjoyment of their meals
Essentially the most fundamental and apparent signal of a cat having fun with dinner is that she’s going to maintain her nostril right down to the bowl. The habits is so like a human digging right into a meal that pet homeowners simply acknowledge the cat’s pleasure, Garrasino mentioned. When a cat has its nostril in her bowl, it reveals that she is concentrated. A excessive diploma of focus and a spotlight on their meals and treats doesn’t at all times correspond to excessive charges of consumption. Due to this observing a cat’s give attention to their meals can reveal features about that product past whether or not or not a cat will eat it. Together with shows of delight, cats may give indicators that they aren’t having fun with their meals and treats, though they could nonetheless eat them. When a cat chews with the again of its mouth or with closed eyes, it could be an indication of issues with texture, density or different features of the product.
Making meals harder to get also can assist decide which merchandise a cat prefers, Garrasino mentioned. Puzzle feeders make a cat work for the kibble or different cat merchandise. Feeders that problem cats present proof {that a} cat enjoys their meals sufficient to make further effort. These puzzle feeders assist pet meals formulators decide if the scent or the style of the product is driving consumption.
These methods and others for measuring a cat’s enjoyment of their meals will help pet meals formulators develop new merchandise and enhance present ones.
