Pet owners are paying more attention than ever to the health and wellbeing of their furry companions, and functional pet food ingredients are rising to the occasion. (annaav | AdobePhoto.com)
Pet owners find it increasingly important for their cats and dogs to stay in good health, remain active, and live comfortably up to old age.
Adapted from a press release:
Pet owners find it increasingly important for their cats and dogs to stay in good health, remain active, and live comfortably up to old age. As a result, the market for senior pet food nutrition is growing. IQI Trusted Petfood Ingredients, a global supplier of specialty ingredients, recently published a white paper specifically on the subject of senior pet nutrition.
Ingredients for senior pet nutrition
Ingredients with specific benefits to the health and well-being of senior cats and dogs, according to IQI, include:
Protein sources with the high digestibility, such as chicken meat powder, chicken liver hydrolysate or spray-dried chicken plasma,
Fats and the omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA from full-fat krill meal, fish oil, or algae DHA,
Taurine and
Various sources of soluble and insoluble, fermentable and non-fermentable dietary fibers for gut health.
As cats and dogs reach the senior stage, they may experience different physical, physiological, metabolic, and behavioral changes. This can result in many issues, such as declining skin, coat, or teeth condition, deterioration in joint health and functionality, decreasing vitality, greater vulnerability to allergies and disease, or reduced stress tolerance. Specific ingredients may be used to control or mitigate these issues.
The composition of senior cat and dog food needs to focus on maintaining health and optimal body condition, including special attention to organ functioning, thereby extending life expectancy and prolonging the quality of life. As their ability to digest and absorb nutrients reduces, both senior cats and dogs require sufficient intake of high-quality, highly digestible protein, highly digestible nutrients, and enhanced levels of antioxidants. Good nutrition can also help to delay the onset of geriatric dysfunction and chronic diseases, or helps to manage any diseases already present.
IQI is a global provider of premium-claim ingredients to the brands in the pet food industry. IQI products are monitored and developed through innovation and by responding to the latest trends and pet needs. Working closely with customers as well as with suppliers, IQI creates full transparency in the supply chain, controlling every step in the process from source to shelf and supplying products that are pure and traceable to the source.
Tim Wall covers the dog, cat and other pet food industries as senior reporter for WATT Global Media. His work has appeared inLive Science, Discovery News, Scientific American, Honduras Weekly, Global Journalist and other outlets. He holds a journalism master's degree
from the University of Missouri - Columbia and a bachelor's degree in biology.
Wall served in the Peace Corps in Honduras from 2005 to 2007, where he coordinated with the town government of Moroceli to organize a municipal trash collection system, taught environmental science, translated for medical brigades and facilitated sustainable agriculture, along with other projects.
For several years, the pet food industry has celebrated the market’s growth outpacing that of many other consumer goods categories, even during the pandemic.
