Dog, Cat Food Ingredient Research: PetfoodIndustry

The Impact of Gut Health on Pets

An interview with The F.L. Emmert Company’s Dr. Tom Asquith and Dr. Mike Cecava

March 1, 2021

Brand Insights from Emmert

Formulating pet food for better gut and overall health

Ancient dog diet Ω fatty acids: the eyes have it, guts too

Eyes and brains likely provided omega-3 fatty acids to dogs’ ancestors, but those organ tissues are not used in many byproduct pet food ingredients.

February 23, 2021

Tim Wall

Eating what unfussy hunters and gathers eschewed, such as rodent eyes, may have provided sources of vital nutrients to dogs during domestication, including omega-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), along with omega-6 fatty acid alpha linolenic acid (ALA).

Dog and cat diet omega-3 or -6 fatty acids recommendations

From outside to in, dogs, cats and other pets may benefit from omega-3 fatty acids in their diets. Learn the specific recommendations for omega-3 or -6 fatty acids at stages of dogs’ and cats’ lives.

February 22, 2021

Tim Wall

Companion animal nutrition researchers consider both types of fatty acid as conditionally required, meaning they are most needed at certain life stages.

High-protein cat food may reduce bird, wildlife predation

Compared to a control group, cats killed fewer wild animals in the groups that ate high-protein diets and that played with their owners. Those two groups of cats also brought down less prey than before the experiment began.

February 17, 2021

Tim Wall

For those cat owners who let their felines roam the neighborhood, high-protein cat food may be one means to reduce predatory pressure on birds and other small wildlife.

Thai Union fish bone product can be used in pet food

A new product made from tuna bones can provide additive support for bone health in both the human and pet spaces.

February 16, 2021

Alma Buelva

A new product from Thai Union made from tuna bones can provide additive support for bone health in both the human and pet spaces.

Searches for dog probiotics up in Mexico, Columbia, Chile

More pet owners confined at home with their dogs turned to probiotics to address health or digestive issues.

February 15, 2021

Iván Franco

More Latin American pet owners confined at home with their dogs turned to probiotics to address health or digestive issues, according to internet searches.

3 roadblocks to plant-based pet food ingredients

Dogs, cats and other pet food manufacturers can meet pets’ nutritional requirements, while still delivering a plant-based food to consumers, but it has to be properly formulated.

February 12, 2021

Tim Wall

Three factors can stand in the way of acceptance of plant-based proteins as pet food ingredients. Dog and cat owners won't sacrifice taste and texture for their pets when converting to plant-based products.

Plants, plant proteins: the next big thing in pet food?

February 11, 2021

Debbie Phillips-Donaldson

More plant-based dog foods are hitting the market while consumer interest in plants for human food and pet food grows, yet the category needs more R&D.

Coastal wolves, ancient clambakes and paleo dog food

Human food trends arose from people’s intentions to eat as our Paleolithic, or Stone Age, ancestors did, and these trends transferred to pet food.

February 10, 2021

Tim Wall

For dogs, the paleo diet can mean meat and other items encountered around human camps during domestication. Although “discarded loincloth” will never become a dog food variety, other ancient flavors may remain to be revived as dog foods.