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Find the latest dog, cat and companion animal health scientific research and news from the editors of Petfood Industry magazine to help pet food manufacturers improve pet health through pet food ingredient, vitamin and mineral analysis as well as information focusing on pet diseases and palatability issues. Register for free to access premium content.

ARTICLES

Hill’s, Royal Canin renal cat foods fight kidney disease

The health of cats with chronic kidney disease improved after eating pet foods formulated to address renal problems.

December 11, 2018

Tim Wall

In an experiment, scientists observed positive effects from both Royal Canin Renal Support A Feline dry cat food and a test food: Hill’s Prescription Diet k/d Feline with chicken dry cat food.

Extruded, processed diet for pet parrots helps fight obesity

Pet parrots suffer from high rates of obesity and metabolic disorders.

November 14, 2018

Tim Wall

Scientists studied blue‐fronted Amazon parrots’ ability to digest processed feed.

Science4Animals aims to fund basic research on pets

Based in the Netherlands, Science4Animals (S4A) is a non-profit organization that raises funds to finance research on pets and other animals.

November 12, 2018

S4A aims generating fundamental knowledge regarding three animal focus groups: equids, companion animals, pet exotics and zoo animals.

Pentobarbital detection finds tiny amounts in pet food

The lab that identified pentobarbital in Evanger’s dog food in 2017 has published details of the procedure researchers used to detect the barbiturate.

October 4, 2018

Tim Wall

The Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry published the pentobarbital detection procedure.

Unlabeled horse, other animals found in European pet food

In their conclusions, the researchers noted that producing uncontaminated pet foods is possible, since ten products did contain only the animals listed on the label.

October 2, 2018

Tim Wall

Dog and cat foods on the European market may contain animals not listed on the ingredient panels, which could cause problems for pets with allergies.

Fatty acid, vitamin supplements may help dog behavior

Giving supplements to dogs with behavior problems reduced the severity of the pets’ issues.

September 4, 2018

Tim Wall

Scientists observed reductions in reported fearfulness, destructiveness and inappropriate elimination in a group of dogs after daily doses of supplements.

Probiotics may help gut-brain axis to boost pet wellness

Research suggests that the health of an animal’s digestive system correlates to their psychological and physical well-being.

September 4, 2018

Tim Wall

Scientists observed that probiotics seemed to have an anxiety-reducing influence on dogs.

Cats and dogs respond differently to similar raw pet food

The differences in cats and dogs digestive systems was exemplified in the way that their systems responded to similar raw, high-protein diets.

August 23, 2018

Tim Wall

Pet food formulators should remember that cats are not small dogs, said David Thomas of Massey University, during his presentation at Petfood Forum 2018.