Research finds cats prefer food similar to their natural prey

According to research carried out in collaboration with Professor Steve Simpson at the School of Biological Sciences, University of Sydney, Australia, and Professor David Raubenheimer at the Institute of Natural Sciences, Massey University, New Zealand, healthy pet cats regulate their protein, fat and carbohydrate intake to mimic the types of food they would eat in the wild.
The research, carried out over a two-year period at the Waltham Centre for Pet Nutrition, demonstrated that cats have an intake target that equates to approximately 52% of their daily calorie intake from protein, 36% from fat and 12% from carbohydrate. “This is a fascinating discovery and we are intrigued to know more about why cats have the ability to do this,” said lead study author Dr. Adrian Hewson-Hughes. “It is particularly remarkable that, even after thousands of years of domestication, cats still select a diet nutritionally similar to their natural prey.”
Waltham intends to pursue further research in this area and will now focus on the selection of these key nutrients in other cat lifestages including gestation, lactation and growth, as well as in dogs.

Study: consumers should do research when choosing a 'diet' cat food

It is important to do research when choosing the best lower-calorie or weight loss cat food because calorie contents vary, according to a study summarized in an article on readingeagle.com.
Researchers evaluated 49 cat foods designed to aid in weight management. Their findings, published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, showed that dry food calorie contents varied from 235 to 480 calories per cup, while canned food varied from 78 to 172 calories per cup. The researchers recommended that consumers check with manufacturers for the actual calorie content of the petfood. In addition, the article says that a normal cat requires 20 calories per pound of ideal body weight per day, but that overweight cats should only be given about 50% to 70% of that amount.

Glycemic Research Institute selects Orijen as healthiest petfood

Champion Petfoods LP has the healthiest dog and cat petfood on the market, according to judging done by the Glycemic Research Institute in Washington, DC, USA. It is the second year in a row that the Canadian petfood company has received the Pet Food of the Year award for its Orijen brand.

Purina launches new ad promoting nutrition

Nestlé Purina launched a new documentary-style ad for Friskies via YouTube that depicts a cat named Bobo as he runs and climbs walls in Barcelona, Spain.
The ad aims to show that Friskies delivers the nutrition that can provide agility and energy “for cats that live life to the full.”

Eukanuba, magazine and Web site launch Cat College

Eukanuba cat food, Cat Fancy magazine and CatChannel.com recently launched Cat College – an online school where cat owners can learn more about their pets through educational courses.
The Eukanuba Cat College program kicked off in the January 2010 issue of Cat Fancy, with a quiz to determine how knowledgeable readers are about their feline pets. Readers are then able to go online and enroll in Cat College.
The Cat College curriculum includes courses on feline nutrition, biology, zoology, genetics, psychology, language, sociology, art history and physical education.
The program's valedictorian will win a year's worth of Eukanuba cat food.

Bravo! publishes raw food how-to booklet

Bravo! published "Bravo! Beginnings: Raw Diets for Cats," an 18-page informational booklet on feeding raw written specifically for cat owners.
The company published the feline-specific follow-up to its "Bravo! Beginnings" series to address the nutritional needs of cats and the process for transitioning cats to a raw diet.
“Since education is a key part of our process, we felt we needed a booklet that would address more specifically the nutritional needs of cats and the significance a raw diet can have on their health and well-being,” said David Bogner, Bravo! owner and co-founder.

UK pet owners spend more on premium petfood

Based on a Pet Food Manufacturers Association (PFMA) survey, 90% of pet owners know that what they feed their pet affects its health and therefore they want to feed their pets the best-quality food. High-quality premium foods are therefore a growing market sector in the United Kingdom.
M&S Pet Insurance highlighted figures from online retailer and pharmacy BestPet, tracking a 30% rise in premium food sales over the past 12 months.

US cat food industry report available

Researchandmarkets.com has added the "State of the Industry: Cat Food in the US — 4th Edition" report to its Web site, Reuters reported.
The report consists of data, forecasts, objective analysis, past, present and future sales data, consumer data, drivers of market growth, summary of leading companies and distribution channels.
The key topics covered in the report include analysis, organic and natural cat food sales, statistics, market shares for Top 10 petfood companies and graphs.

Royal Canin studies strategies for feline weight loss

Royal Canin has conducted a study to find diets and strategies to help obese cats lose weight, according to a news report.
Three dietary strategies were evaluated.
Strategy A used a novel dry, high fiber ration;
strategy B used ready-prepared portions of dry and moist food;
strategy C used an existing commercial dry, high fiber ration fed with a measuring cup.
Cats were assessed at 4, 12 and 20 weeks, and adjustments to the energy allocation made if required.
Mean weight loss at 20 weeks (A: 11+/-1.3%, B: 10.9+/-1.2%, C: 11.9+/-1.7%) was similar among strategies. Owners' subjective hunger score was significantly higher with strategy C while their satisfaction was lowest with the same strategy.
This research was published August 12, 2009 in the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery.