Something to ponder. How do pet food companies know what flavors pets will eat and not eat? Does a human test the pet

[debm55]

food or do they observe the eating habits of the pets? As a pet can't tell them.

[Walleye]

1. I always laugh when the cat food label says such and such in a delicate broth. And I'm like good my cat hates

Nothing worse than a heavy broth.

[SheltieLover]

3. LOL

[sinkingfeeling]

2. Testing ... with the pets?

[debm55]

5. Taste testing with humans or observing with the pets.

[SheltieLover]

4. By observing Nature, of course. The same way engineers design airplanes.

Cats eat mice, birds, and fish generally.

Doggos eat anything they can get their mouth around. LOL

[debm55]

8. SheltieLover, Most cat food doesn't have mice, in in the cans. But do have poultry and fish. And I agree, dogs will eat

do eat anything.

[pandr32]

11. Not our Standard Poodles.

They have discriminating palates. Their food has to be prepared a certain way.
They turn their streamlined noses up with most treats, too. Only certain ones are permissible. Also, they are almost impossible to fool.

[debm55]

14. thank you pandr32, Dolly isn't to fancy. I pay for all this expensive Special Diet from Chewy. and when we go on a walk.

She will try to eat other dog's poop. I have put signs up to bag your dog's poop. I am the only one that cleans up after their dog.

[pandr32]

22. I once had a dog that ate poop. It sure grossed me out.

He couldn't understand what he had done wrong as I recoiled in horror. He would do it before I even noticed the poop was there as we walked along the path. Needless to say he was treated for worms a few times.

[debm55]

23. I hate when people don't clean up after their dogs. Mostly I am a very easy going person.Put don;t leave the poop there

for me to step in or my dog to eat. That makes me mad,

[MiHale]

6. After the hit movie...

and many books…DOGMAN needed something to give back to the canine society…he offered his services to the industry.

So Dogman

[SheltieLover]

7. LOL

[debm55]

9. Is this for real?

[MiHale]

10. Oh yeah...my one of grandsons is in love with the books...

Wait I gotta edit…grabbed the wrong link…that first one is very wrong… here ya go…sorry bout the mistake

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10954718/

Movie started it all.

[debm55]

15. That's a cartoon. You were trying to trick me.

[MichMan]

12. Years ago I had one of my dogs need to go on a special diet after major surgery

The Veterinary teaching hospital at a major college was where I took her. They explained to me that it was bland tasting and she might not like it. I replied "How do you know ?"

They said, "Our Head Nutritionist personally samples all the food" I thought that sounded ridiculous, so I later mentioned it to my local Veterinarian, who graduated from a Veterinary college in an adjacent state. She told me that theirs did the same thing. Wow!

[debm55]

13. Dolly Dog is on a special diet also. I never knew that . thank you MichMan. So they have human taste test pet food;

[MichMan]

16. Brings to mind all sorts of scenarios

"Hi Honey, how was your day? What did you have for lunch?"

"Tried Hill's Science Diet Digestive Care today" A little bland, but not too bad"

[debm55]

17. That's what Dolly eats. I'll take you word that it is bland. Not going to taste it.

[getagrip_already]

27. Considering a lot of pet food isnt considered fit for human consumption by the fda....

Thats gotta come with hazard pay.

[debm55]

31. Agree.

[Ocelot II]

18. They test their food with actual cats and dogs, like this:

For decades, pet food manufacturers have used two-bowl palatability tests to determine which foods dogs or cats would prefer. During these tests, pets would be offered two bowls of food, each containing a different one. Researchers would note which bowl the dog or cat ate from first and how much of each food was eaten.

Now, however, more pet food companies are moving away from palatability testing and toward consumption studies. In a consumption study, the pet is fed one food for two days, followed by a palate-cleansing diet for a day, then fed a second food for two days. The amount of each food consumed is measured and compared.

“A consumption study is a more reliable way to measure animal acceptance of a food, more so than animal preference,” Brinkmann explained. “The palatability study was a grocery store concept used to generate marketing claims. As people have moved towards natural foods for themselves — most of which don’t taste as good as junk food — they are not as easily swayed by a marketing claim touting ‘better taste.’”

Pet food palatability has always been an intricate science. The shift in how Americans view their pets as family members, along with the increasing complexity of what pet parents want for their four-footed family members, has made pet food manufacturing and marketing even more complicated. That’s why, ultimately, pet food manufacturers make products that not only appeal to your dog and/or cat but also to you.

https://www.diamondpet.com/blog/nutrition/flavor/pet-food-companies-flavors/

I've tasted dry cat food. It's bland and greasy and needs salt.

[debm55]

19. OH. thank you Ocelot ll. However , have you cat really likes a certain food and has eaten it for a while. Then they turn

their nose up , won't eat it and walk away? I have had that with my cats.

[Ocelot II]

20. My cat is a total PITA when it comes to her food preferences.

I'll discover some food she seems to like, then buy more of it, and she's like, "Oh, you bought a whole case of Fancy Feast? Damn, that means I can't like it any more." Recently she was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease, a common ailment of older cats, so I got a bag of prescription cat food samples at the vet's office to take home and feed her to see which ones she liked. She gobbled up one of them really enthusiastically, so I ordered that kind from Chewy. When the case arrived I put some of the special food she had liked in her bowl, and guess what....



Cats...

[debm55]

21. Sorry, been there done that.

[ProfessorGAC]

24. They Panel Test With Pets Volunteered By Owners

There was a Purina manufacturing site in the area where I grew up.
We knew people that would take them up on the panel test offers.
A free big bag of food & the pets were treated like royalty.
As I recall it, they'd give small amount of the food to a pet, then another, then another.
Then, they'd put all 3 letting the pet smell it, before they lifted the lids to the bowls.
They would do it with dozens of pets & use the tendencies to decide on the "tastiest" formula.
BTW: that same site made the food for laboratory animals. They called it "Rodent Chow" but, the workers referred to is as Rat Chow!
Boy, do I have stories to tell on taste panels for toothpaste & vitamins! Let's just say I find it hard to understand why anyone volunteers to do that

[debm55]

25. That's interesting. thank you ProfessorGAC

[Diamond_Dog]

26. I hope they don't use Labs for taste testers.

My Lab eats anything.

[debm55]

32. Thank you Diamond_Dog

[WVGal1963]

28. In all seriousness - -

We lost our little dog Jack to cancer when he was just 3 years old. The cancer was Osteosarcoma and it was in his muzzle. We ended up at MedVet in Columbus OH with him and there were literally NO options for our sweet little guy. He was our heart dog, and my husband and I mourn him to this day.

Most dogs diagnosed with Osteosarcoma have it in a leg, or a joint, so they can live on with “amputations”…… NOT SO with our sweet Jack. I, mean, it’s not like they could “remove” his face. Even the MOST amazing docs at MedVet were astonished that he had this incurable cancer at such a young age, in such an unusual place. It was untreatable. Sniff.

All that said, I then started learning about anti-cancer diets for dogs. And I DID get very obsessed with it, admittedly. But I was able to keep Jack alive for 6 months longer than the team at MedVet predicted - - with diet. Diet alone wasn’t enough, and in the end, we had to say our sad farewells to him. Kudos, kudos, kudos ALWAYS to the amazing veterinary team(s) at MedVet in Columbus OH.

Near the end, Jack’s cancer got really gruesome. And messy for him. All he wanted to do was wipe his face on everything and there was blood and puss and more. We had been able to manage his pain with a medicinal Hemp. But once we couldn’t, of course we started dosing him with Tramadol to alleviate his pain. And then we, of course, made sure that our beloved little fellow never had to feel a moments pain ever, ever again. The day we said good-bye to him still haunts us.

To this day, our doggos get all kinds of food that mimics their ancestral diet. We have a 14 year old (….rescue of course….) named Alli who still ZOOMS around our yard like a puppy. Our Mack is now 8 years old and he is such the COURT JESTER with his antics. He’s so active and NEITHER of them have any kind of “glaze” in/on their eyes nor do they have “grey” on their faces!!

Plus. Bonus. NO huge VET BILLS because they are SOOOO much more healthy!!!

Thanks for reading. Didn’t mean to go on a reminiscent rant about our Jack. But thanks DU. Ya’ll are always THE BEST!!

[in2herbs]

29. I was just talking with a friend about what I perceive there being a higher incidence of cancers

in our pets than in decades past. I am going to do some research, but wonder if these companies that are producing so called healthy foods for animals are using ingredients that have been sprayed with pesticides and hence the increased cancer rates in our pets. The vitamin ratios for these foods may be in line with science, but if the ingredients are sprayed with pesticides, cancer will develop eventually. You gotta wonder if their food is so healthy, why it must be labeled not fit for human consumption.

[WVGal1963]

30. Exactly!

I learned SOOO much about topics like this when I was trying so desperately to help Jack. And I still learn more all the time.

[in2herbs]

34. Alternative medicine: THC. I used it on two of my dogs with cancer. Both were cured but

at the time I did not know that THC (in smaller, maintenance dose) had to be continued -- forever.

[debm55]

33. My heart goes out to you WVGal1963. I am so sorry about Jack . He will always be in your hearts. thank you very much

for you information. on pet food.

[WVGal1963]

36. Aww thanks so much!!

ALL our dogs (and in our case cats and all creatures great and small) have totally filled our hearts but sometimes there’s just a certain one that fills it a little more, or at least differently. Jack was a very needy dog and he was intimidated by most people. As my Mom said “Jack doesn’t love too many people, but those he loves, he loves fiercely.” It was a perfect description of him. So we were hyper protective of him, I think, because he leaned on us for everything!!!

And as for the pup food, my husband and I have really enjoyed watching our doggos thrive so much with real food. Their coats, their eyes, their spunk, their energy, etc. are all great. So it’s totally worth it to us. We learn all the time, too!! It’s been a great adventure and journey for us all.

Thank you again for your kind sentiments! Take care and BY THE WAY!! LET’S ALL GO ROCK THE VOTE THIS ROEVEMBER!!!

[debm55]

38. Thank you WVGal from a Pittsburgh Gal.

[Kali]

35. I'm surprised they don't make "other animal poop" flavor

although to be fair a lot of cat and dog food does smell like poop.

[debm55]

37. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH, That is true.