RESEARCH - Cats Are Healthier When They Work for Their Food

A recent study out of the University of California Berkeley showed that food puzzles, which take advantage of the feline hunting instinct and make them work for their food, result in happier and healthier cats.

Published in the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery, the study states that foraging for food makes cats more active, they experience reduced levels of stress, and become less demanding of their owners.

The researchers describe over 30 case studies within their own practice where food puzzles positively impacted a variety of issues including aggressive behaviour, antisocial behaviour, obesity, inappropriate urination, anxiety or depression when left alone, and even stalking the household guinea pigs.

One sixteen-year-old obese cat lost 32% of her body weight in 18 months and began to interact and forage with the new kittens in the home after being fearful and antisocial.

A three-year-old British short hair who had been biting the owner with no warning when anticipating meals or not getting attention, completely stopped this behaviour after six months of using mobile and stationary food puzzles.

There are a variety of food puzzles on the market for cats.

In July, InfoStream featured the innovative NoBowl system which is made to look like mice. The NoBowl is an example of a mobile puzzle which requires cats to push, roll or manipulate the puzzle.

With a stationary puzzle Felines learn to navigate a board. Most often they have to fish food out of the puzzle with their paws.

Owners can even make their own puzzles if they are the DIY types.

Figure 1

Homemade mobile (a), homemade stationary (b), purchased stationary (c) and purchased mobile (d) food puzzles. Courtesy of Mikel Delgado (a,c), Leticia Dantas (b) and Ingrid Johnson (d)

Cats can be particular about which type of puzzle they prefer - as they can be particular about many other aspects of their lives - so trial and error may be necessary to find the best puzzle.

Some cats may also like variety so alternating between different puzzles can keep them happy and interested.

Food puzzles were originally created to provide enrichment for captive zoo and laboratory animals. It’s interesting they are now being used to benefit the health of domesticated cats and dogs as pet owners strive to make their pets’ lives as positive and fulfilling as possible.

INNOVATION - Feeding the Cat Just Got More Interesting

Bringing all the goodness of the great outdoors inside will help ensure domestic cats are getting the best when it comes to meal time.

(NoBowl)

That's the thinking behind the NoBowl creation – an indoor hunting system for cats - by veterinarian, Liz Bales.

The Philadelphia vet hopes mimicking cats' natural feeding habits outdoors will mean less indoor issues for owners to deal with, especially the so-called scarf-and-barf syndrome.

“They need portion control. They need regular exercise. They really should be in charge of their own feeding schedule,” Bales told the New York Times. “All these factors boil down to cats should not be eating from bowls.”

Bales says NoBowl isn't just about trying to eliminate the icky need for owners to contend with cat puke but about the health of felines especially at a time when research shows nearly 60% of cats are overweight or obese.

While most would-be fixes have focused on lower-calorie food or portion control, Bales says the solution isn't about making meal time play time but instead should be a return to the wild ways which kept felines in fine form.

Indoor living, touted by many as the most responsible way to keep a cat and offer it a longer life than it would have if permitted to go outdoors, suppresses cats' natural hunting instincts, Bales explained to the New York Times.

In their natural environment, cats eat about a dozen times a day, dining on delicacies like mice and birds and the NoBowl Feeding System is designed to simulate cats' natural feeding habits.

“When cats are fed from a bowl, they are denied the ability to fulfill (the hunting) instinct,” the NoBowl website states.

“Their bodies are often over nourished while their instincts are starved. A cat's frustrated hunting instincts are commonly redirected into negative behaviours like obesity, vomiting, destructive behaviour, inter-cat aggression and maybe even urinating outside the litter box. While veterinarians have known this for a long time, there has been no safe and effective way to help cats hunt inside of the home.”

Cat owners opting for the system ditch the traditional bowl and instead put small portions of dry food into five plastic containers (wrapped in stretchy, grey fabric and made to look like a mouse,) and hide them for the cat.

So rather than strolling to the big, ol' bowl, the kitty has to work for its dinner.

That puts puss on the hunt for food and when they find it requires them to bat the pouch around in order for food to fall out.

“Some cats just roll it,” Bales says “But with other cats, it’s a full-on rodeo.”

The feeding option is already getting props from professionals.

Dr. Carlo Siracuse with the Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, says the real world doesn't see cats have their meals rolled out on the red carpet and it does see them toss about their prey as part of the meal-time process.

“The behaviour pattern is written in the genes of the animal, which means that this is a behavioural need,” Siracusa told the Times. “Paying attention to not just the amount of food, but to the feeding behaviour is a very new concept for veterinary medicine.”

So impressed with the simple but cutting-edge concept, Siracusa joined the NoBowl advisory board.

While some might find the process of stuffing the containers with food and then hiding them somewhat cumbersome, there seem to be many willing to put in the extra work if it means improving their cat's health - with about 3,500 NoBowl customers, so far.

There have been interactive feeding tools for dogs for a while - Kong Wobbler, Starmark Chew Ball, Buster Food Cube, Pet Safe Busy Buddy to name a few.

And if such novel feeding systems are a way to improve pets' health, that is a welcome advantage given the plight of pets these days.

A 2015 Association for Pet Obesity Prevention survey found 58% of cats and 53% of dogs were overweight – yet 90 % of cat owners and 95% of pooch owners incorrectly identified their pet as being in the normal weight category.

The NoBowl retails for $60.

By Nadia Moharib

Nadia is an animal lover who has adopted everything from birds to hamsters, salamanders, rabbits, fish and felines. She has written about all-things-pets for years and was a long-time editor of a pet magazine in a daily newspaper which featured a Q & A column, Ask Whit, penned by her pooch (ghost written, of course.) The serial dog owner lives in Calgary, Alberta and most days can be found at a dog park picking up after her rescue pooch, Scoots.

New Venture Funding for Smart Pet Feeders

Investors have poured $4 million in funds into Petnet Inc., a company that makes SmartFeeder for dogs and cats that weigh up to 50 pounds.

The automatic feeder, controlled by the company’s mobile iOS app, will manage feeding times and determine portion sizes based on the pet’s age, weight and activity level. The app can also be used to find an optimal food for the pet, place an order and have it delivered to the pet owner’s home.

Petnet sees the SmartFeeder as a tool to combat the problem of pet obesity in the United States, with an estimated 52.7% of dogs and 57.9% of cats in the country overweight or obese according to the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention.

The primary risks of excess weight in pets include:

• Osteoarthritis
• Insulin resistance and Type 2 Diabetes
• High blood pressure
• Heart and respiratory disease
• Kidney disease
• Reduced life span

Pet owners will also, no doubt, be attracted to the convenience of being able to feed their pets on schedule even if they are late returning home from work.

Petnet currently sells its SmartFeeder on Amazon and in Target stores, with new distribution channels imminent.

Pet "Tele-Presence" Devices Promote Healthier Pet Lifestyles

Technology is taking the companion animal stage in the 21st Century as mobile apps to find veterinary practices, behavior train and even translate animal sounds emerge. The latest app release relevant to the industry is Pintofeed, an intelligent pet feeder, designed to allow pet owners to feed their animals as well as monitor their intake from anywhere in the world. 

With the Pintofeed, feedings can be scheduled remotely vis SMS and Internet connected devices. The system 'learns' pet's eating habits and adjusts accordingly to enable the healthiest feeding regime possible. Pintofeed co-founder and president, Carlos Herrera, contends that this system will lead to both healthier pets and more well-informed owners. 

"An estimated 54 per cent of dogs and cats in the United States are overweight or obese directly due to overeating," said Herrera. "One of the main reasons this disturbing trends continues is because the bulk of today's pet owners cannot consistently monitor their pets eating habits. Pintofeed, with its intelligent programming and remote access capabilities, is a solution that not only improves feeding habits but also fits into pet owner's lifestyles." 

Like existing automated feeders, Pintofeed can be set to dispense food at set times and intervals but also connects via a smartphone app, which offers feeding as well as monitoring options.