Grant: Alliance Grants

The Canadian pet food market is a billion-dollar market. Exported pet food is a major opportunity to support the Canadian agri-food industry and boost the nation's GDP. Despite the size of the market, research on dogs and cats lags behind humans and agricultural animals. The proposed research will answer fundamental questions in the following themes: 1) protein quality application to dog food formulation, 2) reducing anxiety in dogs and cats, 3) fatty acid nutrition and metabolism in dogs and cats, and 4) micronutrients and polyphenols to enhance metabolism and support immune function in dogs and cats. This research is a continuation of Shoveller's program and includes global experts to promote diversity of thought and scientific robustness. The results of this research will provide knowledge on how to optimize dietary protein and amino acid content to achieve superior protein quality, in addition to conveying these concepts to the veterinarian and pet owners. We will also provide new nutritional tools that can reduce anxiety in both dogs and cats and identify animals that will respond to these technologies, with outcomes noticeable to pet owners. We will investigate the inclusion of plant, medium-chain triglycerides, and animal-based dietary fat, with knowledge of how providing these will alter both canine and feline metabolism. We will also investigate how polyphenols interact with fatty acid (n6: n3 ratio) provision and how micronutrients (choline and carnitine) can affect immune function. The industry partner, Champion Petfoods, has identified that their product offering is intended to optimally support the unique metabolism of both dogs and cats and intends to innovate their products around the results of this research that offer a unique value proposition. This strong, ongoing industrial-academic partnership will support the R&D efforts of Champion Petfoods and the successful application of these results will promote the global demand for Canadian pet foods, improve our recommendations to pet owners, and improve the health and well-being of dogs and cats. This project represents a significant opportunity to train and educate several future scientists and technologists for the rapidly-growing pet food industry.