Cargando…

Survey of Pet Owner Attitudes on Diet Choices and Feeding Practices for Their Pets in Portugal

SIMPLE SUMMARY: New challenges for veterinarians and the pet food industry arise from emerging trends in pet foods, motivated by changes in pet owner’s beliefs and choices. Despite external influences, pet owners are the ones who ultimately decide on what and how to feed their pets. Therefore, a bet...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor principal: Prata, Joana C.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9597766/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36290160
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani12202775
_version_ 1784816169712091136
author Prata, Joana C.
author_facet Prata, Joana C.
author_sort Prata, Joana C.
collection PubMed
description SIMPLE SUMMARY: New challenges for veterinarians and the pet food industry arise from emerging trends in pet foods, motivated by changes in pet owner’s beliefs and choices. Despite external influences, pet owners are the ones who ultimately decide on what and how to feed their pets. Therefore, a better understanding of pet food trends can be achieved by investigating motivations and husbandry practices related to feeding and diet. The objective of this study was to identify trends in pet food in Portugal using a preliminary survey. While most pets are fed commercial diets, there is a trend for an increasing interest in alternative diets, especially for organic and natural pet diets. This preference change is likely motivated by a greater interest in ingredients used in pet food, especially supporting a greater use of meat and lower use of carbohydrate sources. Therefore, alternative diets should be the focus of more recognition in research, pet food industry, and veterinarian practice. ABSTRACT: Feeding practices and perceptions of pet owners determine consumer decisions on pet foods and influence the health of companion animals. The objective of the survey was to study emerging trends on pet food diets in Portugal by conducting a preliminary survey. A survey of 74 pet owners revealed that most fed pets with commercial diets (67.6%) bought in supermarkets (40.3%), spending a monthly average of EUR 30, following healthy practices (e.g., ≥30 min of exercise), which translated to an average self-reported pet body condition score of 3. Information about pet foods mainly originates from the animal’s veterinarian (64.9%), followed by the internet (16.2%). A trend for a growing interest in alternative diets (e.g., natural and organic) was identified, being already the second most consumed diet type (19.0%), perceived as being of a higher quality, and as a topic of interest (38.6%). This interest likely originates from a higher weighting of the ingredient list (31.5%) in consumer choices and beliefs that commercial diets should consist of a higher proportion of meat (29.3%) and less carbohydrates (38.7%). Therefore, more research is needed on the nutritional adequacy of alternative diets and uncommon ingredients, the pet food industry will have to adapt to changing consumer behaviors, and veterinarians should be available to discuss and oversee novel dietary practices in companion animals.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-9597766
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2022
publisher MDPI
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-95977662022-10-27 Survey of Pet Owner Attitudes on Diet Choices and Feeding Practices for Their Pets in Portugal Prata, Joana C. Animals (Basel) Article SIMPLE SUMMARY: New challenges for veterinarians and the pet food industry arise from emerging trends in pet foods, motivated by changes in pet owner’s beliefs and choices. Despite external influences, pet owners are the ones who ultimately decide on what and how to feed their pets. Therefore, a better understanding of pet food trends can be achieved by investigating motivations and husbandry practices related to feeding and diet. The objective of this study was to identify trends in pet food in Portugal using a preliminary survey. While most pets are fed commercial diets, there is a trend for an increasing interest in alternative diets, especially for organic and natural pet diets. This preference change is likely motivated by a greater interest in ingredients used in pet food, especially supporting a greater use of meat and lower use of carbohydrate sources. Therefore, alternative diets should be the focus of more recognition in research, pet food industry, and veterinarian practice. ABSTRACT: Feeding practices and perceptions of pet owners determine consumer decisions on pet foods and influence the health of companion animals. The objective of the survey was to study emerging trends on pet food diets in Portugal by conducting a preliminary survey. A survey of 74 pet owners revealed that most fed pets with commercial diets (67.6%) bought in supermarkets (40.3%), spending a monthly average of EUR 30, following healthy practices (e.g., ≥30 min of exercise), which translated to an average self-reported pet body condition score of 3. Information about pet foods mainly originates from the animal’s veterinarian (64.9%), followed by the internet (16.2%). A trend for a growing interest in alternative diets (e.g., natural and organic) was identified, being already the second most consumed diet type (19.0%), perceived as being of a higher quality, and as a topic of interest (38.6%). This interest likely originates from a higher weighting of the ingredient list (31.5%) in consumer choices and beliefs that commercial diets should consist of a higher proportion of meat (29.3%) and less carbohydrates (38.7%). Therefore, more research is needed on the nutritional adequacy of alternative diets and uncommon ingredients, the pet food industry will have to adapt to changing consumer behaviors, and veterinarians should be available to discuss and oversee novel dietary practices in companion animals. MDPI 2022-10-14 /pmc/articles/PMC9597766/ /pubmed/36290160 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani12202775 Text en © 2022 by the author. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Prata, Joana C.
Survey of Pet Owner Attitudes on Diet Choices and Feeding Practices for Their Pets in Portugal
title Survey of Pet Owner Attitudes on Diet Choices and Feeding Practices for Their Pets in Portugal
title_full Survey of Pet Owner Attitudes on Diet Choices and Feeding Practices for Their Pets in Portugal
title_fullStr Survey of Pet Owner Attitudes on Diet Choices and Feeding Practices for Their Pets in Portugal
title_full_unstemmed Survey of Pet Owner Attitudes on Diet Choices and Feeding Practices for Their Pets in Portugal
title_short Survey of Pet Owner Attitudes on Diet Choices and Feeding Practices for Their Pets in Portugal
title_sort survey of pet owner attitudes on diet choices and feeding practices for their pets in portugal
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9597766/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36290160
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani12202775
work_keys_str_mv AT pratajoanac surveyofpetownerattitudesondietchoicesandfeedingpracticesfortheirpetsinportugal