Changing the energy game and moving towards precision delivery of dietary energy: Development and validation of net energy systems for foods fed to domestic cats

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Overweight and obesity are the most common nutrition-related diseases in pets. This high incidence rate is in part due to the lack of accuracy of feeding guidelines, which do not currently estimate food requirements based on the energy available to the animal based on the unique provision of dietary fat, protein and carbohydrates. The proposed research will answer fundamental questions about energy metabolism while supporting the development of new pet foods that more accurately report energy content of the food. To this end, cats will be fed different amount of protein (Study 1) or fiber (Study 2) to determine the effect of these two macronutrients on the energy metabolism of cats measured using the gold standard and non-invasive approach called indirect calorimetry. The results of this research will allow veterinarians and cat owners to better manage their pet's body weight and overall health and well-being. The industry partner, Petcurean, has identified that their product offering for weight management for cats is currently very limited even though obesity is a health concern for millions of pets worldwide. The company wants to develop a line of weight control cat foods that offer a unique value proposition - an accurate determination of the true energy content of the food. This new industrial-academic partnership will support the R&D efforts of Petcurean and continuing opportunities to add to the global knowledge on feline health and well-being. The successful commercialization of these technologies would promote the global demand for Canadian pet foods, improve our recommendations to cat owners, and improve the health and well-being of cats. This project further represents a significant opportunity to train and educate several future scientists and technologists for the rapidly growing pet food industry.