Assessing food preferences in dogs and cats: A review of the current methods

Abstract

Food is a major aspect of pet care; therefore, ensuring that pet foods are not only healthful but attractive to companion animals and their owners is essential. The petfood market remains active and requires ongoing evaluation of the adaptation and efficiency of the new products. Palatability—foods’ characteristics enticing animals and leading them to consumption—is therefore a key element to look at. Based on the type of information needed, different pet populations (expert or naïve) can be tested to access their preference and acceptance for different food products. Classical techniques are the one-bowl and two-bowl tests, but complementary (i.e., operant conditioning) and novel (i.e., exploratory behavior) approaches are available to gather more information on the evaluation of petfood palatability.