Pet Industry News

According to a recent U.S. study, Economy and Pet Care, from Brakke Consulting , the pet care industry is not completely recession proof.

The study, which surveyed 1,500 dog and cat owners and 225 companion animal veterinarians, found many pet owners are cutting back on purchases of pet products and services, impacting retail and veterinarian sectors.

According to the research, 46% of pet owners indicated their financial situation was worse in 2008 than in 2007. More than one fourth—27%—sa id the employment status of the main household wage earner declined during the past year.

The impact was worse in the Midwest region of the U.S. than in other parts of the country and among families with annual household incomes under $50,000.

Services such as boarding, grooming and veterinary care took the biggest hits, according to the research.

Average transaction charge barely will have grown in 2008, according to study results.

For copies of the complete report, contact John Volk at jvolk@brakkeconsulting.com or by calling 773.327.4941.

Betagro Group  of Thailand aims to increase its share of the local petfood market in 2009 by launching new commercial feed for dogs, pet fish and fighting cocks under brands Okane, Primo and Rambo, respectively. 

Betagro, one of the country's leading integrated agro-industry businesses, plans a series of investments in feed and livestock in Cambodia and Laos to cash in on the improving economies of these neighboring countries.

These are the first foreign investments for the 41-year-old agro-industry group whose overall sales revenue is expected to reach 45 billion baht by end of 2008, according to a news release. Of the total, feed - a primary business of the group - will contribute 11 billion baht, a 10% increase over last year.

Victam recently announced two events—Victam Asia 2010 & FIAAP Asia 2010 and GRAPAS Asia 2010, according to FeedLink .

The former will be held March 3-5 at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center in Bangkok, Thailand, with a greater emphasis on biomass and bio-energy.

GRAPAS Asia 2010 will include suppliers of equipment, technology and ingredients for flour milling and grain and rice processing.
Petfood Forum Asia 2010, a WATT-sponsored conference, will be included in both of the above events.

Previously, the company had issued a voluntary recall of the brand from Australia.

According to Champion, six pallets of Orijen cat food were sold through Australian retailers between February and October 2008.

Champion, based in Alberta, Canada, voluntarily recalled Orijen from Australian shelves November 20 due to multiple reports of cats that ate the food showing symptoms of neurological disorders. Approximately 30 to 40 cats were affected and four or five cats were euthanized, said Peter Muhlenfeld, Champion sales and marketing manager.

Champion tested the food and did not find any toxins, Muhlenfeld said. Australia is the only country using irradiation where Orijen is sold, so the company looked into irradiation as a possible source.

According to the company, the Australian government irradiated Orijen cat food at levels exceeding safe levels.

Champion now prohibits selling to countries where its products will be irradiated.

Lily’s Kitchen organic petfood now is packaged in recyclable materials, according to packagingnews.co.uk.

According to the story, the packaging was aimed at a natural color palette, to coincide with the brand.

Lily’s Kitchen products are available in wet cans, foil trays and dry bags. In addition to the packaging being recyclable, the story said only water-based inks are used on the labels.

With an 18.7% increase in pet product sales during the second quarter, Del Monte Foods Co. of San Francisco has high expectations for its fiscal year 2009, according to a story from Pet Product News.com .

The company expects sales for the year to grow between 8 and 10% during fiscal year 2008 (earlier forecasts predicted between 6 and 8%).

According to the story, the company had pet product sales of $409.1 million for its second quarter ending Oct. 26, compared to $344.6 million in the same period last year. Del Monte said increasing pet product growth, outpacing an overall sales growth rate of 11.5% for the quarter, is due to pricing actions for petfood and pet snacks, new product volume (primarily from Meow Mix product introductions) and existing product volume growth.

While it is not necessarily harmful for a dog to eat cat food, it can be dangerous for a cat to eat dog food, which lacks nutrients essential to feline health, according to a recent story from the Blanco County News .

The story lists the following five nutrients essential for cats.

“First, cats require a higher protein to calorie ratio than dogs,” said John Bauer, a professor of animal nutrition at Texas A&M.

Cats are not able to make their own Vitamin A, which has to be added to their food and is essential to their health, whereas dogs produce this vitamin.

Bauer said cats also are not able to make the amino acid Taurine, which helps to maintain feline heart function, vision and reproduction.

Felines also need arachidonic acid, a fatty acid dog food doesn’t have. The compound is necessary to produce an inflammatory response that helps the body protect itself.

Bauer said the fifth nutrient cats need is Niacin, a B vitamin.

According to www.peteducation.com , Niacin deficiencies can cause loss of appetite, inflamed gums, weight loss and hemorrhagic diarrhea.

“If your cat sneaks dog food once in a while, it is not going to compromise its health,” said Bauer, “but if they are only eating dog food then they are not going to be getting nutrients needed to maintain their health.”

Chinese authorities have admitted that some ingredients used to make petfood did contain melamine. According to a report in USA Today, the admission led to increased investigations into two Chinese companies and their links to enormous animal food recalls here, which also noted that China claims melamine did not harm pets.

"There is no clear evidence showing that melamine is the direct cause of the poisoning or death of the pets … China is willing to strengthen cooperation with the US side … to find out the real cause leading to the pet deaths in order to protect the health of the pets of the two countries," Beijing’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs was quoted as saying by USA Today.

Meanwhile, USA Today reports that Chinese police sealed Binzhou Futian Bio-Technology’s headquarter offices. The company exports rice protein concentrate to the United States for use in petfood.

The US Food and Drug Administration announced it will be going to China to conduct inspections; however, there is concern over that country’s "vast and fragmented food-processing industry."