Examination of cat foods with preference test

Abstract

The flavor of cat foods influenced by several factors is substantial. However, it is complicated to characterize this important property perfectly because of its complexity. The most frequently applied method is the preference test, also used in the present study, when the investigated cat can decide freely on choosing the various foods. Authors were measuring the intake of commercial foods with several flavors, distributed by three different producers, in a 24-week feeding experiment. According to the results, the brand considerably influenced the consumption of the foods with same flavor, though the effect of flavor was not always provable within a single brand – in case of the products having lower price, weaker differences were detectable among the consumption data of the different flavors.