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US-12626803-B2 - Individualized animal mixed food composition

US12626803B2US 12626803 B2US12626803 B2US 12626803B2US-12626803-B2

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a method for providing an individualized nutritionally complete mixed diet for an animal. In certain embodiments, the animal has one or more pathological condition(s). The present disclosure also provides a device for providing an individualized nutritionally complete mixed diet for an animal. A computer program capable of controlling the device to execute the steps of the method, and a computer-readable medium having stored thereon is further provided herein. The present disclosure additionally provides kits for providing individualized nutritionally complete mixed diet for the animal.

Inventors

  • Karine BRECIN
  • Sally PEREA
  • Nicolas OSTERMANN
  • Jerome COCHET

Assignees

  • MARS, INCORPORATED

Dates

Publication Date
20260512
Application Date
20211108

Claims (17)

  1. 1 . A method for providing an individualized nutritionally complete mixed diet for an animal, said diet comprising a wet portion comprising one pre-made wet composition combined with a dry portion comprising at least two distinct pre-made dry compositions, the method comprising the steps of: a) providing an individual physiological profile of an animal from one or more values indicative of a physiological status of the animal, whereby an individual general profile is generated; b) processing the individual general profile to determine a nutrient requirement (NR), a maintenance energy requirement (MER) and a wet-dry ratio (WDR) specific to the animal; c) selecting, based on the NR, one pre-made wet composition from a plurality of distinct pre-made wet compositions, and at least two distinct pre-made dry compositions from a plurality of distinct pre-made dry compositions, wherein the at least two distinct pre-made dry compositions each independently comprise at least one of: i) sodium in an amount of at least about 1.5%, ii) fat in an amount of no more than about 20%, iii) fat in an amount of at least about 20%, iv) phosphorous in an amount of no more than about 0.7%, v) protein in an amount of at least about 35%, vi) EPA and/or DHA in an amount of at least about 0.55%, vii) fiber in an amount of at least about 20%, viii) psyllium tegument in an amount of at least about 0.45%, ix) copper in an amount of no more than about 6 ppm, x) arginine in an amount of at least about 1.65%, and xi) linoleic acid in an amount of at least about 3.5%, relative to the total weight of the composition on a dry-matter basis; d) determining, based on the MER and the WDR, a fixed amount of the pre-made wet composition to obtain the wet portion of the nutritionally complete mixed diet; e) determining, based on the MER, the WDR and the fixed amount of the pre-made wet composition, an adjusted amount of each of the at least two distinct pre-made dry compositions to obtain the dry portion of the nutritionally complete mixed diet; f) combining the wet portion and the dry portion to obtain a nutritionally complete mixed diet comprising: i) protein in an amount of at least about 18 g per 100 g of dry matter of the total composition, and ii) fat in amount of at least about 9 g per 100 g of dry matter of the total composition, wherein none of the said selected distinct pre-made dry compositions comprises a nutritionally complete diet alone.
  2. 2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the selection of the pre-made wet composition and the at least two pre-made dry compositions in step c) are realized simultaneously or sequentially.
  3. 3 . The method according to claim 1 , further comprising a step of providing an individual pathological profile of the animal from one or more values indicative of a medical status of the animal.
  4. 4 . The method according to claim 3 , wherein the animal is a cat and the one or more values indicative of a medical status of the said animal are selected from the group consisting of Post weight loss, Overweight, Obesity, Osteoarthritis, Mobility risk factors, Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) Stage I, II, III or IV, Proteinuria, Struvite urolith dissolution, Struvite urolith prevention, Calcium Oxalate urolith (CaOx) prevention, Calcium Phosphate urolith (CaP) prevention, Idiopathic cystitis, Poor skin and coat, Atopy, non-food related dermatopathies, Dental Calculus, Acute or chronic diarrhea, Acute or chronic vomiting, Gastritis, Enteritis, Colitis, Maldigestion, Malabsorption, Diabetes mellitus, Pancreatitis, Exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI), and Hyperlipidemia.
  5. 5 . The method according to claim 3 , wherein the animal is a dog and the one or more values indicative of a medical status of the said animal are selected from the group consisting of Post weight loss, Overweight, Obesity, Osteoarthritis, Mobility risk factors, CKD Stage I, II, III or IV, Proteinuria, Struvite urolith dissolution, Struvite urolith prevention, Calcium Oxalate urolith (CaOx) prevention, Calcium Phosphate urolith (CaP) prevention, Idiopathic cystitis, Poor skin and coat, Atopy, non-food related dermatopathies, Dental Calculus, Acute or chronic diarrhea, Acute or chronic vomiting, Gastritis, Enteritis, Colitis, Maldigestion, Malabsorption, Diabetes mellitus, Pancreatitis, Exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI), Hyperlipidemia, and Adverse food reaction.
  6. 6 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the animal has one or more pathological conditions.
  7. 7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the WDR ratio is between 15:85 to 40:60.
  8. 8 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the dry portion comprises at least 5 distinct pre-made dry compositions selected from a plurality of distinct pre-made dry compositions.
  9. 9 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the pre-made dry compositions have a moisture level ranging from about 1% to about 14% w/w.
  10. 10 . The method according to claim 9 , wherein the said pre-made dry compositions comprise dry kibbles.
  11. 11 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the wet portion comprises a pre-made wet composition having a moisture level greater than about 60% w/w.
  12. 12 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more values indicative of a physiological status of the said animal are selected from the group consisting of animal's breed, animal's age, animal's actual weight, animal's targeted weight, animal's Body Condition Score (BCS), animal's activity, animal's lifestyle, animal's sexual status, and animal's gestation status.
  13. 13 . The method according to claim 1 , which comprises a computer-implemented method.
  14. 14 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the nutritionally complete diet further comprises at least one additional ingredient selected from the group consisting of a source of proteins, a source of vitamins, a source of fats and a source of minerals.
  15. 15 . A device for providing an individualized nutritionally complete mixed diet for an animal comprising a wet portion comprising one pre-made wet composition combined with a dry portion comprising at least two distinct pre-made dry compositions, said device having means adapted to execute the steps of: a) providing an individual physiological profile of an animal from one or more values indicative of a physiological status of the animal, whereby an individual general profile is generated; b) processing the individual general profile to determine a nutrient requirement (NR), a maintenance energy requirement (MER) and a wet-dry ratio (WDR) specific to the animal; c) selecting, based on the NR of the step b), one pre-made wet composition from a plurality of distinct pre-made wet compositions, and at least two distinct pre-made dry compositions from a plurality of distinct pre-made dry compositions, wherein the at least two distinct pre-made dry compositions each independently comprise at least one of: i) sodium in an amount of at least about 1.5%, ii) fat in an amount of no more than about 20%, iii) fat in an amount of at least about 20%, iv) phosphorous in an amount of no more than about 0.7%, v) protein in an amount of at least about 35%, vi) EPA and/or DHA in an amount of at least about 0.55%, vii) fiber in an amount of at least about 20%, viii) psyllium tegument in an amount of at least about 0.45%, ix) copper in an amount of no more than about 6 ppm, x) arginine in an amount of at least about 1.65%, and xi) linoleic acid in an amount of at least about 3.5%, relative to the total weight of the composition on a dry-matter basis; d) determining, based on the MER and the WDR, a fixed amount of the pre-made wet composition to obtain the wet portion of the nutritionally complete mixed diet; e) determining, based on the MER and the WDR, the adjusted amount of each of the at least two pre-made dry compositions and mixing them together to obtain the dry portion of the nutritionally complete mixed diet; f) combining the wet portion and the dry portion to obtain a nutritionally complete mixed diet comprising: i) protein in an amount of at least about 18 g per 100 g of dry matter of the total composition, and ii) fat in amount of at least about 9 g per 100 g of dry matter of the total composition; wherein none of the said selected distinct pre-made dry compositions comprises a nutritionally complete diet alone.
  16. 16 . A device according to claim 15 , having a further means adapted to execute the step of providing an individual pathological profile of an animal from one or more values indicative of a medical status of the said animal.
  17. 17 . A computer-readable non transitory media having stored thereon a computer program comprising instructions, wherein the computer program when executed by one or more processors causes the device of claim 15 to execute the steps of the method.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a U.S. National Stage Patent Application under 35 U.S.C. § 371 of International Patent Application No. PCT/US2021/058464, filed on Nov. 8, 2021, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 63/198,704, filed on Nov. 6, 2020, the contents of each of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties, and to which priority is claimed. FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE The present disclosure relates to the field of functional food for animals, and especially for companion animals such as, e.g., cats and dogs. BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE There is an increasing awareness of the importance of a proper diet for the health maintenance and disease prevention or treatment of animals, especially companion animals. Customized diets for various life stages and conditions are currently available for such animals. However, although a high number of suppliers and products are available to pet care product consumers, it can take significant time, effort, and investigation for a customer to determine which product(s) best suits a particular animal's need among the large number of alternatives. While veterinarians and other professionals can assist in recommending a given brand of pet food for a particular pet, pet foods are typically mass manufactured to meet the needs of an average pet, with the pet's age and/or size being primary factors that are taken into consideration for the development of such pet foods. Thus, there is a need for individualized food products for animals, and more particularly, for individualized mixed feedings, which are particularly convenient for storage and feeding, and which are less prone to spoilage. Nutritional needs, however, vary from pet to pet, and a customized regimen of appropriate nutrients for a particular pet or breed of pet would be beneficial. But in light of the practical difficulties and expenses of tailoring a custom diet for a particular pet, consumers are often forced to choose from a limited variety of available mass-produced pet foods and products. With the view of fulfilling the pet owners' need for adapted food compositions, several manufacturers have conceived systems allowing delivering foodstuff that better correlates with the specific nutritional requirements of their companion animal. Illustratively, Purina's Company website provides potential customers the opportunity for the delivery of customized dog food after having registered specific description parameters of their pet, such as breed, sex, age, weight, level of physical activity, eating habits, coat's features, skin's features, stool consistency, kind of meal preferences (notably protein preference). U.S. Pat. No. 6,358,546 is directed toward methods for customizing pet food, wherein a user input is used to form an individual pet profile, which is used to generate a customized pet food formula. WO 01/69487 discloses the principle methods and apparatus for customizing pet food that utilize an integrated internet-based customer interface and workflow process management. Completely custom-made food category provides a practically unlimited choice of customized pet food formulation in which pet food is manufactured from raw ingredients in a respective individual pet profile. A more limited range of customized formulations can be manufactured from pre-mixed components selected by a purchaser in a respective individual pet profile. U.S. Pat. No. 6,669,975 is directed to a customized dietary health management system for pets. This management system includes manufacturing a dry kibble product by blending pre-made dry kibbles, adding additional functional ingredients, and then packaging. A customized food product is obtained by selecting at least one formulation of pre-made dry kibble, separating a predetermined volume of the at least one formulation of the pre-made dry kibble, blending the predetermined volume of pre-made dry kibble, coating the volume of dry kibble with a selected mixture of functional ingredients and then packaging the resulting product. U.S. Pat. No. 6,493,641 pertains to methods for manufacturing pet foods customized to the health and nutrition requirements of an individual pet. Those methods include obtaining an individual pet profile for the pet, obtaining an analysis from a biological sample of the pet, processing the individual pet profile and the biological sample analysis to create a first pet food formula specific to the user input individual pet profile and the biological sample analysis, and manufacturing the pet food according to the first pet food formula. In some embodiments, the method includes suggesting a pre-manufactured kibble that correlates with the processed pet profile, suggesting a pre-manufactured additive that correlates with the processed pet profile, and providing a set of feeding instructions for the pet. U.S. Publication No. 2007/0118295 discloses a concept of methods and systems for designing