Segmented Pet Food Regimen for Calorie Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Domestic cats and other companion animals often become overweight due to overfeeding, leading to health issues and increased veterinary burdens, as they lack regulation in protein intake and are prone to weight gain post-neutering, with conventional diets failing to effectively manage calorie intake and macronutrient balance.
Innovation Solution
A nutritionally complete pet food product comprising two or three compositions differing in fat, protein, or carbohydrate levels on an energy ratio basis by 6% to 50%, consumed on consecutive days to regulate calorie intake and maintain a balanced macronutrient ratio, allowing animals to adjust their consumption and reduce overall calorie intake.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional diets are provided to companion animals, then the animals receive adequate nutrition, but the animals become overweight due to lack of regulation in protein intake and increased calorie consumption
Solution Approach 1:
The diet is divided into multiple compositions with different macronutrient profiles (protein, fat, carbohydrate levels), allowing the animal to segment its daily intake across different days rather than consuming all options simultaneously. This segmentation enables regulated calorie intake while maintaining nutritional completeness through variety.
Solution Approach 2:
The diet system dynamically adjusts the available compositions based on the animal's consumption history, providing different macronutrient ratios on different days. This dynamic approach allows the animal to self-regulate calorie intake while ensuring adequate nutrition through adaptive diet selection.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple diet compositions are provided simultaneously to companion animals, then the animals have choice and can regulate nutrient intake, but the overall calorie consumption increases leading to weight gain
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple diet compositions are segmented and provided on different days rather than all available at once. This temporal segmentation maintains the animal's ability to select and regulate nutrients while preventing excessive calorie consumption that would occur if all compositions were available simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The diet system employs periodic action by cycling through different compositions on alternating days. This periodic provision of varied diets maintains nutritional versatility while the time-based limitation prevents overconsumption of calories across all available options.
3Reliability
If companion animals are fed ad libitum, then they maintain adequate nutrition, but they overeat due to instinct to consume as much as possible when food is available
Solution Approach 1:
The ad libitum feeding is segmented into different days with different diet compositions. This segmentation allows the animal to feed freely each day while the variation in macronutrient content across days naturally regulates total calorie intake, preventing the excessive consumption that would occur with uniform ad libitum feeding.
Solution Approach 2:
The diet compositions systematically change macronutrient parameters (protein, fat, carbohydrate levels) between days. These parameter changes create natural variation in calorie density and composition, allowing the animal to regulate intake through preference for certain macronutrient profiles while maintaining nutritional adequacy.
4Reliability
If the diet provides high-quality foods, then the animal receives adequate nutrition, but the animal lacks regulation of multiple nutrients and becomes overweight
Solution Approach 1:
High-quality foods are segmented into different compositions with varying macronutrient profiles provided on different days. This segmentation maintains food quality while creating natural regulation opportunities, as the animal selects from varied quality compositions rather than consistent high-quality单一 diet, leading to better macronutrient balance.
Solution Approach 2:
The diet system dynamically varies the macronutrient composition of high-quality foods across days. This dynamic approach maintains the high quality of individual food items while the temporal variation in composition encourages the animal to regulate its intake across multiple nutrient types, preventing weight gain.
Data Source
Figure 1A~1B
Figure 1C~1D
Figure 2A~2B
AI summary
The present invention relates to a nutritionally complete pet food product comprising at least two compositions for use in a method of reducing calorie intake in a companion animal, wherein the compositions differ in their level of fat, protein or carbohydrate on an energy ratio basis by 6% to 50% and wherein the compositions are consumed on consecutive days, each composition being consumed on a different day. The invention also relates to such a food product in the prevention of weight gain after surgical procedures to neuter a companion animal, and also to the food product in a weight loss regime. It also relates to a method of reducing calorie intake in a companion animal, comprising feeding the companion animal the pet food product of the invention.