Artículo de revista
Perception of cat owners on the use of insects as feed ingredients for cats
Fecha
2023Registro en:
Journal of Insects as Food and Feed (2023)
10.1163/23524588-20220106
Autor
Villanueva, Valeria
Valdés, Fabrizzio
Zavala, S.
Yáñez López, José Manuel
Valenzuela Venegas, Carolina Paz
Institución
Resumen
Currently, insects represent a sustainable alternative to animal-based ingredients for pet food, but there is little
information on the willingness of cat owners to incorporate insects into their pet diets. The objective of this study
was to assess the perception of cat owners to feed insect-based feed. Between June and August 2021, an on-line
survey was provided to cat owners in Chile; of the total number of participants (1684), the majority were female
(89.2%), with university education (73%) and omnivorous eating habits (63.7%). Participants had an average of 2
cats per household with indoor lifestyle (70.2%). Most participants (63.6%) were willing to feed insects to their cats.
Participants were more willing to feed their cats treats containing 20% insect meal (Overall willingness (OW) = 7.1 ±
3.1, on a scale of 1 to 10), than pure insect meal (OW = 4.9 ± 3.3) or whole insects (OW = 4.4 ± 3.3). Cricket meal
treats were the most acceptable. Acceptance toward insects increased when mentioning the environmental benefits
of insect production (OW = 7.6 ± 2.9). Participants more willing to offer insect-based treats to their cats were also
more willing to use pure insect meal and even whole insects. The reasons for not wanting to include insects in cat
feed were disgust, unfamiliarity and preference for traditional pet foods.