Background: The generally bitter taste of the active ingredients and excipients used in medicines is often not appreciated by cats and dogs. Pet owners who feel that forced medication is painful for their pet may stop the medication, resulting in therapy failure.
Objectives: The study aims to assess the potential of several palatants to increase the voluntary intake of placebo tablets for cats and dogs. Animals and methods: 14 palatants were tested for their impact on tablet’s voluntary intake with a sensory expert panel of 40 cats or dogs. Palatants were added in placebo tablets at 4 concentrations: 0%, 5%, 10% and 15%. Tablets were presented individually to each animal and their consumption level was measured. All the concentrations of each ingredient were assessed in the same series, at random (14 series in cats, 14 series in dogs).
Results: All the palatants tested increase tablet consumption, some more than others. In dogs, on average, the placebo tablets without and with palatants were consumed at 70.9% (standard deviation of 9.3%) and at 93.9% (standard deviation of 3.9%) respectively. In cats, they were consumed at 1.5% (standard deviation of 1.5%) and at 43.2% (standard deviation of 18.0%) respectively. For both species, the dose effect was not significant. Conclusions and clinical importance The addition of palatants increases the consumption of placebo tablets by cats and dogs. This favors voluntary intake and could contribute to the treatment success. The next stage of the study will involve testing the palatants in tablets containing active ingredients.
