DE20303716U1 - Food for animals, in particular, cats and dogs takes the form of croquettes of edible material which are capable of absorbing liquids provided with taste and flavor agents - Google Patents

Abstract

The food for animals, in particular, cats and dogs takes the form of croquettes of edible material which are capable of absorbing liquids provided with taste and flavor agents.

Description

Stephan Hoose
Franz-Liszt-Str. 6

63486 Bruchköbel

Description

Animal feed, especially cat or dog food

The invention relates to an animal feed, in particular cat or dog food.

Pet food, especially for dogs and cats, is known from the state of the art and is offered as moist or wet food, as dry food or in the form of snacks. Wet or moist food offers the pet owner the advantage that a considerable variety is available on the market, so that the animals can be offered a varied diet. With dry food, this variety is not available due to the large amount of space required.

The offer of wet or moist food as well as dry food and crackers in various flavors is associated with the disadvantage for producers (industry), wholesalers and retailers that all variants and flavors have to be offered on shelves or stored in storage rooms. This means that considerable space has to be used for presentation and storage areas.

Even for the pet owner who wants to offer his pet a balanced and varied diet, the storage of pet food of different flavours requires a considerable amount of space as well as an increased cost factor.

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tor because he has to stock up on larger quantities of different types of dry food.

Based on this, the present invention is based on the problem of providing an animal feed that can be offered and stored in the smallest possible space and can be easily adapted to different tastes.

The problem is solved according to the invention in that the animal feed comprises basic croquettes made of absorbent, edible material for absorbing fluids or sauces containing flavorings. In contrast to known animal feed, this has the advantage that the basic croquettes made of absorbent and edible material can be stored or offered in large quantities regardless of a preferred flavor. Since this is dry food, a longer storage period is also possible. The basic croquettes can then be mixed and stirred with fluids containing flavorings such as sauces, whereby the sauce is absorbed by the absorbent material and the basic croquette takes on the flavoring of the sauce. The advantage is that the fluids in the form of sauces can be offered and stored in a simple and very compact manner, i.e. in a space-saving manner. In this way, presentation areas as well as storage and transport costs are reduced. The basic croquettes can also be served pure, i.e. without the addition of sauces.

A preferred embodiment of the invention provides that the basic croquette has a hard core made of edible material, which is provided with an outer coating made of absorbent, preferably porous material for absorbing the fluid such as sauce. This has the advantage that in addition to the intake of food through the hard core of the basic croquette, a certain amount of dental care for the animal is also provided at the same time.

The material of the basic croquette, i.e. the hard core or the outer layer, can be either tasteless or enriched with a base such as chicken, beef or fish.

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The shape of the basic croquette can also be adapted to the age or size of the animals or, depending on the species, the shape and size as well as the type of composition can be adapted to the living situations such as age, condition and state of health of the animals.

Further details. Advantages and features of the invention emerge not only from the claims, the features derived from them - individually and/or in combination - but also from the following description of the exemplary embodiments derived from the drawing.

Show it :

Fig. 1 a made of basic croquettes and sauces of different flavours

manufacturable animal feed,

Fig. 2 a cross section through a basic croquette.

Fig. 1 shows basic croquettes 12 stored in a container 10, which consist of an absorbent, edible material for absorbing fluids 14 containing flavorings. The fluids 14 such as sauces are stored in separate containers such as bottles 16. Mixing the croquettes 12 with the liquid or sauce 14 produces an animal feed 18 with the desired flavor.

Fig. 2 shows a cross-section through the basic croquette 12, which comprises a hard or not so porous core, which is coated with an outer layer 22 made of absorbent, preferably porous material for absorbing the sauce. The length of time the sauce remains on the basic croquette determines the extent to which the food is softened and the core should remain hard.

The basic croquettes 12 can have different external shapes and sizes, which are adapted to the animal size or species and to the individual life phases of the animals (growth, adult, senior, active, light, etc.). Furthermore, it is intended that the

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Material of the hard core 20 or the outer layer 22 is tasteless or has a basic taste.

For different life phases of dogs, such as Junior, Adult, Senior, Light and Performance, only one basic croquette 12 could be produced, which could be with or without flavor. Flavor variations are created by adding different sauces 14. For dogs, for example, two to three different croquette sizes and for cats, for example, two different croquette sizes can be offered, whereby the number of sauces 14 is unlimited. By combining basic croquettes and sauces, a multitude of possibilities for desired flavor combinations arise.

One advantage over the prior art is that the animal feed according to the invention is more cost-effective to produce than conventional dry feed. Packaging, transport, storage and presentation costs are also reduced because the components of the animal feed, consisting of basic croquettes and sauces, take up less volume overall. For presentation, only one package with basic croquettes is required, possibly in different shapes, which can be adapted to the desired taste with a variety of sauces offered in smaller packages.

Overall, a wide variety of pet foods are available to the pet owner or pet food buyer. The pet food according to the invention can also be offered in shops with only a small display area. The production of pet food of different quality levels based on the material of the basic croquettes, but also in the production of different sauces 14, can be achieved in a simple manner.

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Claims (4)

1. Animal feed, in particular cat or dog food, characterized in that the animal feed comprises basic croquettes ( 12 ) made of absorbent, edible material for absorbing fluids ( 14 ) containing flavorings. 2. Animal feed according to claim 1, characterized in that the basic croquette ( 12 ) has a hard core which has an outer layer ( 22 ) made of absorbent, preferably porous material for absorbing the fluid ( 14 ) such as sauce. 3. Animal feed according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the material ( 20 , 22 ) of the basic croquette ( 12 ) is tasteless or has a basic taste such as poultry (chicken), beef or fish. 4. Animal feed according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the basic croquette ( 12 ) has a size or shape adapted to the age or type of animal.