Mother cats, also referred as queens, produce the perfect milk, made to meet the exact nutritional requirements of their kittens. ?Although there is no milk on the market which can offer the same amount and quality of nutrients, kitten milk replacers and formula is necessary in case when mother milk is not available.
Growing incidences of drying milk glands in mother cats due to diseases and death during labor, prevents them from delivering and producing the required quantity of milk for their kittens. Moreover, if the mother cat gives birth to a greater number of offspring at a time, the cat cannot produce sufficient milk for all of its kittens.
This increases the chances of developing certain deficiencies or kittens may die because of unavailability of necessary nutrients. To mitigate this, kitten milk replacer & formula have become a feasible option.
Several key players in the kitten milk replacer & formula market are focused on providing products rich in probiotics & prebiotics for extra nourishment of kittens.
Companies such as PetAg offer milk replacer powders for orphaned or rejected kittens. The product comprises probiotics & prebiotics nutritional supplements for proper growth and development of new born kittens.
Milk replacers for kittens are usually prepared from skimmed milk powder that is rich in proteins. However, producers adopt varied techniques, for instance, drying the powder at high temperatures, which harm protein molecules.
Armor Proteines, a company engaged in pet healthcare products use spray-drying technique for their product, which dissolve in warm water and is thus easy to use in recipes.
The company offers a scope of functional ingredients fit to diverse types of preparations: ice-cream, baking (bread, biscuits and cakes), dairy products, confectionery and ready-made meals. Armor Proteines also provide a fat-free milk replacer, LactarmorTM MP.
Milk replacer & formula are considered as a healthy feeding product for development of kittens, however, these products are related with certain issues. For instance, milk replacement products do not fulfil entire nutritional requirements of kittens in contrast to original cat milk.
According to research, milk replacer and formula products have serious issues; for instance, insufficient calcium, inadequate calcium-to-phosphorus ratio, inappropriate feeding directions, low caloric density, and excessive lactose concentrations. This could lead to poor development of the kitten.
Cost of kitten milk replacement products relies on the ingredients which are utilized to formulate the final product. Furthermore, continuous product quality monitoring is required to offer contamination-free products.
This necessitates sophisticated analytical tools for testing quality of in-process & final product, which surges the overall manufacturing cost of kitten milk replacement products. The high cost accompanying with kitten milk replacer & formula is anticipated to impede market growth.
COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in rise in sales of kitten milk replacer & formula market despite the current economic chaos. An expected surge in pet population has resulted into a rise in kitten acquisition generating a sales boom for the market.
Moreover, sales have spiked for at-home – do it yourself (DIY) kitten food, which is full of nutrition, and kittens can consume it on a regular basis.
A key impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the kitten milk replacer and formula market has been the spike in online ordering and distribution. Many pet food companies have tied up with e-retailers to compensate for brick-and-mortar dwindling sales.
Traditionally, the US, Canada, Western European countries, and Aus-NZ have remained lucrative markets for pet food, wellness, and accessories market. There are no outliers for kitten milk replacer and formula landscape – these markets will continue to be the key for any company’s bottom-line.
Both in North America and Europe, humanization trend has lead owners to provide kittens with expensive organic and natural kind of milk replacers which will have a positive impact on the market growth over the next few years.
The South and East Asia will be rapidly growing regions in the global kitten milk replacer & formula market over the forecast period. Growing adoption of cats will fuel the market growth. For instance, as per the RSPCA Australia (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals), cats are the second largest adopted pet with 38% of households owing them.
Market players are focused on adopting several growth strategies for instance mergers & acquisitions, to fortify their market presence.For instance, CHS Inc. acquired West Central Distribution, LLC, a complete wholesale service distributor of agronomy products.
The acquisition will help the company focus on to extend its services, product portfolio, and technologies cooperatives.
Manna Pro Products LLC took over Hero Pet Brands, a manufactures of pet food, and other pet products to fortify its product portfolio in the milk replacement products market.Leading players operating in the worldwide market include The Hartz Mountain Corporation, Pet-Ag, Inc., Beaphar B.V., Royal Canin, Petlife International Ltd., Toplife Formula, Grober Nutrition Inc., GNC Holdings Inc., Manna Pro Products LLC, and Versele-laga.
Global Kitten Milk Replacer & Formula Market: Key Players (this is an indicative list – full list of key players available upon request)
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Kitten Milk Replacer & Formula Market
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