Panelis’ unique method to measure pet food performance over long meal

Small pet, small appetite! With an appropriate amount of food readily available at all times, most cats will divide their daily food intake into small quantities, eating 10 to 20 small meals, over the course of day and night. Cats’ food enjoyment may vary with the individual personality of the cat, activity level and can change over time and with age. Therefore, Panelis investigates cats’ feeding behavior by studying their kinetics over a long meal to have a better understanding of fluctuations in their consumption of food.

With the Kinetics of Consumption method, Panelis has developed an in-depth evaluation of pet food’s performance — meaning its attractiveness and enjoyment — based on innovative criteria that respect cats’ specific, yet natural, feeding rhythm.

How does it work?


Dry pet food

Long-duration test (16 to 20 hours) and conducted on two consecutive days

Expert panels using individual feeding stations and automated systems


One or two bowls

What are the criteria, for which results?

The selected criteria are:

• percentage of cats that eat within the first 30 minutes of the meal,

• number of feeding events,

• quantity consumed with each visit.

Observing these specific criteria allows a fine-grained measure of intake with a cumulative total, which can also be explored on a moment-by-moment basis. 

The test details the animal feeding behavior over a long meal and ranks diets based on indicators reflecting attractiveness and feeding enjoyment.

Why is it considered a trustworthy method?

Strictly based on science, this method offers the most accurate observation of cat feeding behavior, by respecting its natural rhythm. Thanks to the assessment of new criteria that measure attractiveness — the very same enjoyment signals that cat owners observe at home, the Kinetics of Consumption method provides a new trustworthy approach to differentiate high palatability products.

Is it the right protocol for you?

You may benefit from using the Kinetics of Consumption Method if you need to:

• Perform a deeper diagnosis of your products already assessed via more classical methods.

• Differentiate your products according to the way in which they are consumed, even if they achieve the same consumption level.

• Validate your products’ claim for enjoyment using observations that pet owners can understand.

• Observe your products’ consumption evolution over time and potentially identify post-ingestive phenomena.