Kaytee birds and small animal snacks

Kaytee Products, Inc of Chilton, WI (USA) has been the pioneer in avian and small animal nutrition. With roots dating back to 1866, they began as a "general store" working with the local farming community. Today, they have grown to a multifaceted business understanding the specific nutritional needs of wild birds, companion pets, small animals, reptiles and pond fish. Maintaining this focus relates back to the roots from which it began, and allows them to understand the specific animal needs and trends in the market place.

"Premiun Nutrition for a Healthier Pet" is part of the mission that products produced by Kaytee have to abide by. Strong consideration is taken to ensure that the animals well being is always top of mind. Specific dietary formulations are developed with a direct link to animal type and even in some cases the animals' life stage. How do they know all this? One word – research. Kaytee has been performing animal nutrition studies since before it was common. in fact before introducing the exact® in 1989, they spent 5 years researching and perfecting the product prior to its launch. In 1995, Kaytee took a further step to prove its dedication to avian and small animal nutrition by building their Training and Research Center. This center is devoted to conducting avian and small animal nutritional studies on current and new products.

Taking the information provided by the nutritional studies and working with veterinaryians, it was determined that many of the health concerns in companyion pets are directly related to the quality of nutrition being provided to them. In their natural habitat, animals are able to forage from many types of food sources in an effort to receive their required daily nourishment. Domesticated animals are at the mercy of what their caretaker provides. Kaytee goes the extra step to create fortified formulations that take the guess work out of feeding companion pets. This fortification provides the proper vitamins, minerals, and other nutritional needs for each pet.

When developing pet foods and treats, they keep both the consumer and the companion animal in mind. For the consumer, convenient mixes that meet all their pet's nutritional requirements, appealing foods/treats they feel good giving to their pet, package size, packaging that ensures freshens, and the trust in the kaytee name for products their pet will like. For the pet, many of the needs are very similar to those of the consumer such as freshens and variety of ingredients, but their nutritional requirements are number one.

Since companion pets can not go to the local pet store and purchase their own foods and treats, they also rely on consumer research to understand product viability and intent to purchase. This information keeps new product development efforts in tune with current marketing trends. These trends revealed that consumers are providing for their pets as they do for themselves. With this in mind, they have developed a number of treats and foods that look good enough for a human to consume. Treatsters® are the avian and small animal version of a granola of health bar and Healthy Toppings® are natural fruits, nuts, and vegetables that look good enough to pet on ice cream.

Overall, Kaytee has taken specific steps to ensure that pet caretaker has a positive experience with their companyion pet. Consumer education is a key element to the success of this endeavor. They strive to provide consumers an understanding on how to use their products and what types of responses are typical with their use. To achieve this, Kaytee provides some of the most extensive feeding instructions and information directly on the package. In addition, their website is a valuable tool in both product and animal care knowledge. Qualified customer support is always available via email and over the phone. These provide many sources for a consumer to turn to when in doubt about a pet care issue.

They have also taken a worldly approach to ensure peoples enjoyment of animals continues in the future.

The Kaytee Avian Foundation was established to enhance people's knowledge and enjoyment of birds through education, conservation and research. The Hyacinth Macaw Project is one example of the Foundation's mission. This project purchases land in Brazil to preserve the natural habitat of the endangered Hyacinth Macaw. By supporting efforts like these through the Foundation, they are able to support activities to that provide a brighter future for animals and people alike.

PETS International Magazine (ISSUE 3,2004)