The Waltham Centre for Pet Nutrition, also known as the Waltham Centre for Pet Care and Nutrition, is a nutrition research centre owned by Pedigree Petfoods

Pedigree Petfoods

Pedigree Petfoods is a subsidiary of the american group Mars, Incorporated specializing in pet food, with factories in Great Britain at Melton Mowbray, Peterborough and Birstall, Leeds; and offices at Waltham-on-the-Wolds.-Manchester:...

 at Waltham on the Wolds

Waltham on the Wolds

Waltham on the Wolds is a village located in the civil parish of Waltham and Thorpe Arnold, in the Melton borough of Leicestershire, England, about northeast of Melton Mowbray and south-west of Grantham on the A607 road.-Geography:...

 in Leicestershire

Leicestershire

Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...

. It claims to be the world's leading authority on pet food

Pet food

Pet food is plant or animal material intended for consumption by pets. Typically sold in pet stores and supermarkets, it is usually specific to the type of animal, such as dog food or cat food...

 research. Discoveries made there include the cause of size differences in dogs and the necessity of taurine in cats' diets.

History

It was established in 1973 on 100 acres of a farm.

There was also the Waltham Centre for Equine Nutrition and Care. On 7 May 1993 part of the centre was opened by the Princess Royal.

In 2003 they set a world record for obedience

Obedience training

Obedience training usually refers to the training of a dog and the term is most commonly used in that context. Obedience training ranges from very basic training, such as teaching the dog to reliably respond to basic commands such as "sit", "down", "come", and "stay", to high level competition...

; they managed to get 76 dogs to sit together in silence for two minutes.

Research

• Before the 1970s, for tens of years cat food
  Cat food
  Cat food is food intended for consumption by cats.As with all species, cats have requirements for specific dietary nutrients, rather than ingredients. Certain nutrients, including many vitamins and amino acids, are degraded by the temperatures, pressures and chemical treatments used during...
  
   had been deficient in taurine, an essential amino acid
  Amino acid
  Amino acids are molecules containing an amine group, a carboxylic acid group and a side-chain that varies between different amino acids. The key elements of an amino acid are carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen...
  
  . Without this in their diet, cats cannot make enough for proper functioning of the retina. Rodents have much taurine, and this is the main source for cats in the wild. The Centre discovered this lack of taurine, finding the amount that a cat needs in 1982, and since then all cat food has been fortified with taurine.
• In July 2005, in collaboration with the Monell Chemical Senses Center
  Monell Chemical Senses Center
  The Monell Chemical Senses Center is a non-profit independent scientific institute located at the University City Science Center research campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...
  
   in Pennsylvania
  Pennsylvania
  The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
  
  , they found that cats cannot taste sweet food
  Sweetness
  Sweetness is one of the five basic tastes and is almost universally regarded as a pleasurable experience. Foods rich in simple carbohydrates such as sugar are those most commonly associated with sweetness, although there are other natural and artificial compounds that are sweet at much lower...
  
   because they have a faulty gene. Lions, tigers, leopards and pumas (Felidae
  Felidae
  Felidae is the biological family of the cats; a member of this family is called a felid. Felids are the strictest carnivores of the thirteen terrestrial families in the order Carnivora, although the three families of marine mammals comprising the superfamily pinnipedia are as carnivorous as the...
  
   family) have the same defective gene.
• In 2005 using fluorescence in situ hybridization they developed a Lactobacillus
  Lactobacillus
  Lactobacillus is a genus of Gram-positive facultative anaerobic or microaerophilic rod-shaped bacteria. They are a major part of the lactic acid bacteria group, named as such because most of its members convert lactose and other sugars to lactic acid. They are common and usually benign...
  
   probiotic
  Probiotic
  Probiotics are live microorganisms thought to be beneficial to the host organism. According to the currently adopted definition by FAO/WHO, probiotics are: "Live microorganisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host"...
  
   for cats and dogs
• In April 2007, in collaboration with the National Human Genome Research Institute
  National Human Genome Research Institute
  The National Human Genome Research Institute is a division of the National Institutes of Health, located in Bethesda, Maryland.NHGRI began as the National Center for Human Genome Research , which was established in 1989 to carry out the role of the NIH in the International Human Genome Project...
  
   of Bethesda, Maryland
  Bethesda, Maryland
  Bethesda is a census designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House , which in turn took its name from Jerusalem's Pool of Bethesda...
  
  , they found that the genetic variation of dogs' size is due to mutations in the IGF-1
  Insulin-like growth factor 1
  Insulin-like growth factor 1 also known as somatomedin C is a protein that in humans is encoded by the IGF1 gene. IGF-1 has also been referred to as a "sulfation factor" and its effects were termed "nonsuppressible insulin-like activity" in the 1970s.IGF-1 is a hormone similar in molecular...
  
   gene. It was done with research on the Portuguese Water Dog
  Portuguese Water Dog
  The Portuguese Water Dog is a breed of working dog as classified by the American Kennel Club. Portuguese Water Dogs are originally from the Portuguese region of the Algarve, from where the breed expanded to all around Portugal's coast, where they were taught to herd fish into fishermen's nets, to...
  
  . This research was preparatory work for similar studies on the human genome.
• In August 2011, with work with the University of Aberdeen
  University of Aberdeen
  The University of Aberdeen, an ancient university founded in 1495, in Aberdeen, Scotland, is a British university. It is the third oldest university in Scotland, and the fifth oldest in the United Kingdom and wider English-speaking world...
  
   they found that cats gained less weight when fed a moisture-enhanced diet.

Publications

It published the magazine Waltham Focus four times a year. This is now called Veterinary Focus. This is distributed in more than fifty countries. It is published in several languages.

Structure

It houses around 150 dogs, 230 cats and 250 birds. The dogs are walked twice a day. The animals are later adopted

Pet adoption

Pet adoption usually refers to the process of taking guardianship of and responsibility for a pet that a previous owner has abandoned or released to a shelter or rescue organization...

. On the same site is the UK headquarters of Mars

Mars, Incorporated

Mars, Incorporated is a worldwide manufacturer of confectionery, pet food, and other food products with US$30 billion in annual sales in 2010, and is ranked as the 5th largest privately held company in the United States by Forbes. Headquartered in McLean, unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia,...

. The UK national office of Mars Petcare was built next to the Centre in 1981.

Brands it researches for are

• Royal Canin
  Royal Canin
  Royal Canin is a worldwide manufacturer and supplier of premium dog and cat nutrition. It was founded in 1967 in a village of Gard, France, by the French veterinary surgeon, Jean Cathary....
  
  
• Pedigree
• Nutro
  Nutro Products
  Nutro Products, Inc. is the developer and manufacturer of the Nutro brands of dog and cat food, located in Franklin, Tennessee, USA.- History :...
  
  
• Whiskas
  Whiskas
  Whiskas is a brand of cat food sold throughout the world. It is owned by the American group Mars, Incorporated. It is available either as meat-like pieces in cans, pouches, or dry biscuits. Most packaging is a recognisable purple colour.-History:...
  
  
• Banfield
• Cesar
• Greenies
• Sheba
  Sheba (cat food)
  Sheba is a brand of canned cat food produced by Mars, Incorporated.In January 2011, Mars Petcare US announced that Sheba would be discontinued and thus will no longer be available for purchase in the United States. A special webpage explained that the decision was based on economic factors: Sheba...
  
  
• Mars Veterinary
• Optimum

Publications

• The Waltham Book of Companion Animal Nutrition, 15 July 1993, Butterworth–Heinemann, 136pp, ISBN 0080408435
• The Waltham Book of Human Animal Interaction, 30 September 1995, Butterworth–Heinemann, 148pp, ISBN 0080422845

Additional reading

• The Times, 1 November 1997, page 16
• The Independent, 10 June 2001, page 20