Functional pet food and treats, as well as pet supplements, have their place in the pet market. Product innovation is heating up competition between functional pet foods and treats versus pet supplements.

Pet foods and treats keep pushing boundaries in addressing specific pet health issues, with brain health, digestive health and joint health among the most popular benefits. Functional pet foods and treats play two of the biggest trump cards in any consumer product market: economy and convenience. These products enable pet owners to avoid both the extra expense of supplements and the struggle of trying to get their pets to consume a pill or tablet. The latter is no small advantage; one of the biggest issues pet owners have with pet supplements is the difficulty in getting the pet to swallow them, which has led to the introduction of various novel pet supplement formats, such as transdermal (through the skin) or sublingual (through the underside of the tongue) dosing.

But pet supplements also have their trump cards. Many functional foods and treats do not contain the same levels of the functional ingredient found in supplement form, as the amounts considered to be efficacious are only possible using the concentrated forms pills and tablets contain.

Whether in the dog or cat categories, any purveyor of premium or superpremium pet foods or treats looking to stand out in a saturated market should take note: offering products featuring functional ingredients to address wellness concerns can be a potent and innovative way to do so.