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Reasons for not qualifying

two kittens eating from a pink bowl

Thanks for filling out the screening form for our Diet Transition Study at KatKin. We’re sorry that this study wasn’t a good fit for your cat. But don’t worry – KatKin is always striving to learn more about cat nutrition and health. There may be another research opportunity that’s perfect for your cat!

We established a rigorous set of criteria for cat participation in our study. We carefully select our feline participants based on criteria that ensures our findings are all driven by diet change. And nothing else.

Here are some common reasons your cat may not have qualified to participate:

Age

  • Your cat may be too young or too old to join our study. Kittens and senior cats generally have unique nutritional requirements as compared to adult cats. The effects of diet in these specific age groups are also unique and we plan to study them separately in the future!

Current diet

  • Right now, we’re only looking for cat’s that currently feed both dry and wet/canned food. We need to ensure that any changes we see are driven by diet transition.

Health conditions

  • Your cat may have a health condition that’s unlikely to be improved by simply changing their diet alone. Or if your cat is currently on a diet prescribed by a vet, we don’t want to serve them a different diet, which could compromise your cat’s health. At KatKin, your cat’s health is of the utmost importance to us. 

Size

  • We had to develop strict feeding guidelines for this study and weren’t able to accommodate very small or very large cats. Similarly, the feeding guidelines aren’t designed for cats that are severely under or overweight. 

Medications and dietary supplements

  • If you add any medications or dietary supplements directly to your cat’s food, or use any medications that stimulate appetite, this study may not be a good fit for you and your cat. We’ll be observing your cat’s behaviour around meal time. Adding anything to their food may alter your cat’s perception of the food and their adherence to the study diet.

Antibiotics

  • Antibiotics may have side effects that last several months. They may alter your cat’s immune system, behaviour, and their litter box habits, all of which we’ll be tracking as they switch to our study diet. We need to make sure that there’s no interference from the recent use of antibiotics.

Fussiness

  • If your cat is a picky eater, there’s a high chance that they won’t adhere to the study diet. We need to make sure that the study diet is well received by your cat throughout the entire 12 weeks.

Multiple-pet household

  • Having other cats or dogs under the same roof may significantly impact your cat’s behaviour, as well as their stress and physical activity level. Since we’ll be tracking these measures, your cat’s roommates may interfere with the outcomes that we’d like to investigate.

Lifestyle

  • Since we’re tracking changes in feeding, activity, and bathroom habits, it’s important the cat spends the majority of its time indoors and consistently uses a litter box. 

Recent change in your cat’s usual habit

  • We’ll be tracking things like your cat’s behaviour, stress level, activity level, and happiness level as they’re switching from their current diet to the study diet. These have to be stabilised before your cat switches to a new diet. That’s why we need to make sure there are no recent changes in their living environment. Things like vet visits, travelling, or moving to a new home could have a significant impact on these measures.

Have any questions or concerns about the study? Please don't hesitate to contact us at diet-study@katkin.com

Cats that don’t qualify to join our study will still receive a 30% discount code to give KatKin a try simply by completing our screening form. If you've already completed the screening but did not receive the discount code, please contact us at diet-study@katkin.com