After my recent posting about pedigree pet food syndrome, I just had to share this amazing piece of research with you – unbelievable but true!
As you might be aware, Mars, the purveyor of delicious delicacies such as Mars, M&M’s (sic) and Snickers, also own Pedigree pet food. Back in 2001, they developed a technique for the in vivo assessment of flatulence in dogs. To those of you without a scientific background, this basically means they designed a fart catcher for dogs. Seriously. It looks a bit like a life jacket, and it has an equally serious purpose, if you do not suffer from pedigree pet food syndrome. The fart catcher was designed to study factors that affect the smell and volume of flatulence in dogs. It had a funnel that was secured in place around the dog’s anus, with a pipe that led to a gas analyser.
The research led to dog snacks that reduced the smell of your best friend’s gaseous emissions. The snacks worked a treat, so to speak, and were marketed as Pedigree Flatulence Control Dog Snacks.
Unfortunately, the dog snacks have been discontinued, but you can read about the original research if you can find a copy of the American Journal of Veterinary Research, 62(7), p1014.