Royal Canin is dedicated to creating a better world for pets via nutritious pet food.
A TRUSTED brand in pet nutrition, Royal Canin has been working towards building a better world for cats and dogs since 1968, with an emphasis on pet health and finding the best nutrition solutions, all thanks to French veterinary surgeon Jean Cathary, who believed that nutrition in pet food could impact the health of animals.
“Jean Cathary decided to take a specific nutritional approach to solve pet pathology more than 50 years ago. And today, we remain on that same mission to transform the health and well-being of each cat and dog by providing the best and most precise nutrition possible,” says François-Regis Ponçon, general manager for Royal Canin SEA cluster, who has been living out of France for the past 26 years and is devoted to spreading awareness about pet health and nutrition.
Ponçon explains that the company is committed to sustainability, responsibility and reducing its carbon footprint as much as possible, while upholding its strengths of creating awareness about pet health, educating pet owners and working closely with pet professionals to enable knowledge sharing.
“Through careful observation and ongoing partnership with pet professionals and experts including breeders, veterinarians and other professionals, who give us a high level of information and have the capacity to understand what the needs of our pets are and what sort of nutrition they need, we believe that we can create a better world for our pets. And this is very important to us, because we are also convinced that pets today are creating a better world for us!” explains Ponçon, who is a pet owner of Ela, a Miniature Schnauzer.
“At Royal Canin, we focus our efforts on understanding the unique needs of domestic cats and dogs. Everything we do is designed to create precise nutritional formulas to help them have a long and healthy life. All our products are researched and developed through nutritional science and observation.”
Pets have different needs at different stages of life, which are influenced by many factors, says Ponçon
How does Royal Canin define “good nutrition”?
Ponçon explains: “One needs to understand the different needs of pets at different stages of their life. A kitten and puppy have different requirements at the start of their lives and this is critical to ensure they grow up healthy and happy. Other factors also come into play including breed, lifestyle, body type and health conditions of the pet. A Chihuahua would differ from a German Shepherd, for example, which is why the observation and feedback we get from breeders and experts is so important to the work that we do.”
He shares those common misconceptions pet owners have include thinking that what’s good for the pet owner is good for the pet when it comes to food. He also notes that there needs to be a balance between nutrition and exercise, saying, “Being in an urban environment, for example, we need to be responsible to provide sufficient enrichment and ensure our pets get enough physical exercise.”
Teh Meng Li, Royal Canin’s Malaysia market head, who is also a trained pharmacist, shares that Royal Canin has been in Malaysia for the last 10 years and that Malaysia is a valuable market because it has a huge population of pets.
While there are some common health problems that Malaysian pets have, including obesity among cats (because some pet owners still have the perception that a fat cat is a cute cat), skin problems and urinary tract infections, Teh says that awareness about pet health and wellbeing has strengthened over the years, especially during the pandemic.
“People had more time to devote to their cats and dogs when they were confined to their homes and to read up on animal nutrition and wellbeing. Overall, these days most people are also much more aware and acknowledge the importance of good nutrition for their cats and dogs to grow healthily,” Teh shares.
Teh says that as an industry leader, Royal Canin has the responsibility to educating pet owners and providing accurate information.
Nonetheless, she also laments the rise of misinformation on the Internet. “Too much information and misleading information can be a bad thing. So as an industry leader we have a big responsibility when it comes to educating pet owners and providing accurate information and it has become increasingly difficult to do so. But this is a journey that we are committed to continue, together with all our stakeholders,” she says.
Royal Canin connects with pet owners through its network of pet professionals, the Royal Canin Club loyalty program through mobile application, its webpage and on-ground events.
One of the campaigns it is currently advocating is ‘Take Your Pet to the Vet’, because according to the information collected by Royal Canin Malaysia in December 2021, 35% of pet owners in Malaysia did not bring their pets for inspection within the recommended period. Out of 35%, a portion of them have never brought their pets to the vet and their justification in doing so is because they assume that their pets are all healthy, thus there is no need for vet visits.
To address this issue and going beyond its mission to produce nutritious food for pets, Royal Canin Malaysia continue to raise the awareness of preventive veterinary care on the ‘Take Your Pet to the Vet’ to promote veterinary treatment, as well as care for cats and dogs with an ultimate objective to encourage pet owners to bring their pets for regular vet visits, this programme allows veterinary professionals to provide credible advices to pet parents also.
It has also been placing emphasis this year on the ‘Start of Life’ period, by advocating proper nutrition for kittens and puppies. The start of life period, from birth to adulthood, is a crucial period for a pet’s physical and behavioural development. During this time, kittens and puppies go through numerous stages that can have a major impact on the pet later in life.
Teh says: “Today, numerous adult cats and dogs are suffering from illness that started to develop in the earlier stages of life. It is so important for pet owners to invest time and effort in their new pet’s behaviours and health from the start by feeding the right diet at the right stage of life as it will help the pet to have a happy and healthy life.
“Kittens and puppies need more energy. A lot of research has gone into their requirements at this stage. You may have noticed that many cats and dogs are suffering from illnesses at a much earlier stage in life these days, which is why we can’t stress enough how important it is to start right, so dogs and cats have better health later in life.”
“As a pet parent, I want to emphasise on responsible pet ownership. Having or owning a pet should be a conscious decision made, not out of an impulse, because the responsibility behind owning a pet is ample. Once acquiring them, as the owner, we are the only people they can rely on, thus it is our obligation and responsibility to preserve and nurture and care for them and this is what Royal Canin wishes to advocate.
“Our responsibility towards animals starts with kittenhood and puppyhood. We want to help pet owners to be the guardians of their pet’s health and help drive healthy habits from puppyhood and kittenhood.”, explains Teh, who is also a pet owner of Hayashi, a Shiba Inu.
