Patent Publication Number: US-2010112143-A1

Title: Animal Food and Packaging Therefor

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates generally to animal foods and, more particularly, to animal food for nourishing and hydrating animals having damaged teeth, no teeth, or recovering from medical procedures. Further, this invention relates to packaging for storing and dispensing the animal food products. 
     Similar to humans, a pet may not be able to eat normally following surgery, especially in the case of oral surgery or if suffering from other mouth ailments. In addition, an animal may need a more gentle source of nutrition and hydration than would be provided through a normal diet. 
     Various animal foods have been proposed in the art for providing nourishment to animals. Although assumably effective for their intended purposes, the existing products do not provide an animal food that combines an easy to eat gelatin with a nutritious broth base ingestible without chewing. Further, the existing products do not include packaging that is resealable and provides selective access to an interior storage area where the food product is stored. 
     Therefore, it would be desirable to have a food product and packaging that eliminates the disadvantages of the prior products and proposals, but rather provides a nutritious food product that is selectively accessible in a resealable package. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An animal food product and packaging according to the present invention includes gelatin combined with a broth base and subsequently coagulated to form a nutritious and digestible food product that is ingestible without chewing. The invention includes a package having an interior area and a resealable flap providing selective access to the interior area, the food product being coagulated and stored in the interior area. The broth includes at least one of beef broth, chicken broth, pork broth, or vegetable broth. The food product may include at least one of a medication or a nutritional supplement combined with the broth base before the food product is coagulated. 
     Therefore, a general object of this invention is to provide an animal food product and packaging that provides hydration and nutritional nourishment to pets that have had surgery or that have diseased or a lack of teeth. 
     Another object of this invention is to provide an animal food product and packaging, as aforesaid, that provides nourishment without chewing. 
     Still another object of this invention is to provide an animal food product and packaging, as aforesaid, in which the packaging is resealable for selective and repeated access to the food product. 
     Yet another object of this invention is to provide an animal food product and packaging, as aforesaid, that is cost effective and easy to use. 
     Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein is set forth by way of illustration and example, embodiments of this invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an animal food and packaging device according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention with a lid in a closed configuration; and 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the animal food and packaging as in  FIG. 1  with a lid in an open configuration. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Animal food and packaging therefor  100  will now be described in detail with reference to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2  of the accompanying drawings. As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , a package  110  has an interior area  112  and a flap  114   a  or other lid  114  providing selective access to the interior area  112 . A container portion  116  defines the interior area  112 , and removal of the flap  114   a  ( FIG. 2 ) exposes an opening  118  to the interior area  112 . The opening  118  may be sized to allow a dog snout or the mouth of another selected animal to enter the interior area  112 . The container portion  116  may be constructed from aluminum, tin, paper, plastic, or any other appropriate material. 
     In some embodiments, the lid  114  is resealable to the container portion  116 . For example, the flap  114   a  and/or the container portion  116  may have a resealable adhesive  120  ( FIG. 2 ) to selectively reseal the interior area  112  with the flap  114   a  . The lid  114  may include a tab  115  that does not include or interact with the resealable adhesive  120  to allow the lid  114  to be easily accessed. 
     Gelatin (e.g., “plain” or “unflavored” gelatin) is combined with a broth base and subsequently coagulated to form a nutritious and digestible food product  130  that is ingestible without chewing. The food product  130  is coagulated and stored in the interior area  112 , as shown in  FIG. 2 . The container portion  116  in contact with the food product  130  may be constructed from or coated with a food grade packaging material (e.g., a food grade wax) to preserve the integrity of the food product  130 , and the food product  130  may finish coagulating in the interior area  112  before or after the lid  114  seals the interior area  112 . Environmental factors such as temperature may be altered to facilitate the coagulation process, and it may be desirable to heat the broth base before combining with the gelatin. 
     The broth base may include beef broth, chicken broth, pork broth, vegetable broth, and/or any other appropriate broth, and various herbs and spices may be combined with the gelatin and the broth base before coagulation. In addition, the food product  130  may include at least one medication or nutritional supplement. In some embodiments, the medication(s) and/or supplement(s) are combined with the broth base before the food product  130  is coagulated (i.e., before coagulation is finished). In other embodiments, the medication(s) and/or supplement(s) are combined with the food product  130  after coagulation. 
     In use, the animal food and packaging  100  is purchased or otherwise obtained. To feed a dog or other animal, the lid  114  may be removed (e.g., by gripping the tab  115 ) to expose the opening  118 . The food product  130  may then be removed from the interior area  112  and given to the animal, or the animal may be allowed to consume the food product  130  directly from the interior area  112 . To store any unused portion of the food product  130 , the lid  114  may be resealed to the container portion  116  by the resealable adhesive  120 , and the package  110  may be refrigerated if desired. 
     Due to the texture and contents of the food product  130 , the food product  130  may be easily ingested by animals having no teeth or other dental problems and may also be easily digested. The food product  130  may be a convenient medium for delivering medication and/or nutritional supplements, as the animal may unknowingly consume the medication and/or nutritional supplements when ingesting the food product  130 . 
     It is understood that while certain forms of this invention have been illustrated and described, it is not limited thereto except insofar as such limitations are included in the following claims and allowable functional equivalents thereof.