What Does Innovation Look Like in the Pet Care World?

You might wonder how you can get excited about a career path in pet care. One word (one you probably never thought of): Innovation. Unbeknownst to most, innovation is central to what we do and considerably one of the reasons we've been around – and remained a leader – for over a century.

It all started with our passionate Founder, William Danforth, who instilled a people-centric, continuous-improvement culture back in the late 1890's that we continue to embody today at our very core. More than 60 years later, in 1956, we invented the process of extrusion with the production of Dog Chow® to form distinctive shapes we commonly refer to as "kibble." We launched a groundbreaking 14-year study beginning in 1987, which proved that feeding dogs to their ideal body condition throughout their lifetime can extend their healthy years. Tidy Cats® became a world champion in the Cat Category with its Lightweight® litter products that are half the weight of conventional clumping litter. Our Purina Veterinary Diets® line introduced its first-ever HA-Hypoallergenic Canine Formula to provide relief to dogs with food allergies. Purina is the first to apply molecular-level nutrition to a therapeutic diet by developing pet food for dogs suffering from arthritis.

And for those who prefer to customize what they feed their dogs and cats, we developed the Just Right® personalized pet food line so a pet owner can pair firsthand knowledge of their dog with our expertise to create a custom food (and packaging) that is delivered straight to the owner's door. These are simply just a 'taste' of the innovations we're working on every day behind closed doors.

We have over 500 scientists that, in some significant way, impact each one of our products that go to market. We bring engineers, technical experts and creative influencers from all corners of business into Purina's workforce to drive home the real reason we're here: to enrich the lives of pets and the people who love them.

"At our research center, we look into nutrients that can bring health benefits to pets. I've truly never seen so many passionate people dedicated to the wellbeing of pets," Laboratory Scientist, Berenice B. said. "I'm always learning in order to make innovative ideas come to life, and often with the same cutting-edge science used in human nutrition. And among all that science, our real measure of success is the beneficial impact on the pets to have long fulfilling lives with the families that adopted them."

For decades, we've been guided by the belief that pets and people are better together. And as the aspiring voice of pet care, we put our unparalleled knowledge and passion for pets to work to develop pet care innovations that revolutionize the industry.

More of what we're doing in the world of pet care innovation