AUTHORS:
Dr. Caleb Goodman, Principal Investigator, age 6.
Dr. Kate Miller, Laboratory Assistant, age 43.
INSTITUTIONAL AFFILIATION:
SMKSA International (Scientific Method + Kids = Superfine Awesomeness), Providence, RI.
RESEARCH QUESTION:
What kind of food does our cat, Moose, like to eat?
METHOD:
We bought four types of dry cat food from the store, selecting randomly from among the 4.57 million types available.
On November 8th, 2011, we poured 250 ml (one cup) of each kind of food into four bowls and arranged them where Moose could get access to them all equally well.
Each day from then on we measured the amount of food in each bowl, carefully recording the results in a highly technical instrument called a PGHKD (Paper Graph Hanging on the Kitchen Door.) This record showed us how quickly the food disappeared into Moose, which we take as a proxy for how much Moose liked the food.
Dr. Goodman performed all measuring and recording. Dr. Miller handed Dr. Goodman magic markers as requested, and took dictation on the PGHKD.
RESULTS:
Phase 1:
The full four-way food competition ran from November 8th through 12th. In that time, Purina Indoor Formula took an early lead, being fully consumed by the 10th. Meow Mix and Friskies were basically tied for second preference, and Purina Complete was eaten slowest by a wide and statistically significant margin.
Phase 2:
On November 12th, we discarded the remaining 75 ml of Purina Complete, which Moose disdainfully refused to sniff (see field notes, p. 458.)
We replaced the four bowls with just one bowl of 250 ml of Purina Indoor Formula, to see how fast the early favorite would disappear in the absence of competing choices.
November 13th witnessed an unfortunate laboratory error called WTFAC (We Totally Forgot About the Cat.) There is no data for this date.
By November 14th the Purina Complete was gone, but it is impossible to know whether it had been consumed fully by the previous day. Dr. Goodman notes that Moose did appear to be "super extra hungry and meowing a lot" on the 14th. Further research on this point is required.
Phase 3:
On November 14th, we decided to re-test the difference between Friskies and Meow Mix, which did not reach statistical significance in phase 1. We filled two bowls with 250 ml of each. By the 16th, Friskies were at nearly 0 ml, and Meow Mix at 75 ml, revealing a clear Friskies preference.
CONCLUSION:
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
We are grateful to Uncle Jon for helping us interpret the PGHKD. We also thank Moose for giving his informed consent to be a research subject. Moose was compensated for his time and effort with petting and affection.
FUNDING:
The authors have no material or financial interests in cat food. This study was fully funded by Mom (grant #RE-458.)
