Part of our news archive — a retrospective record of NSG and AniVatio milestones, each dated to the day it was announced. AniVatio is NSG's consumer companion-animal brand, with all nutrition technology developed in-house by the group.
Some products come from roadmaps; some come from retailers asking. On 2 December 2025, AniVatio told the story of its Feline ProJoint Oral Gel — a product that, as Lisa Hilton admitted, wasn't on the plan at all when the dog version launched. Then, in 2024, UK and international retailers started asking for one. When the UK's largest pet retailer asks, she wrote, you say yes.
Illustration from the announcement — Lisa's playful AI-generated portrait of her own cat, Pops, and dog, Pearl
Why the science made it possible
The bridge from dog to cat was the hero ingredient: undenatured type II collagen (UC-II®), which is dosed universally — the same daily amount regardless of species or bodyweight. That meant the feline version could offer the same formulation logic as the dog gel, with development effort focused where cats actually demand it: palatability. Cats carry roughly 470 taste buds to a dog's 1,700, and they are famously unforgiving of anything that smells of persuasion. Getting a gel format past that jury was the real work — the same palatability discipline described across our formulation practice.
What quiet demand looks like
The result, the announcement revealed, had been selling every single month since launch — entirely organically. No marketing, not even a listing on the brand's own dog-focused website. Cat sales ran at a small fraction of dog sales, but their consistency carried a clear signal: cat owners want supplements, even though formulating for cats is harder. That signal, Lisa wrote, had been driving the group's labs for two years.
And then the tease: "January 15th, 2026 — something big for cats is coming." The something turned out to be the foundation of the brand's cat portfolio — the Cat Milk Supplements unveiled the following May.
Frequently asked questions
What is Feline ProJoint Oral Gel?
AniVatio's joint-support gel for cats — the feline counterpart of ProJoint, built on the same NSG-developed oral gel delivery technology and formulated around UC-II undenatured type II collagen, which uses the same daily dose across species.
Why is UC-II suited to a cat version?
UC-II undenatured type II collagen works at a universal daily dose regardless of species or weight, so the feline product could keep the studied dosing of the dog version while development focused on feline palatability.
Why are cat supplements harder to formulate?
Cats have far fewer taste buds than dogs (roughly 470 versus 1,700), mask discomfort instinctively, and reject unfamiliar tastes readily — so palatability engineering, not active selection, is usually the limiting factor. It's a core theme of our companion animal work.