A pet liquid feeding appliance includes an appliance body and multiple feeding assemblies installed at an outer end of the appliance body. The appliance body defines a discharge port for use in conjunction with the feeding assembly, and is further provided with a feeding trough. The feeding assembly includes a fixing piece and a nipple installed at one end of the fixing piece. Both ends of the nipple are each provided with a clamping slot. The fixing piece is provided with a clamping column for use in cooperation with the nipple. The fixing piece and the nipple are detachably connected to each other. One end of the clamping column is provided with a hook, and one end of the fixing piece is provided with a liquid outlet. By providing multiple feeding assemblies, multiple pets can drink together at the same time.

Infant training devices and methods for the use thereof are disclosed herein. A benefit to the devices and methods herein can be the effective training of an infant to develop the suck-swallow-breathe pattern of nutritive and non-nutritive sucking required for feeding from an infant bottle, or for self-soothing with a pacifier. A further benefit to the devices and methods herein can be providing versatile devices for the use of vibration therapy as an infant training aid for feeding from an infant feeding bottle, or as an infant soothing pacifier.

A problem with artificial teats for infants or young animals is that with repeated use the opening in the nipple end of the teat usually becomes enlarged causing a change in the flow rate though the teat. Disclosed is an artificial teat that is made of an elastomeric material and which includes a base end and a nipple end. The base end is configured to mate with a container or liquid supply, and the nipple end has one or more slits through which a liquid is able to flow when an infant or young animal is suckling. And the artificial teat includes a body member in which the or each slit is cut, and the body member has at least one slit assist member that is formed or made separate to the body member and which is integrated into the body member during manufacture.

A water nipple controlled by the animal has a valve seat inside a housing. The valve member has an elongate valve shaft providing a forward end at the circular discharge mouth for operation by the animal. A resilient body on the valve member defines a convoluted or serpentine water flow path for flow of water along the flow path through the housing with the flow path defining a rate of flow of the water. A resilient ring is mounted on the valve shaft spaced the valve seat and the forward end with an outside edge of the resilient ring adjacent to and spaced from the inside surface of the housing so as to define an annular channel therebetween through which the water passes so that the resilient ring restricts direct flow of water from the valve seat to the discharge mouth to prevent excess squirting of the water.

An animal nursing system for feeding orphaned baby animals is provided. The baby animals having a mother animal with a particular torso shape, The animal nursing system comprises an outer cover having an inner surface and an outer surface with the outer cover molded to the torso shape of the mother animal. A liquid holding main bladder is enclosed within the outer cover. At least one teat is mounted to the outer surface of the cover with the at least one teat in fluid communication with the main bladder. Upon the main bladder being filled with the liquid, the main bladder expands against the inner surface of the outer cover causing the outer cover to expand to a maximum expansion size and upon the liquid emptying from the main bladder, the main bladder contracts to a minimum contraction size. The outer cover maintains the torso shape of the mother animal at both the maximum and minimum sizes.

A utensil that is shaped like a nipple is used to provide nutritional support to a newborn. The nipple will reduce or eliminate the risk of aspiration while feeding by allowing more control over the fluid flow. This utensil is made with a soft, flexible and porous tip to mimic the mother's teats giving the newborn the desire to latch on with vigor and nurse until full. Because of the design and material used, it also allows for easier reconnection with the mother after initiating supplemental feeding. The utensil has a syringe to allow a constant flow of fluid for uninterrupted feeding. The nipple can be sterilized, and reused until wore.

The present invention provides a hand feeding, natural, self-regulating nipple nutritional system and method of use for a baby animal which allows the baby animal to latch onto a surrogate feeding nipple in which the speed of flow of liquid and quantity of liquid, such as milk, is regulated comfortably by the animal. In particular, the invention provides a soft, flexible, highly porous material affixed to a liquid-dispensing vehicle, in which the porous material is saturated with, and serves as a reservoir for, the liquid so that any excess liquid not ingested remains in the porous material. The porous material includes a nipple protrusion at one end to which the baby animal latches onto and suckles from until it is satisfied. The nipple protrusion has a density that is greater than the density of the rest of the porous material, which contributes to the high absorbency of the porous material and closely mimics the feel of a mother's nipple. Thus, the device and method of the invention prevent choking, aspiration and risk of death in baby animals in need of nutritional support.

A pet liquid feeding appliance includes an appliance body and multiple feeding assemblies installed at an outer end of the appliance body. The appliance body defines a discharge port for use in conjunction with the feeding assembly, and is further provided with a feeding trough. The feeding assembly includes a fixing piece and a nipple installed at one end of the fixing piece. Both ends of the nipple are each provided with a clamping slot. The fixing piece is provided with a clamping column for use in cooperation with the nipple. The fixing piece and the nipple are detachably connected to each other. One end of the clamping column is provided with a hook, and one end of the fixing piece is provided with a liquid outlet. By providing multiple feeding assemblies, multiple pets can drink together at the same time.

The invention provides a conditioning device for conditioning at least one animal intended to experience a stressful event, such as e.g. slaughter, transport, and/or evacuation. The conditioning device comprises a controller configured to: obtain an identifier associated with the at least one animal; obtain an input indicative of a period of time in which said at least one animal receives a positive stimulus at a first location; control a lighting unit arranged for illuminating the first location to illuminate the at least one animal with a lighting characteristic at least partly during said period of time, and store an entry linking said identifier to said lighting characteristic in a memory. Complementary thereto, the invention further provides a lighting device for illuminating at least one animal intended to experience a stressful event, wherein the at least one animal is conditioned to a lighting characteristic with the conditioning device according to the invention, wherein the lighting device comprises: a light source; a communication interface for communication with a memory; a detecting unit configured to determine the identifier of the at least one animal; a control unit configured to retrieve, with the communication interface, an entry linking said identifier to said lighting characteristic from said memory, and to control the light source to illuminate the at least one animal with said lighting characteristic during said stressful event.

Animal feeding teats are often removed from a feeding receptacle for cleaning or for re-use on a larger receptacle. A nipple end of the teats is typically designed for use in a specific orientation to aid the suckling of a young animal, and therefore the teats need to be fitted to the feeding receptacle correctly. The animal feeding teat has a rectangular connection feature in a base end of the teat that is designed to mate with a similarly shaped feature on a feeding receptacle. It is considered important that the connection feature has only one or two lines of symmetry, so that the teat can only be fitted in one or two orientations relative to the receptacle.