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Small pet food company putting its money where its mouth is
By Christie Keith
January 19, 2009
I’ve been feeding a raw homemade diet to my dogs for 23 years now, and in that time, I’ve been told they’re sure to die of some hideous combination of hemorrhagic gastroenteritis and nutritional deficiency; I think that’s where their skeletons disintegrate and turn into diarrhea.
In those years my dogs and cats certainly have died, but most at a ripe old age and none of any kind of nutritional deficiency or food-borne illness.
Still, as the last couple of years have taught us, food safety is a huge and very real concern. One of the reasons I’ve always steered clear of commercial raw foods is because I don’t trust anyone but myself, and I want to make sure I source humanely raised meats processed in a way that minimizes the risk of bacterial contamination.
I’ve always been glad I was able to get raw dairy products for myself as well as my dogs, and to do it without fear, because my local raw dairy tests every single batch of milk it produces and posts the bacterial counts on their website every day. Those levels are frequently below the level of detection, and always lower even than pasteurized milk is required to be by law. If only, I used to dream, I could have that same reassurance about the food I buy for my dogs…
One company at least is helping make that pet food processing dream a reality. I discovered, basically by chance, that a small company called Stella & Chewy’s has every batch of their food tested by a third-party laboratory to ensure that it is free from E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella, and posts those test results on their website.
Don’t get me wrong; I still think homemade is best, and that’s what I’ll keep feeding my dogs. I don’t have any first-hand knowledge about this product, and this isn’t an endorsement of the food itself. But I can’t help but applaud a pet food company that adopts best practices for food safety. This would be revolutionary for a kibble or canned pet food; for a raw food produced by a small company? It’s a model for everyone else to follow.
And who knows, maybe some one making people food will do the same thing one day, too. How’s that for change you can believe in?
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Hmm, interesting idea Christie. Can you share with us your “menu” and the routine you got? Have no clue where to start. A site with recipes will help too. Hope you can help me and my friends start something fun and new for 2009. Thanks!
Comment by Karina A — January 19, 2009 @ 4:50 pm
I started back in 1986 with Dr. Pitcairn’s Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats, now in its third edition. Lots of recipes there, although I no longer feed my pets grains so don’t use them any longer.
I feed a very varied diet, similar to the variety I eat myself, of grass-fed, sustainably and humanely raised meats and eggs, and a few veggies and some supplements.
My best advice is to read a few books and get a feel for what approach works best for you and for your pets. I like http://www.dogaware.com as a good place to start.
Comment by Christie Keith — January 19, 2009 @ 4:59 pm
I can recommend the book “Raw Dog Food” By Carina Beth McDonald. It simplifies things quite abit and explains it very well in layman terms.
Thanks for the tip about the testing. I have been using homemade raw and sometimes use commercial but a different brand. I like the idea of the testing if for no other reason than more info for my vet should they give me any guff.
Comment by Marie — January 20, 2009 @ 5:42 am