Tell me about Honest Kitchen

And how I could serve dehydrated food....I am so sick about TOTW but honest to God it was the best thing that ever happened to Julian!!!

I want to go back but just can't...I thought I could but what are the similarities of the HK???

still not sold but I do know that he HAS to come off Nutro before he itches to death and I die of gas poisoning!

My pugs have been on HK for a couple of years now. I absolutely love it, and have the highest regard for the company. I think they are one of the most ethical out there, both with the quality of ingredients, and down to the fact that they will not sell their product in a store that sells puppies or kittens (and have come out and said so). I think HK has played a big part in keeping Sophie's issues under control, and Indy's allergies have lessened considerably. Plus, I love the fact that my pugs go NUTS for the food, even now, during the 10 minutes they have to wait for it to rehydrate, they will go crazy. I love that they enjoy their food that much.



The downsides are that it can be less convenient than kibble. It is kind of pain if we have to travel somewhere, it is expensive, and it can be messy, and for the first couple of months there was a LOT of poop! That said, I can't see myself switching, as I have been extremely happy with the food and the company and I recommend it to anyone who asks.

So considering that HK does not have lamb, I checked into other freeze dried. I found Grandma Lucy Artisan Lamb freeze dried...it is 4 stars on dogfoodadvisor

I will take a couple days to decide but HAVE to get Julian off Nutro before the end of the week, poor little guy is an itching monster

Love that you found something awesome...wish they had lamb, have you ever heard of Grandma Lucy?

ocnside wrote:So considering that HK does not have lamb, I checked into other freeze dried. I found Grandma Lucy Artisan Lamb freeze dried...it is 4 stars on dogfoodadvisor

I will take a couple days to decide but HAVE to get Julian off Nutro before the end of the week, poor little guy is an itching monster

Love that you found something awesome...wish they had lamb, have you ever heard of Grandma Lucy?

I use the fish based Zeal.

I use Grandma Lucy treats all the time for the pugs (they are also "human quality") they seem to be pretty good quality.

Melissa, remind me again why you only do lamb?

I'll tell you my experience and thoughts about THK.

We have been feeding THK for the last 3 years. Before that, the pugs ate kibble. They were all fatty mcfatties! Since being on THK, they are all in great shape, much more peppy and happy. They go NUTS for their food!

We rotate between Embark, Love, Force, and occasionally Keen (the pugs hate Verve & Thrive). I have fed Zeal one time, but two out of three of the pugs came down with UTI's when we started feeding it, and I got paranoid. Probably a coincidence.. but, I am crazy and I admit it. I do add additional food to every meal of THK I make. 95% of the time, I add raw ground meat & bone (about 2 tbps per pug). Other times, I will add greek yogurt or eggs. THK actually encourages diversifying the food by adding in additional stuff. Dogfoodadvisor does rate THK at 4 stars (Zeal & Love are 5 stars), because of the low protein content in some of the formulas. This is why I almost never serve it alone, but add additional meat for protein.

As far as the company itself, like Saira, I do not think I could say enough good things about THK. They are extremely ethical, and open about all their practices. The food is manufactured in a human food plant, with FDA approval. All vendors sign certifications about the origin and quality of the ingredients.

Even if Julian is allergic to poultry in kibble does not necessarily mean he would be allergic to it in THK. There is a big difference between kibble and fresh food. You might try it out, just to see his reaction. THK will send you free samples, or you can order a taster kit on their site. Give them a call, the customer service is fantastic, and you don't go through a bunch of automated stuff either.

As for the poop increase, I did not see it significantly with my own pugs, but I did with my current foster. Some people actually get off THK because of the increase in pooping, so I guess it depends on the dog's reaction and how you feel about extra poop for a while.

You might try Stella & Cheweys for raw too.

Renee,

Julian is on lamb bc he had an allergic reaction to chicken treats and a beef stuffed treat...both times it was off to the vet ER

I know for sure he is coming off Nutro by the end of the week

I loooooooved TOTW but am too freaked out right now

I may do Grandma Lucy's freeze dried lamb and call for samples of the HK

I just want him happy and healthy...lots to weigh, I appreciate you taking time to fill me in on your experience, that's awesome.

I used The Honest Kitchen for over a year. I liked it, and I loved the company. But I did find that my guys pooped a lot more on it, and I don't think I realized how much more it was until they went off of it. The other more disturbing thing for me with it was that all of a sudden, my dogs who had never eaten poop before, sometimes (not always) liked to eat their own poop. And that just grosses me out.

I switched to TOTW because of my fosters but when I ran out of THK, I tried my guys on it and realized how much less they were pooping and how much less smelly it was. I'm still looking for the right solution.

I still think it's a great food, and would recommend it to others as a good option. We rotated through Keen (not grain-free, if that's an issue), Force, Embark, and Love.

Ginger, I had a foster that found THK poop to be irresistible, lol!

We've used THK for a couple years now, I rotate through the proteins. I had always done grain-free only for my 3 because of yeast infection issues but they do tolerate grains in the THK. Maybe because they're 'not processed' per se. If you can't do poultry maybe try the grain-free beef? That's a nutrient-dense formula and suitable for puppies (like the Embark and Thrive, though those are turkey and chicken).

The increased poop issue with THK has a work-around. I add double water and absolutely let it sit for at least 5 minutes. The super re-hydration of the fruits and veggies makes them a lot easier to digest and break down so you end up with regular raw food feeding poop (at least that's been my experience with my 3 and the fosters I put on it).

THK is the only company I trust 100%. I've spoken with Lucy Postins the founder several times and know if I have an issue I can buzz her directly. Also one of her many dogs is a senior pug she adopted from San Diego Pug Rescue . If you go to their FB page you can fill out a request for samples right there or buzz them, fill out form on their website.

Melissa, one of my pugs eats Addiction dehydrated raw. She eats the Summer Brushtail which is basically possum. I believe they have a lamb based one too. I order through www.k9cuisine.com. You can google other places that sell it because some will run specials. However, k9cuisine ships very fast. All you do is add warm water to the food. You do jot have to premix large amounts. It is like mixing a bowl of instant oatmeal. She as also eaten the Addiction kibble that is kangaroo and did great with her allergies

GingerSnap wrote:I used The Honest Kitchen for over a year. I liked it, and I loved the company. But I did find that my guys pooped a lot more on it, and I don't think I realized how much more it was until they went off of it.

Same here! We mostly fed HK Force but tried a few of the other varieties too. All of them made my pugs poop like crazy so I stopped feeding it. Now we're feeding Fromm's grain free kibble & Instinct's grain-free canned (3 get kibble & a couple get canned due to a lack of teeth). We have been very happy with both.

leslyeb

I decided on Grandma Lucy Lamb freeze dried and got a 2 month supply. Maybe by then Julian will be gassed out and poohed out and I will see what happens but TOTW will always be in the back of my mind

I appreciate all of the responses and it is so awesome to know that I have high quality alternatives like HK

lisamak wrote:The increased poop issue with THK has a work-around. I add double water and absolutely let it sit for at least 5 minutes. The super re-hydration of the fruits and veggies makes them a lot easier to digest and break down so you end up with regular raw food feeding poop (at least that's been my experience with my 3 and the fosters I put on it).

Wow, that's really good to know! I wouldn't rule out going back to it in the future, if I don't have a poop-eater. I'm pretty sure I used enough water, but I may have skimped on time a bit.

GingerSnap wrote:

lisamak wrote:The increased poop issue with THK has a work-around. I add double water and absolutely let it sit for at least 5 minutes. The super re-hydration of the fruits and veggies makes them a lot easier to digest and break down so you end up with regular raw food feeding poop (at least that's been my experience with my 3 and the fosters I put on it).

Wow, that's really good to know! I wouldn't rule out going back to it in the future, if I don't have a poop-eater. I'm pretty sure I used enough water, but I may have skimped on time a bit.

I never do less than 10 minutes, so that could make a difference Ginger.

ocnside wrote:Renee,

Julian is on lamb bc he had an allergic reaction to chicken treats and a beef stuffed treat...both times it was off to the vet ER

I know for sure he is coming off Nutro by the end of the week

Sorry to hear about the allergy issues. I know that pain...my girl is allergic to a lot of types of food and environmental things. Have you had Julian allergy tested? Some are for and some are against testing. Our vet finally decided to allergy test Gidget and it was the best thing that we could have done for her. I did HK for awhile thinking a high quality food would help but later we found out Gidget is allergic to some of the veggies they use and that is why she kept itching on the food! She is now on a food that has none of her allergens in it, grain-free to help keep the sugar processing down (yeast allergies), and a protein she isn't allergic to. She is pretty much itch free now except when some of the seasonal allergies flare up.

What an awesome idea....I will most certainly have Julian tested, hell the poor baby has been through the ringer, I will do whatever it takes to make him comfy...Thanks for the suggesstion I would not have thought of it!!