ron2
Posted : 9/28/2008 8:03:38 AM
stanton
While we're talking Honest Kitchen, does anyone know if I can mix some in advance and freeze it?
I read the FAQ on the site. If you mix some food, it will keep in the fridge but you should feed it within 48 hours of mixing it. Freezing, however, allows you to keep a mixed batch for a month or so. So, you could mix up 1 pound batches and freeze them, requiring only that you thaw or nuke a frozen batch enough to serve it.
Here are the advantages, as far as I can see. They are honest about the definitions of human grade and non-human grade and the extent of either legal definition. Secondly, the mix is already dosed with supps. And the food is designed to allow you to mix whatever meat you want into the diet. OTOH, with a pre-mix of supps, there is going to be some leeway and obviously a heavy fresh meat diet may require some adjustment on the calcium, which helps with the digestion of phosphorous. An average price of $1.67 per pound is very affordable. Your total cost may vary, depending on how much fresh meat you add to your meals but, even then, you can find deals on meat at your local supermarket and I mean rich meat that most people won't eat, like chicken hearts and livers. Me, I will eat those but then I'm part Husky, anyway. Dehydrated and freez-dried foods keep a really long time. Think MRE's from the Army. (I've had some, thanks to a friend, Ashlee, a corporal, US Army, Psy Ops.)
As for fresh meat, you can also try and locate meat buyers clubs in your area, where everyone chips in some, reducing the cost of meat to the members. Or meat markets that might appreciate cash customers for the meat cuts the humans don't want but that are high in protein.
So, it seems a good trade off between actually hunting the food yourself and having convenient packages to streamline meal prep. Provided your dog will eat a stew.
The only disadvantage is one of philosophy, I think. It is, after all, a pre-made food, which might be a stumbling block for those who believe in fresh off the vine or fresh in from the range food only. But most of us don't have the time or ability to go out and hunt a deer or a cow, anyway.
On the other hand, if you have the means and opportunity to buy at a farmer's market, you not only get fresher foods, you help support the small family farms who can better provide you with fresher products, anyway. We each do what we can according to our ability, understanding, and budget. I might not consider Ol Roy the best food to feed a dog but it is better than starving to death. I was feeding Shadow Nutro Large Breed Adult Lamb Meal and Rice, not because I was a big fan of Nutro but because the food was the right food for him. They no longer carry that formula so I now find myself searching for alternatives, from Eagle Pack to such ideas as this. Especially with the onslaught of major companies owned by non-dog food companies now making the decision as to what to produce and what ingredients to use based on the bottom line. For many big companies, China has become the source for many ingredients based soley on cost, and our pets and children are paying the price for that "bottom line." And I hock a lugey on those suits. I would rather pay a higher price per pound to a company that values my pet's health, even it if means carrying a formula that doesn't sell over a million units a year. It's either that or homecook, which might be higher per pound but now we're getting into quality of life issues, IMO. To me, it's never been about price, cheap or expensive, but about what my dog needs to eat. And, within limits, it sounds like choices, such as one has with Honest Kitchen are a fair compromise between a pre-made food and homecooked. With a fairly simple and common recipe and stabilized production costs, it's possible that this food won't ever get so costly that the company would go public as far as ownership concerned, like Nutro and others have done. Especially if the choice of meat can be left up to us, based on availability, diet restrictions, budget, etc.
In short, it looks like a good deal to me.