# Honest Kitchen or Nature's Variety



## yukki (Aug 22, 2007)

Has anyone tried either of these foods? The Honest Kitchen is a freeze dried powdered food (once you add water you can actually see pieces of food) while the Nature's Variety is frozen raw. I have tried Yukki on both and he seems to love them equally. If anyone has had experience with either of these I would love to know how your babies did with them. I have thought of using both, one for a morning snack and one for his evening meal since they are both non-kibble but I'm just not sure so any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much!!!


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## shellbeme (Mar 1, 2011)

I have not used them, however, I have read of several who have, and who were really pleased with them. I did try the sojos which is simular to the honest kitchen, and I was not crazy about the look of the food after I added water. To me, it looked like vomit... Rocky did eat it but he wasn't crazy about it.

I do kibble in the morning with wet food, and in the evening, if I have something different (like right now we have freshpet) they will get that for dinner. My dogs seem to enjoy a bit of variety.


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## gidget'smom (Mar 11, 2012)

I have not tried either of those, but I think I have read that Nature's Variety gets its chicken from China (please research that and don't take my word for it). I read more good things about Stella & Chewy and Ziwi Peak. I personally love ZP.


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## Katkoota (Feb 18, 2006)

I didn't try any of these for my malts. 

I read an article about Nature Variety recently which I thought of sharing since you asked about it. 
Nature’s Variety Dog Food Recall

ETA - the recalled products are of the kibble type. 


> What Products Are Being Recalled?
> The products being recalled are listed below:
> UPC# 7 69949 60420 4 – Prairie Beef Meal & Barley Medley Kibble for Dogs 5 lb
> UPC# 7 69949 60425 9 – Prairie Beef Meal & Barley Medley Kibble for Dogs 15 lb
> ...


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## Katkoota (Feb 18, 2006)

gidget'smom said:


> I read more good things about Stella & Chewy and Ziwi Peak. I personally love ZP.


Me too. The malts have been on ZP more but only recently , we added half a pattie with LOTS of warm water for evening time (reducing ZP amount in morning time). Their bowls have more water than S&C food. For a second, I thought that they wont like it but oh my, they are CRAZY in love with it :w00t: 

ETA - hey by the way, I am only recently noticing that it was you who responded to me in the Chi forum  happy to have you here too. I thought that your signature was familiar :wub: :wub: your fluffs are darling and I love the fact that we seem like in a similar boat of reading like crazy in all different places for the sake of the fluffs. 

Learning curve is never ending for me and for my malts, I can go reading forever and hope that I am doing good for them:heart:


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## tokipoki (Jun 20, 2012)

gidget'smom said:


> I have not tried either of those, but I think I have read that Nature's Variety gets its chicken from China (please research that and don't take my word for it). I read more good things about Stella & Chewy and Ziwi Peak. I personally love ZP.


I emailed NV a couple of weeks ago and got this email in response to where they source their meats from:

*Thank you for e-mailing! All of our poultry, including duck, comes from the U.S. The rabbit protein we use in our raw diet is from China and the rabbit in our canned is sourced from Italy and China. We employ a U.S. educated food scientist in China to oversee our rabbit sourcing. All rabbit protein is tested before shipment from China and again after it arrives in the U.S. for processing into our raw diet. We are very confident in how we handle our sourcing from China. We source most of our ingredients from the U.S. and turn to other locations only as needed. We are very stringent on our sourcing and have good relationships built with our vendors for quality ingredients. Thanks for supporting our products!

Sincerely,
Shannon

Consumer Relations
Nature's Variety
1-888-519-7387*

So only the rabbit in their raw formulas and some of the canned comes from China.

I love S&C as a company and my baby LOVES their freeze-dried patties! I like to use these when I forget to thaw out raw foods or just for variety.

I'm also a fan of ZiwiPeak! They have excellent customer service and sent me a free 8oz sample of their air-dried venison with a measuring scoop! I don't feed this regularly (not that I wouldn't in the future) and just use it as a treat. I just contacted them for more info on their company and asked if they had samples...I didn't expect them to actually send so much!

The Honest Kitchen currently has a 20% sale through the month of July on their website and in participating stores. I ordered a 3 lb box of the Preference. They have a map of where they source their ingredients from which is pretty cool (I'm a visual learner): http://www.thehonestkitchen.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Honest_Kitchen_Sources.pdf

NV and Honest Kitchen are both great companies so I'd get samples/small sizes of both and see which your dog prefers. NV has good customer service and has always replied to me within 1-2 days of me contacting them. They will send you coupons and samples as well. My Toki eats raw in the AM and we have been through a bag of duck medallions and are currently on a bag of the chicken raw bites. 

Good luck in finding something that works for your baby!


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## Katkoota (Feb 18, 2006)

tokipoki said:


> I love S&C as a company and my baby LOVES their freeze-dried patties! I like to use these when I forget to thaw out raw foods or just for variety.


I also wanted variety when I started looking at S&C. 

Reading that different people have used this for years is also a comfort. Here for example is what one awesome sweet maltese mommy wrote...


Bonnie's Mommie said:


> I feed her Stella and Chewy's freeze dried raw and have been for 6-8 years.


:wub: 
Thread Link: http://spoiledmaltese.com/forum/60-...ts/117504-dog-food-what-do-your-dogs-eat.html


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## gidget'smom (Mar 11, 2012)

Katkoota said:


> ETA - hey by the way, I am only recently noticing that it was you who responded to me in the Chi forum  happy to have you here too. I thought that your signature was familiar :wub: :wub: your fluffs are darling and I love the fact that we seem like in a similar boat of reading like crazy in all different places for the sake of the fluffs.
> 
> Learning curve is never ending for me and for my malts, I can go reading forever and hope that I am doing good for them:heart:


That was me. :yes: Thank you, I just adore your fluffs, and I flipped over your summer video. :yahoo: I had to show it to my Mom (Gidget is actually her dog, we live in 2 houses under 1 roof, so the dogs are together all the time and we claim each others), and she said, "Poor Gidget leads such a dull life." We do share a great love for our fluffs, and the info I have gotten from the 2 forums is invaluable. I recently said on the Chi forum that before I joined my dog knowledge was at kindergarten level. Now with everyone's wonderful help I feel like I'm ready for doggy highschool!:HistericalSmiley:


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## gidget'smom (Mar 11, 2012)

tokipoki said:


> I emailed NV a couple of weeks ago and got this email in response to where they source their meats from:
> 
> *Thank you for e-mailing! All of our poultry, including duck, comes from the U.S. The rabbit protein we use in our raw diet is from China and the rabbit in our canned is sourced from Italy and China. We employ a U.S. educated food scientist in China to oversee our rabbit sourcing. All rabbit protein is tested before shipment from China and again after it arrives in the U.S. for processing into our raw diet. We are very confident in how we handle our sourcing from China. We source most of our ingredients from the U.S. and turn to other locations only as needed. We are very stringent on our sourcing and have good relationships built with our vendors for quality ingredients. Thanks for supporting our products!*
> 
> ...


Thank you for that! I did see that when I was researching foods a few months ago. I looked at NV on 2 different occasions and it is a good company, but I never could satisfy myself with it--also has recalls. There are other good food choices out there, so I personally decided to move on from it.


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## Grace'sMom (Feb 22, 2012)

I love THK .... I have thought about trying it again.

Gus can't have very many of their foods.... but he did enjoy them for the most part. The problem is we had a bad allergy flare up and THK has SO many ingredients that it was hard to pinpoint if it was from the food or something else.

I have tried the Love formula with Grace and she wont' touch it. She will runn around and jump in the mud but won't eat if the food is too messy will get on her chin hairs :HistericalSmiley:

But if I had to choose a company - I'd choose THK. They are one of the only companies who has met the FDA's standards for HUMAN food..... 

And in all their years - they have never been involved in any recall


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## yukki (Aug 22, 2007)

Gidget's Mom, unless I didn't read correctly that was only on their dry kibbled food only. But thanks for the warning.


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## tokipoki (Jun 20, 2012)

Yep yep.

Important Quality Update | Nature's Variety

Most recently, they recalled a formula mostly due to a smell that develops over time.


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## Lola'sMum (Jun 21, 2012)

*Lola - Loves the Thrive*

Lola is such a Fussy eater, but she LOVES all the Honest Kitchen varieties that we have tried. Really easy just add equal ammounts water to the powder, so much more convient than wet dog food as well as it takes her FOREVER to get through a can, I have to throw out 1/2 cans all the time. Plus it smells great, not like dog food, kinda like chicken soup B). Highly recommend.


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## Bailey&Me (Mar 8, 2010)

I'm a HUGE fan of The Honest Kitchen...love the company, love the food. Bailey has had THK foods in his rotation for over a year and he does very well on it. Their customer service has also been wonderful the few times I've called. Bailey's had Embark, Love and Zeal and really enjoys all these formulas (but then again he is a little piggie and will eat any and every thing!) THK foods are a bit higher in protein though so just make sure your fluff does well on that level of protein. 

They're having a 20% off sale on all their products in July so I stocked up!


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## yukki (Aug 22, 2007)

Does anybody add vitamins or minerals to these diets? My understanding is that they are supposed to be complete but I am very concerned that my boys won't be getting everything included with the raw or freeze dried.


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## BradyLily (Sep 9, 2009)

I'm also thinking of switching to HK in the am instead of kibble. My partner just brought home a sample of Wellness Core kibble and my babies seem to love it (added a few pieces to breakfast yesterday and today). I'm worried that the Wellness Core has too much protein. I emailed HK and asked for samples and received and email back within a couple days and just got my samples yesterday. I feed Buffalo canned for dinner and they love all of the flavors especially Wilderness. Again, maybe too much protein. My partner feels I'm overthinking it and as long as the food is good quality, there is no such thing as giving too much protein to a dog. I need the help from the members here to help me make a good decision. If anyone can help, I would greatly appreciate it.


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## yukki (Aug 22, 2007)

Boy, I am not sure about how much protein is too much! I wish I could help but I am still rather new into the raw food diet and still learning myself. All I know is that I have been using Natures Variety Frozen Raw and they are going NUTS with it. Their energy level has increased and they seem so much happier now. Good luck!


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## BradyLily (Sep 9, 2009)

Me too. I have only fed kibble and canned. The Natural Balance kibble looks different with each bag I buy. The canned has changed as well. They love the BB and am thinking of trying THK Verve for breakfast. My friends think I'm over thinking it and just find one and stick to it, but it's not that easy. They have been on NB canned and kibble for 3 years and started getting soft poops. Switched the canned and it got better, but still don't like the way the kibble changes. Hopefully I will get some good advice here so that I can make a decision and hopefully stick to it for a while.


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## tokipoki (Jun 20, 2012)

Unless there is some kind of preexisting condition or kidney problem, my understanding is that higher protein levels should not be an issue. A healthy dog should tolerate high protein fine. If you have a growing pup or very active adult, higher protein is a must. Personally, I would want my dog to get their calories and energy from a food with high protein levels from a high quality protein source as opposed to grains/excessive carbohydrates.

With that being said, it's not necessary to feed your dog a food with higher than average protein levels, depending on their life style and how much you'd like to spend on food. Any protein consumed that isn't used for energy and growth is simply stored as fat in the body.

This gives a quick overview of protein related topics...good starting point for more research
Dog Food FAQs: Protein

This is Champion Pet Foods White Paper (Acana/Orijen). 

http://files.championpetfoods.com/ORIJEN_White_Paper.pdf

Obviously their foods are mostly very high in protein so they're going at the topic with that angle but whether or not you feed Acana/Orijen, it's still very interesting.

I know many people don't like to feed small dogs foods with higher protein levels but I would just find a high quality food that your dog tolerates and does well on if there are no special medical conditions.


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## BradyLily (Sep 9, 2009)

Thanks for the info. I'll check out the 2 links provided. They are both 4-1/2 years old and I haven't had any major issues, thank goodness. At some point soon I will give THK a try and see how they like it. They really love beef and I always have freshly cooked chicken as a snack. With all of the talk of too much protein, I don't want any future issues that could have been prevented by lowering the % of protein.


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