Thrive, Ruby, Thrive!
“I have attached a picture of our 1yr old English Bulldog as testament to the nutritional value of Thrive dog food, Ruby has been on Thrive since day one and well…..a pictures worth a thousand words. Keep up the good work, RH
Olivia’s Road To Recovery
The following post was written by LIFE+DOG magazine contributor Kate Smargiasso in July, 2011, following a two-month journey of recovery after rescuing Olivia from the streets of Houston. The Honest Kitchen sponsored part of her recovery by sending Zeal, Invigor (an immunity supplement) and Sparkle (skin & coat supplement)
“It has been over two joyous months now since we’ve had Miss Olivia in our lives. What a fun, HAPPY and super excited girl she is. It’s so good to see this girl run around and enjoy life as compared to the state she was in when we rescued her. From literally not having any hair and missing a layer of skin in many areas, to a blonde bombshell…what an amazing daily transformation we have witnessed. I was so excited when I saw her white tipped tail grow in – love those!
Pictures speak a thousand words so below is her first day “BEFORE” picture, as well as her current up-to-date “AFTER” picture. I guarantee this is the same sweet dog and no, I have not retouched the photos.
As I lay here typing with all of my four-legged babies sleeping next to me, Olivia is having a puppy dream. I wonder if she’s dreaming of her sad homeless days or her current “let’s play everyone” life. I hope it’s the later and that she’s been able to lock those sad memories into an area she never has to access again.
It’s quite amazing how a dog can forgive. I’ve heard too many abuse stories to where I am amazed that some dogs will ever trust again, but they do. Dogs do not hold a grudge, they will not judge you and will always be there whenever you need them – no questions asked. Human beings can learn a multitude of things from animals, including forgiveness, compassion, unconditional love and so many other positive traits. I hope that people are listening and paying attention to our furry educators as they are excellent teachers.
The fact that Olivia was able to recover so quickly was due to an excellent diet, of course great vetting and loads of love and support. I talk about proper nutrition often and will continue to do so since I wholeheartedly believe it can make such a large difference in your animal’s overall health. Sure, you can feed your dog a run of the mill food and it will survive and hopefully live a long life. However, if you feed an excellent food, like The Honest Kitchen (who graciously sponsored Olivia’s entire road to recovery), you will see an amazing difference in not only their skin and coat, but in the brightness of eyes, their ease of ability to digest, increased energy levels, etc.
Humans can survive on junk food—fast food and the many other terrible things we can put into our bodies—but when we’re on an excellent nutritional diet we feel better, look better and live healthier lives. It’s no different with our four- legged friends!
Also, skin allergies, excessive scratching, ear rubbing and other irritations could be the direct cause of a food allergy. You should discuss all options with your trusted veterinarian to determine what’s right for you and your pet.
Read, learn, and educate yourself on everything you need to know about our beloved animals and how to help them reach their peak of physical and mental wellness. They depend on responsible people to better their lives and you know they would do the same for us if they could.
Also some great news – Olivia received second place in SNAP’s (Spay-Neuter Assistance Program) Tales of Two Cities contest. Thank you to everyone who voted for her. We are both very appreciative!”
- Kate Smargiasso
Dog Scout says “Thank you”
Dear honest kitchen:
I just wanted to update you on my 9-year-old mixed breed, Bailey. After some blood work and several urinalyses which were “very dilute”
my vet said Bailey could be at the beginning stages of kidney disease. Research pointed me toward
better dog food, higher quality protein, lower phosphorous, etc. Fellow Dog Scouts pointed me toward
Keen, which I had heard of after receiving a sample in our Dog Scout goody bag from Dog Scouts of
America Texas Mini Camp last year. Several dog scout members since started their dog on Honest
Kitchen products. I also received a lot of valuable input from THK by e-mail. Thank you.
Well, Bailey has been on Keen for about 7 or 8 weeks now and the last urinalysis came back normal
as did his bloodwork, which improved on lots of levels. My vet even said he was sure it was because
I watch his food so closely and use a good quality product.
I’m so happy I could dance. Honest Kitchen has done so much for Bailey and me–Thank you!
Donna D. – Texas
We have 2 cockers, Callie and Nicky B, who are both rescues. Not knowing what they had eaten in their prior lives, we started them on Embark immediately, only adding some (gasp) kibble for a few days to get them used to the food in their new homes. They both started out as picky eaters with itchy, smelly cocker spaniel ears, and Nicky B occasionally did the “spaniel scoot” at the beginning of his time with us. Within about a month, VOILA! clean, pink good-smelling happy ears! No more “spaniel shuffle” either. Callie is epileptic, and we have not experienced a seizure in close to 2 years, we attribute that to a combo of her minimal meds and the food she eats. She just celebrated 4 years with us, and her ears have never needed any cleaning, her coat is shiny and silky, and she seldom scratches herself anymore! Nicky B will be with us 4 years in June, and he is also a shining star. We have NEVER had to clean his ears, and his anal glands are perfect! He is also super shiny and silky, and even with our cold northeast winters and hot summers; we have never seen “dandruff” or flakes on either dog. We love you Honest Kitchen!
“We have 2 cockers, Callie and Nicky B, who are both rescues. Not knowing what they had eaten in their prior lives, we started them on Embark immediately, only adding some (gasp) kibble for a few days to get them used to the food in their new homes.
They both started out as picky eaters with itchy, smelly cocker spaniel ears, and Nicky B occasionally did the “spaniel scoot” at the beginning of his time with us. Within about a month, VOILA! clean, pink good-smelling happy ears! No more “spaniel shuffle” either. Callie is epileptic, and we have not experienced a seizure in close to 2 years, we attribute that to a combo of her minimal meds and the food she eats. She just celebrated 5 years with us, and her ears have never needed any cleaning, her coat is shiny and silky, and she seldom scratches herself anymore!
Nicky B celebrated his 4th birthday in June, and he is also a shining star. We have NEVER had to clean his ears, and his anal glands are perfect! He is also super shiny and silky, and even with our cold northeast winters and hot summers; we have never seen “dandruff” or flakes on either dog.
We love you Honest Kitchen!”
- Judy
Snoopy’s Tale.
Snoopy is my 14 yrs. old Cocker Spaniel. I adopted him in 2001 and he has been with me since then. I am in the military and every time I deployed Snoopy gained weight thanks to a bit overindulgent guardians. When he was younger it was a bit easier to help him loose the weight, but he never lost it all. As he got older it was more problematic for his to lose the weight. In 2008 I deployed again, and when I came back Snoopy had gained so much weight, he was like a completely different dog. He went from 27 lbs. to 48 pounds!
Ever since then I have tried everything but nothing got rid of the weight. To make things worse, he went into the vicious circle of gaining weight because can’t exercise, but couldn’t exercise because of the arthritis which was exacerbated by the overweight. About three months ago three months ago, a Paleo Diet Nutritionist called Nell Anderson wrote a blog post about overweight dogs, and after commenting on Snoopy’s issues, she mentioned to give The Honest Kitchen a try, so I did.
Snoopy has always had skin infections but around that time he developed the worse ever skin infection and the antibiotics were not helping. He was losing his hair, his skin was peeling and the poor thing was itchy all the time. So, this was a no brainer. I initially tried Zeal, and although both my dogs loved it, there is only one store in my town (Fayetteville, NC) that carries the food so their choices of flavors was limited. About 8 days after I started feeding them the food Snoopy’s allergies started clearing and he stopped itching. Same with my Wheaten Terrier who is allergic to certain foods.
I did an experiment and went back to the old “normal food” and Snoopy started getting itchy again. So I knew the food was a big problem. Anyhow, after Zeal, I went on Embark but because it has a higher caloric content, I switched to Verve and that is when I really started seeing the changes. Luckily the store in town now offers more selection so what I am doing is I switch between Zeal and Verve every other month to give them a different flavor. I also give them the Invigor, and mix it with their food.
As I mentioned, the last time I was at the vet, Snoopy had lost more weight. Since I started him on this food he has lost a total of 11 pounds! The vet was ecstatic because she knows how much I have been trying to get my little boy to lose the weight! Thanks again!
