Tid Bits
Where to store
Our dehydrated foods are naturally shelf stable and should be stored in a cool, dry place – out of sunlight. We don’t recommend refrigerating our food because this can introduce moisture. if you want to freeze the food, you should hydrate it first (some of our customers like to freeze in individual pre-made portions).
Shelf Life
Our foods have a shelf life of twelve months or more, depending on the ambient temperature and humidity where you live. The date of manufacture is printed on the top of every box in a specially designed ‘tear out and keep’ card. Our treats also have a 12 month shelf life. Our herbal nutritional supplements have a shelf life of 24 months from the date of manufacture.
Hydration
One cup of dehydrated food will hydrate to make about 1 lb of fresh food. A 4 lbs bag holds about 16 cups and makes about 16 lbs of fresh food. A 10 lbs bag holds about 40 dry-cups and makes about 40 lbs of fresh.
How to make and feed our foods
Hydrate the food with fresh, warm water (we recommend filtered water especially in areas where the municipal supply is fluoridated but it’s up to you). The food can be served after about five minutes (although we don’t always wait this long in the office!) Any leftover food should be treated like fresh food, and refrigerated up to 48 hours or discarded.
How to introduce our food to a sensitive pet
The following steps will help ensure a smooth transition, so the natural ‘friendly’ gut flora in the intestines can get accustomed to the new diet and become more efficient at digesting the hydrated raw food.
- Mix a very small amount of hydrated Honest Kitchen with the regular kibble or canned food, for the first day or so.
- Gradually increase the ratio to half and half (old food and new) for a couple of days, if the food is being well tolerated.
- Completely remove the old food and feed 100% Honest Kitchen.
- Our Perfect Form supplement is also excellent for helping to ease the transition – it soothes the tummy and regulates digestion. You could also use a small amount of plain yogurt (with active live culture), digestive enzymes or probiotic.
Adding extras
Extra ingredients may be mixed in with our foods, if you wish. The addition of protein is required for Preference and optional for our other diets. Yogurt, cottage cheese, eggs, fish, fruits, vegetables, certain nuts and seeds make other interesting additions. Let us know if you’d like an information sheet. Don’t add chocolate, grapes, raisins, onions or macadamia nuts as these are toxic for dogs.
We advocate and encourage daily variety. Many customers like to switch between our different recipes for even more variation. The water used to cook your own vegetables is ideal for hydrating the foods–it is packed with vitamins and minerals!
Please call 1-866-437-9729 or email us at questions@thehonestkitchen.com or visit our recipes page.
Drinking water
Filtered water is preferable if the tap water in your area is questionable. As with a fresh, raw diet, pets who eat these foods may drink less water than those fed a commercial kibble, because more of their daily fluid requirement is being met with the food itself and the water used to hydrate it.
Bones
Meaty bones are a great addition to the diet for many pets and must always be fed raw. Never feed cooked bones of any type. We recommend introducing bones under the guidance of a holistic veterinarian. Some people are more comfortable feeding pre-ground bones at first, rather than whole ones. Cats and dogs have shorter digestivetracts than humans and are better able to digest various raw bones and cartilage with ease. Always store and handle raw meat and bones safely to avoid spoilage or contamination. Raw beef marrow (soup) bones make excellent recreational bones and will delight most dogs. These are not actually consumed but gnawed on, and help to maintain clean, white, sparkling teeth and healthy pink gums.
Please refer to our web site at www.thehonestkitchen.com and sign up for our free newsletter for articles and information on various holistic health-related issues and resources.
Vitamins and minerals
Each of our foods contains the following, 100% human food grade, vitamin-mineral premix: tricalcium phosphate, choline chloride, zinc amino acid chelate, vitamin D3 supplement, vitamin E supplement, potassium chloride, iron amino acid chelate, copper amino acid chelate.
Health
All of our diets, with the exception of Preference (which is a premix that must have protein added before serving) can be fed as stand-alone diets. Additional foods can be added to these suggested serving sizes if desired. We suggest adding about half a cup of home-prepared ingredients for each dry-measured cup of food. Please contact us for guidance on a good combination for your dog or cat. For convenience, all our feeding guidelines are based on dry-measured cups. Preference requires the addition of protein to create a balanced meal.
The most obvious visual difference between The Honest Kitchen’s diets and canned or extruded foods, is the vibrant colors that remain intact through the gentle process of dehydration. Numerous studies have highlighted the importance of the bright pigments that exist in fresh fruits and vegetables. These vivid substances are potent phytonutrients–antioxidants, which are highly beneficial for total health and well-being. The enzyme content of dehydrated food is also much higher than conventional pet food.
