Why Feed Napa Fresh Food for Dogs?

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• Naturally taurine-rich

• Fresh ground meat and nutritious bones

• Fresh vegetables and fruit

• No beans, soy, lentils, peas, potatoes, or corn

• No starches

• No gas-causing ingredients

• Access to the folks who actually shop for the ingredients, and have been making fresh whole food for 150 local dog families for over 10 years, and love dogs as much as you do

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Our signature fresh, whole raw food for dogs is made following the formulas and recommendations of Dr. Ian Billinghurst, an Australian veterinarian who has been using these same recipes for his own dogs and his patients very successfully for over forty years. He teaches dog moms and dads and other veterinarians around the world about nutrition, and the importance of feeding a fresh diet to our beloved dogs. Watch Dr. Billinghurst discuss the importance of fresh raw food for dogs here.

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You may feed it as it is, simply thawed, warmed, or even lightly cooked, whichever you and your dog prefer.

 

If you care deeply for your dog(s) like we do, feed a totally fresh raw diet. We no longer recommend using any brand of kibble due to the recent studies on the ingredients in kibble made public. Feed as much fresh raw food as you can afford.

 

Unless you make fresh raw food yourself the way we do, there simply is no healthier way to feed your dog.

 

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• All ingredients are fit for human consumption.

 

Culinary grade ingredients, all fit for human consumption, are sourced from the same places we buy our own food. No worries about where our ingredients come from.

 

Napa Fresh is made using 60% raw meat with bones, finely ground whole (we use USDA chicken legs & thighs, turkey wings and thighs, lamb, and ground top round of beef, all certified for human consumption, and 10% USDA organ meats for a total of over 70% real fresh, human grade meat, then 15% fresh human grade fresh vegetables, washed, trimmed and ground, 10% various natural additives (whole fresh organic eggs pulverized whole, ground organic flax seed, whole organic yogurt, organic alfalfa powder, and fresh crushed garlic), and 5% ripe fruit, all carefully rinsed and trimmed. 

 

No commercially mass-produced dog food is made this way, even if you find it in the refrigerator section of your grocery store, or if it arrives in a box at your doorstep.  

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Napa Fresh is hand-packed in convenient one cup (8 oz) paper containers, then quickly frozen.

 

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• Improved health.

 

Experts agree that if you are currently feeding a processed, mass-produced, commercial diet like most dog owners, your dog's health will likely benefit from being fed at least some fresh whole food.

 

The many benefits cited by Dr. Billinghurst include:

 

• increased energy levels

• increased lean body mass

• many dental problems disappear

• many skin problems disappear

• infected ears become healthy

• anal sac problems disappear

• arthritis disappears

• incontinence disappears

• improved water balance (kidney)

• disappearance of "dry eye" syndrome

• resistance to internal and external parasites

• disappearing diabetes

• reproductive problems disappear

• improvements in behavior

• reduces the impact of a range of degenerative diseases (like cancer, the biggest killer of dogs)

 

Some conditions may even be reversed! We have been thrilled to hear from our customers that their dogs have finally started eating after refusing food and in a weight loss spiral, skin conditions disappeared, improved breath, kidney function restored, weight normalizing, fertility restored, diarrhea gone, normal stools returning and increased energy levels.

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Napa Fresh is naturally low in fat, and is perfect to treat pancreatitis and diabetes. Check with your vet, or check with Dr. Kevin Landau at www.landauvet.com. 

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Health. It's the reason we continue to make Napa Fresh, and have for over 11 years.

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• Reasonable cost.

 

The per serving cost of feeding Napa Fresh is very reasonable when you consider the investment you are making in your dog's health.

 

Dr. Marty Goldstein says, "Overall better health from a quality home made diet (such as Napa Fresh) can significantly reduce vet bills. If costs are factored in, then a home made diet is a bargain....". 

 

Yes your kibble bill will be reduced significantly or entirely, your vet bills will likely reduce, but more importantly you will be saving your dog from suffering many conditions, illnesses that can be brought on over time by eating inappropriate commercially-produced dog food, which is mostly made up of waste from the human food industry (see for yourself - compare our list of ingredients with any commercial brand - you won't even truly know what some of their ingredients are). 

 

• Dogs love it.

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Napa Fresh looks and smells great -- like a yummy meatloaf you made for your family's dinner. Dogs happily devour Napa Fresh.

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• Better than mass-produced or dehydrated raw food options.

 

Even the commercial raw diets on the market today don't compare with the ingredients or process that we use to make Napa Fresh.

 

The mass-producers of dog food do not use USDA inspected meats certified for human consumption that we use exclusively in our recipes. For example, many raw food manufacturers use waste, chicken frames and necks, as the primary source of "meat", slightly spoiled meats, or meats not fit for human consumption for a variety of reasons, and because it's cheaper than using USDA certified meats. Some buy the waste meat, emulsify it, and turn it into a slurry. This is why some "fresh" "raw" food looks like liverwurst, rather than meatloaf, because it is, in fact, processed.

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• Low risk of bacterial illness.

 

The risk of your dog, or you, becoming ill from salmonella or some other bacteria is small because of where our ingredients come from, and how we handle them. It is no more risky than than the meat you prepare for yourself or your family now.

 

All of our ingredients come from the same places you purchase food for yourselves: our local butcher and local grocery store  for all of our USDA inspected and approved meats, our local grocery store and local farms for our produce and eggs. In the 30 years we’ve been buying food from these same sources, we have never, ever had a scare from bacterial contamination.

 

Napa Fresh is NOT manufactured in a large processing plant in who-knows-where that uses waste from the human food industry, or meats that are not USDA inspected and approved for human consumption (likely the reason that these large commercial pet food manufacturers have so many recalls). We are different. We make our food here at Highmeadow Farm, in our own specially designed kitchen in small batches to maintain quality and freshness, freeze it immediately, and we follow safe handling precautions for raw meat just as we always have, and so should you.

 

That said, if you are hesitant about feeding raw food to your dog, read what these veterinarians have to say about it, then decide. If it still makes you uncomfortable, lightly cook the food. It is still a whole lot better than feeding a totally processed commercial diet.

 

Dr. Billinghurst says “The presence of bacteria in raw food often worries pet owners and vets. They assume the bacteria which are normally present in these foods, will make pets sick. In our long experience of feeding our own pets this way over 40 years, and literally thousands of clients doing the same (over 25 years), we find this fear to be groundless.”

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Dr. Becker states "Interestingly, there have never been any reported human or animal outbreaks of salmonella from consuming or touching raw pet food.

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So salmonella isn’t a problem for most dogs and cats, but contaminants certainly are. In addition to foreign substance-related impurities, pets regularly become ill from dry foods manufactured in this country that are contaminated by aflatoxins.

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In 2006, 76 dogs died from eating aflatoxin-tainted dry food. And in 2011, there were many brands of foods recalled for the same problem. Aflatoxins are a type of mycotoxins or fungal toxins that come from grains. So another benefit of feeding a grain-free or raw diet is you eliminate your pet’s risk of mycotoxin poisoning."

 

Read Dr. Becker's complete article, "The Biggest Myths About Raw Food and Why They're Mostly Nonsense" here.

 

Dr. Knueven writes “One concern often cited with the above two methods (he is referring to Dr. Billinghurst’s raw feeding methods in his article published in the 2012 winter issue of “Integrative Veterinary Care”) is the possible contamination of the food with pathogenic bacteria and/or parasites. Raw meat products for human or animal consumption are loaded with pathogenic bacteria that are killed when the meat is cooked. Serving these meats raw would appear to pose a danger to pets and their human companions. In my opinion, this danger is overblown. In one recent study, 33% of dry dog food samples and 8% of canned dog food samples tested positive for non-type specific E. coli, and 4% of canned food samples tested positive for cryptosporidium. Another report found up to 36% of healthy dogs and up to 18% of healthy cats shed salmonella in their stool. Decades of feeding raw meat diets shows fewer problems than commercial foods with their frequent recalls.”

 

Dr. Pitcairn’s book says “Let’s talk about using raw foods for animals. By this I mean feeding uncooked food as much as possible. Some things, like grains and some vegetables, will have to be cooked to be digestible, but meat, poultry , fish, dairy, eggs, soft vegetables, and fruits can all be fed raw with great benefit.

 

The living testimony exemplified in the many people and animals who thrive on diets that include plenty of fresh raw vegetables, fruits, dairy products, and other foods is enough to convince me that a diet of cooked foods alone will not maintain your pets in top-notch condition. Moreover, clinical experience over the last 27 years confirms this. The difference in many animals given a home-prepared, raw food diet after eating processed food most of their lives is nothing short of amazing.”

 

That said, if you think your dog is sick, take him or her to your vet. 

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