The Honest Kitchen: A Brief Look

As you know, we don’t do many pet food reviews. There are a few reasons for this. First, I don’t feel anywhere qualified enough to do pet food reviews as they relate to nutrition, sourcing of ingredients, processes, etc. Second, our “go-to” pet food resource is Dog Food Advisor and TruthAboutPetFood.com (we highly recommend that you visit these sites if you haven’t already) for any questions you have about pet food.

That said, we have been so very impressed with The Honest Kitchen after a recent feeding two-month feeding trial with our pets, that it has become our main pet food and we thought it would be unfair not to share this with you. (Also, we wanted to show you the new toy that we have for our dogs so they can get a treat and exercise at the same time – I promise you’ll want one of these…)

We (and our dogs) love a lot of things about The Honest Kitchen, but at the core – we love the amount of care that goes into each and every meal. We love the transparency that this company focuses on providing each day. And we love the fact that our dogs are utterly uncontrollable with excitement at each meal.

Currently, we are feeding Zeal, a fish-based dehydrated whole food diet, at night and Force, a grain-free dehydrated diet in the morning. During the day, the dogs get to chase down their favorite treats (see video) which are the Pecks (Buffalo and Blueberry) treats. We prefer to use our new “treat distribution method” which we are thinking of patenting…

Now, you probably heard that there was a recall not too long ago. This was for the human-grade parsley that goes into their food, and it effected all aspects of parsley – not just that for dogs. I think it’s good for a company to experience this once in their life as it really shows what they are made of. My experience with this recall was that The Honest Kitchen was not only fast-acting and thorough, they actually pulled products when they didn’t have too. That says a lot about the integrity of a group.

As many of you know, Bree and Brock have some pretty significant skin and digestive issues, as well as food allergies. They have recurring problems with yeast (the veterinarian believes) that include constant licking, recurring ear infections and more. Since we have been feeding Zeal, these symptoms have subsided dramatically. Not completely, and part of that may be due to the kibble we are supplementing with, but significant enough for me to safely call it an 85% decrease in problems. 

We’ve all heard the benefits of a raw diet and while I’m not completely sold on the concept that “true raw” is the best way to go for a myriad of reasons, I do think that companies like The Honest Kitchen offer the best midway points of a raw diet. The difference between this food and true raw food is that it is easier to feed, less expensive to feed, healthier to feed, and completely balanced nutritionally.

Prior to trying their food out, I had been put off by the texture (it looks a bit like oatmeal once it is prepared) and I really expected loose stools and other problems. However, I experienced none of these symptoms and we were able to switch foods much faster than I thought (within 3 days, we had completely converted from a dry diet to the Honest Kitchen diet).

What we did see was shinier coats, much less gastrointestinal upset, and an ease of switching between the many proteins that The Honest Kitchen offers, and less itching. There was no weight gain or loss, the dogs have maintained their perfect weight throughout the feeding trials.

Our first preference is Zeal. This product is designed for dogs with sensitivity to protein sources. Zeal is made with Ethoxyquin-free line-caught Haddock, wild Whiting and wild Salmon. It’s grain-free, gluten-free and specifically designed for hypoallergenic dog food diets. You can see the pieces of fish and other vegetables in the food when you mix it.

Making it is simple: Add warm water, stir, and serve. The hardest part is keeping the dogs from jumping up on the counter and otherwise annoying me as I stir the food. 

Once you check out The Honest Kitchen, you’ll find that minimal processing, amazing ingredients, and quality sourcing is the difference between their foods and others.

• They are the only food company to be able to officially claim “Human-grade”
• 100% of production takes place in North America
• All of their meats are hormone-free, they only use wild-caught fish, and 100% free-range, antibiotic-free and sustainably raised chicken from Petaluma Poultry in CA.
• They are an approved member of Green America
• Their facility is FDA inspected, has SQF (Safe Quality Food) certification, and conforms to HACCP (Hazard Assessment Critical Control Point) food safety regulations.

These are only a few of the main points you should know about. Since they are a 100% transparent corporation in regards to sourcing and manufacturing, you can look up all of the other amazing things online at their site.

Once you take a look, ask them for a free sample and then save 10% on your order by using coupon code PETSWEEK. We know your pets will love it as much as ours do.

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