Product Review: Stella & Chewy's Lil' Superblends Meal Mixer

My dog says today we're talking toppers! Although this topper can also be a rehydrated food, a mixer, or even a treat! What is it, you ask. It's Stella & Chewy's Lil' Superblends Meal Mixer!

For this review we tried the 95% cage-free chicken recipe (with organs and bone) and 100% organic fruit and vegetable superfoods that is packed with nutrients, probiotics, and antioxidants. Not only do probiotics help with healthy digestion and prove gentle on sensitive tummies, but a raw diet can help improve appetite, teeth and gum health, skin and coat condition, and also relieve allergies.

As always, we like to take a careful look at the ingredient list on all the foods we serve. This variety of meal mixer includes chicken with ground bone, chicken liver, chicken gizzard, organic bananas, and organic wild blueberries as its first five ingredients. It also has strawberries, cranberries, spinach, broccoli, beets, carrots squash, and apples (all organic!) and also pumpkin seed.

So how do you serve this food? Well, you can give it to your pups several different ways! You can either serve it on top of kibble, or you can mix it in with kibble, or with kibble and wet food. You may give it as treats if you want. You could also add warm water and rehydrate it. We thought we'd do just that and see how it went over. (There are instructions on the bag to help you get the ratio right and serve the proper portion size, too.)

Weeeellll, making it soft was the a huge hit! Everyone wanted to sample the goods and scarf it up! 

We ordered the Stella & Chewy's Lil' Superblends Meal Mixer from Chewy.com and it's available in two sizes. (Remember, the weight for freeze-dried foods is always less that what you'd expect but generally turn out to be more food than you'd anticipate! We started with the smaller size, but since it's such a huge hit we'll be ordering the larger size next time---and there will be a next time!) We're excited to say that this food was a big-time winner in our home and we give it an enthusiastic four out of four paws up! Wooooof! 

Disclaimer: As a Chewy influencer, we received this product for free so we could sample it. Our reviews, however, are not bought or paid for and you can count on My Dog Says Woof to give you an honest assessment in all our product reviews.  

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Product Review: Instinct Raw Boost Mixers for Cats

My dog says today we'll be taking a look at kitty yummies! Well, Instinct by Nature's Variety Raw Boost Mixers can be used as a mix-in, topper, or a treat, whichever your feline prefers. So, let's take a look at this item and see what our taste tester KitCat thinks!

Instinct is a freeze dried food and we let KitCat sample the chicken flavor.  One of the nice things about this food is it's an all natural, grain-free, minimally processed, raw, whole food. It's made with cage-free chicken, chicken liver, pumpkin seeds, carrots, apples, butternut squash, turkey liver, turkey heart, and a few other all natural ingredients (all fruits and veggies in this recipe are non-GMO, too!). Freeze dried foods remove the moisture, while locking in the nutrients and flavor. Therefore, it's generally a really solid food choice for your pets.

We've added these little nuggets to the kitty kibble and we've also given them out as treats. Each piece is about the size of woman's fingernail (not the false ones!) so they're a good size for eating. Oh, and this food is made in the United States! But, all this said, did KitCat like it?

He did! Meowza!

We got the Instinct by Nature's Variety Raw Boost Mixers for Cats from Chewy.com where it also has overwhelmingly positive reviews. It comes in a 6 ounce bag and is a good price for a freeze dried food. Six ounces may not sound like a lot, but remember that this is freeze dried so it's light and actually a good amount of food. You'll probably be surprised how long it lasts!

So, while KitCat is munching on his Mixers, we'll go ahead and submit his four out of four paws up rating. This product is a real winner!

Disclaimer: As a Chewy influencer, we received this product for free so we could sample it. Our reviews, however, are not bought or paid for and you can count on My Dog Says Woof to give you an honest assessment in all our product reviews.  Tweet

Product Review: Sojos Mix-a-Meal Freeze Dried Dog Food

My dog says today we're going to look at a brand that is new to us: Sojos. This company has been around for almost 40 years, but it's one we weren't familiar with so we wanted to check it out.

We decided to sample the Sojo's Mix-a-Meal Freeze Dried Turkey, which is grain free. Chewy.com has it listed as a topper so it seemed like a good first product to start with.

When the package arrived, we saw the spoon over the bowl on the front of the bag and we started to wonder if it was a food we needed to add water to. We read everything on the bag and it said nothing about water, so we used it as a topper and a treat.

The Sojos Mix-a-Meal has one ingredient: turkey. It's a ready-to-eat protein that can be added to any food. Sojos ingredients are globally sourced, but nothing comes from China. The product is made in America in the state of Minnesota.

We wanted to give each of the dogs a nugget to sample first, fully intending to snap a photo and then move on to feeding...but that was not to be. As soon as we opened the bag and started to pour it into a bowl so we could take a photo, a full scale riot ensued! The dogs started running around, barking, and jumping. They were beside themselves trying to get to the food. It was unlike anything we've ever seen!

Important Note: We poured the nuggets into the bowl for photo purposes only. The food should not be served this way. It needs to be added to something else (e.g. kibble, pre-mix, wet food, etc) so it's a complete and balanced meal. 

We quickly took the bowl and started to hand out samples with one hand, and held the camera with the other so we could snap a picture of them taking the nuggets. Well, we literally couldn't take a photo quickly enough before they snatched the nuggets and gulped them down. We tried...and tried...and tried. The camera simply couldn't take a photo quicker than the dogs could wolf down a nugget! Soooooo, that said, here's a pic of two of the pups with blurry tongues after grabbing and gulping down the Sojos nuggets.

We were thrilled with how much the pups loved the Sojos, so we looked around Chewy to see what other products Sojos offers. They have a ton of items to choose from and there's a premix that can be used with this "protein" line so you can offer your pup a nutritionally-balanced meal. We'll have to try that next.

Chewy offers an 8 ounce bag of the Sojos Mix-a-Meal freeze dried turkey flavor. Even though 8 ounces doesn't sound like a lot, you'll be surprised how big the bag is. We have small dogs in the house and know this bag will last awhile (remember, this is for supplemental feeding and isn't a well-rounded meal on its own so it'll last longer than you might suspect).

Based on the mayhem that ensued the moment we opened the bag, we give the Sojos Mix-a-Meal an overwhelming four out of four paws! We highly recommend you try this product!

Disclaimer: As a Chewy influencer, we received this product for free so we could sample it. Our reviews, however, are not bought or paid for and you can count on My Dog Says Woof to give you an honest assessment in all our product reviews. 


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Product Review: Stewart Freeze Dried Dog Food

My dog says we like to try out new foods, so this week we're sampling something from a brand we're only vaguely familiar with. Stewart is a 40 year old company and their foods are made with human grade ingredients produced in USDA-inspected facilities. Those are all things that are super important, so we felt this was a product we wanted to learn more about. We've tried the freeze dried treats from Stewart in the past and the pups really liked them, so we were eager to test out the Stewart freeze dried food.

This freeze dried food is made with single or limited source protein from the states, and is made in the USA, as well. Both grain and gluten-free, it has flaxseed meal and salmon oil (which both possess natural omega fatty acids) to promote vitality, a shiny coat, and healthy skin. It also contains vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and antioxidants to support health and wellness.

The freeze drying process apparently helps to retain the flavor and smell of the ingredients, while also keeping the the nutritional value of the raw ingredients intact. Also, although not a traditional limited ingredient food, it comes close. We normally don't give the full ingredient list, but we will here so you can see the quality of it.

Turkey, Ground Turkey Bone, Turkey Heart, Turkey Liver, Apples, Carrots, Lettuce, Watermelon, Egg, Ground Flaxseed, Inulin, Salmon Oil, Apple Cider Vinegar, Blueberry, Cranberry, Dried Kelp, Potassium Chloride, Sodium Chloride, Whole Ginger, Whole Parsley, Whole Garlic, Zinc Proteinate, Iron Proteinate, Vitamin E Supplement, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Mixed Tocopherols (as preservative), Vitamin D Supplement.

We really like the versatility with this product. Note that it is not a food that requires hydration, so there's no need to add water; just serve as is. It can fed as a main meal, used as a treat, or even added to kibble for a nice nutritional boost. The pieces even tear easily if you wanted to make them smaller for toy sized pups (that's a pinky in the photo so you can gauge the size)! (I broke up each piece into three for the smaller dogs and left full size for my larger ones.)

All the dogs really, really loved these nuggets...a lot!

Chewy sells the Stewart Raw Naturals Grain Free, Turkey Recipe Freeze Dried food in a 12 ounce and 24 ounce bag. The 12 ounce is way bigger than you'd think and will last awhile if used as a treat. If you intent to fed as a meal or kibble supplement, you'd be better off buying the 24 ounce sized option (which is twice as much food but only 50% higher in price, so it's a better bargain).

We are pleased to give the Stewart Raw Naturals food four out of four paws! It was super easy to serve and every dog we've given it to (ours, the neighbors' dogs, family members' dogs, etc.) have absolutely flipped over it. We will be ordering this food again... and again...and again.

Disclaimer: As a Chewy influencer, we received this product for free so we could sample it. Our reviews, however, are not bought or paid for and you can count on My Dog Says Woof to give you an honest assessment in all our product reviews.   Tweet

Product Review: Stella and Chewy's Freeze Dried Cat Food

My dog says KitCat is taking over the blog today! We love to try different freeze dried foods, so we were eager to check out Stella and Chewy's Sea-licious Salmon and Cod Grain-Free Freeze-Dried Cat food. Meow wow!

Ingredients:

The first five ingredients in this particular recipe are salmon (ground with bone), cod (also ground with bone, cod liver oil, pumpkin seed, and potassium chloride. This food is made with sustainably-sourced ingredients and is 98% wild caught salmon and cod, organs, and bone. Lots of raw food nutrition.

Usability:

Freeze-dried foods need to be mixed with water to make a meal, but I used these nuggets as treats instead. Initially, I was concerned over the size; they looked too big for a cat. I thought I'd have to break each piece into two, but I was wrong. KitCat took each piece and was able to chew it or break it apart fine. If you give them as treats, be sure the water bowl is full.

If you choose to mix it with water for a meal, the nuggets are a little easier to work with than the traditional powdery freeze-dried food. The consistency is nice, but you can make it firmer of smoother depending on your cat's needs.

We also like that the pouch sealed easily for storage, but didn't find the "easy open" very easy.

Origin:

Made in America, in Stella and Chewy's own kitchen.

Cost:

Freeze-dried foods are always a little pricey, so you have to expect that. It's just how it is. The 3.5 ounce bag of Stella and Chewy's Sea-licious, Grain-Free, Freeze-Dried food is currently $9.49 at chewy.com.

Rating:

KitCat loves freeze-dried foods, and Stella and Chewy's Sea-licious is no different. This food was a success and earns four paws up from our resident feline!

Disclaimer: As a Chewy influencer, we received this product for free so we could sample it. Our reviews, however, are not bought or paid for and you can count on My Dog Says Woof to give you an honest assessment in all our product reviews. Tweet

Product Review: Instinct Raw Boost Mixers

My dog says we love simple ingredient foods. That's why we jumped at the chance to test out Instinct by Nature's Variety Raw Boost Mixers. What did the canine crew think of this dried food topper (they sure liked the smell of the bag!)? Let's get started...

Ingredients:

Although this is not a one ingredient food, it's still a simple ingredient recipe which we like. We tried the turkey flavor and were pleased to learn it is cage free turkey and the veggies and fruits are non GMO. There is no grain, potato, corn, wheat, soy, by-product meal, or artificial colors or preservatives, either.

We normally list the first five ingredients, but we're going to list them all this time since we think it's useful. The mixer includes turkey, turkey liver, pumpkin seeds, turkey heart, carrots, apples, butternut squash, ground flaxseed, montmorillonite clay, dried kelp, broccoli, mixed tocopherols, apple cider vinegar, salmon oil, rosemary extract, blueberries, and dried chicory root.

The mixers also come in other varieties including chicken, beef, and lamb.

Usability:

Since this is a dry nugget, it's very easy to use and takes no time to prepare. The mixer can be used to top kibble, wet food, and can even be used as a treat. The pieces are slightly different sizes, but are generally about the size of the first section of your pinky finger. Small dogs can also eat the pieces just fine since they're easy to chew and not hard like some other dried food products we've tried.

Origin:

Made in the United States.

Cost:

At chewy.com, the 6 ounce bag of The Instinct by Nature's Variety Raw Boost Mixers is currently $10.79 and the 14 ounce is $25.19. This price is in line with most freeze dried foods which always cost more than standard fare.

Rating:

The dogs just love this mixer! We used it as a topper for kibble and also as a treat. It's a solid four paws up, for sure!


Disclaimer: As a Chewy influencer, we received this product for free so we could sample it. Our reviews, however, are not bought or paid for and you can count on My Dog Says Woof to give you an honest assessment in all our product reviews.  Tweet