# The Honest Kitchen



## shellbeme (Dec 8, 2010)

I am looking for some opinions on The Honest Kitchen foods, any of you use it? I'm thinking of doing one meal a day on kibble and one on this, I just can't afford to feed it full time. Anyone have any experience with it?


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## SaharaNight Boxers (Jun 28, 2011)

I was really looking into it, but my problem with it is it's like 50% carbs literally. You're paying for powdered veggies basically. If you're thinking of dehydrated I found Grandma Lucy's to be the best personally. Yes, they do use chickpeas to bump up the protein, but I believe on their bag it says dehydrated (meat source) first, so there's still more meat. One other option I found was NRG. It has yeast in it though. I don't know if that's a problem for you or not. And then there's Sojos although meat is the second ingredient. I wasn't crazy about that.


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## mheath0429 (Sep 8, 2012)

Go with Grandma Lucy's Pureformance. It's A LOT of meat. I fed it for a while before switching to raw, I fed it full time and it was cheaper than kibble. 10lb = 51lbs prepared. SO I averaged about 1.25/lb or so I believe.


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## Shamrockmommy (Sep 10, 2009)

I fed it for a year or so. I love the concept. It smells wonderful, easy to mix up, dogs love it! Coats were so so and they pooped huge four times a day. I also did kibble in the morning, thk at night and they did fine.


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## mheath0429 (Sep 8, 2012)

I had the poop issue with THK unless I fed the fish based food - but, it does have veggies in it, so that could be why.


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## Huskyluv (Jun 25, 2010)

I have fed THK and Grandma Lucy's and I definitely prefer the Grandma Lucy's Pureformance. Another option besides alternating feeding kibble and THK is to mix the two each meal. Whenever I have fed THK or Grandma Lucy's I always add something extra to it whether it's raw meat, cooked meat, kibble, or canned food. I always add stuff to THK or GL's because I do feel they could use a bit more meat.


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## shellbeme (Dec 8, 2010)

Thanks for your feedback everyone. I was drawn to THK because it has a very smooth consistency. I have two maltese, one who doesn't chew his food at all, so Grandma Lucy's concerns me a bit because it looks like it's bigger chunks, and I don't really want to spend a lot of time chopping it down. I will still give it a try though, maybe mix the two as suggested and see how it goes. I like to rotate things anyway. Do you think sojos compares to the others at all?


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## Huskyluv (Jun 25, 2010)

I did not like Sojos at all, way too little meat content and if you like smooth consistencies then Sojos is more "chunky". THK does have a smoother consistency than Grandma Lucy's but the meat chunks in GL are really not that big. I have 2 chihuahuas and they don't really chew either and they do just fine with GL. I find GL pork formula to have smaller meat chunks than the chicken formula, just my personal observation. Regardless, THK is a good food if that's what you and your dogs prefer. I had great results with THK, although my dogs have much larger stools and more frequent bowel movements on it. With GL their stool volume and frequency is more comparable to that of a good quality, grain free kibble. On THK my husky would have 3 large BM's per day, on the same amount of GL's he would have 1, maybe 2, medium BM's per day.


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## mheath0429 (Sep 8, 2012)

Hey Val! Didn't know you were on this site!


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## InkedMarie (Sep 9, 2011)

I'm a big THK fan. I've fed all except Preference and Verve. I think the Love and Zeal have the most meat but am not positive. I've seen many letters and before & after pictures of dogs who do great on it. Mine love all of them. If you decide to try it, save your upc's because they have a frequent buyer program. Sign up for their emails as well so you get coupons. If you use Kongs, a thicker amount works great in them, frozen.
It can cause more frequent or larger stools. I've fed it to seven dogs, I think and this was not an issue with all of them.


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## kevin bradley (Aug 9, 2009)

I like mixing it with dry kibble. Dogs go bonkers over it...

I'm not sure how anyone could afford to feed it full time. The stuff is just crazy expensive. You could feed real food for cheaper.


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## monster'sdad (Jul 29, 2012)

I'll pass it is owned by a very clever husband and wife team (and a private equity group) and neither have any experience in canine nutrition. The wife worked in venture capital and the husband was a designer at Nissan. The nutritionist runs a petsitting business.

Complete gimmick, but dogs do like the taste, and absurdly expensive. One formula has cabbage which is a horrible food for dogs.


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## InkedMarie (Sep 9, 2011)

kevin bradley said:


> I like mixing it with dry kibble. Dogs go bonkers over it...
> 
> I'm not sure how anyone could afford to feed it full time. The stuff is just crazy expensive. You could feed real food for cheaper.


it depends on which one you get. The Zeal is the most expensive and the Verve the cheapest, I think, of the ones that you feed as is.


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## SaharaNight Boxers (Jun 28, 2011)

monster'sdad said:


> I'll pass it is owned by a very clever husband and wife team (and a private equity group) and neither have any experience in canine nutrition. The wife worked in venture capital and the husband was a designer at Nissan. The nutritionist runs a petsitting business.
> 
> Complete gimmick, but dogs do like the taste, and absurdly expensive. One formula has cabbage which is a horrible food for dogs.


As much as the top part is true, I wouldn't say it's a gimmick. Espcially as a lot of dogs have improved on it and look pretty fantastic. I personally don't think you need to take formal major nutrition courses to formulate a dog food. I think if you research enough, find nutritional needs of dogs, maybe search about some herbs which they use, you can make a dog food in my opinion. It's not absolute rocket science. People homecook all the time and not specially from recipes all the time. 

The only thing about cabbage is that too much (specifically raw) can cause gas which could possibly lead to bloat. It does have antioxidant properties though. I see no wrong in including it.


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## mheath0429 (Sep 8, 2012)

I didn't take dog nutrition classes, yet I manage to tailor my dogs diets as needed...I for one think it is GREAT that THK came to be. I personally prefer Grandma Lucy's. 

So, what is so bad about cabbage?


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## CorgiPaws (Mar 31, 2009)

mheath0429 said:


> I didn't take dog nutrition classes, yet I manage to tailor my dogs diets as needed...I for one think it is GREAT that THK came to be. I personally prefer Grandma Lucy's.
> 
> So, what is so bad about cabbage?


Raw cabbage just produces a lot of gas, which can be a concern for dogs particularly prone to bloat.


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## shellbeme (Dec 8, 2010)

Wanted to report in that the dogs love the THK samples I recieved, going to try grandma lucy's too, I just don't have anywhere local I can get it from so I'm going to have to order it


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## meggels (May 30, 2010)

I can't really afford to feed it, but when I mix it (I've gotten samples) with Abbie's kibble and some warm water, she goes BANANAS over it lol. Stands there licking her bowl even when there's nothing left haha.


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## Unosmom (May 3, 2009)

we sell a good amount of it at work since a local holistic clinic recommends it to their customers, it seems to be a good option for dogs with digestive issues like IBD and colitis, as well as senior dogs that can't eat kibble anymore and are very picky. I prefer their grain free varieties like embark and zeal.


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