Woody’s Pet Food Deli

Oprah Winfrey, Martha Stewart, and other celebrities should not be the only ones who can afford to feed their pets real food.  Because real food is more nutrient dense and bioavailable than dry and canned pet foods, you feed less.  Plus you can save by mixing real food with a good quality kibble or just simply replacing kibble with home-cooked rice, mashed sweet or regular potatoes.  So how much is it to upgrade your pet’s diet to real food? Below is a cost comparison table for a pet being fed 1 cup of dry food. This table assumes that the average low-end dry food is $1.50/lb (e.g. Pedigree, Purina, Iams, Eukanuba, Science Diet, etc) and premium food is $2.00/lb (e.g. Canidae, Wellness, Solid Gold, California Natural, etc), and ultra premium food is $3.00/lb (e.g. Halo, Orijen, Organix, etc). 

Download our feeding and food cost calculator and our pricelist (need MS Excel to run both files) and see how much it would cost to feed your pet real food.  

Another benefit of feeding whole foods is lesser vet bills.  A Canine Health Concern survey of their members showed that their vet bills decreased 80% after the switch to real food.  We personally can attest to this after spending about $600 in vet bills for Woody just trying to control his diarrhea and vomitting during his first month with us.  But since moving him to a real food diet, we now see the vet only for Woody's bi-annual check-up.  Similar to us people, proper nutrition is an investment in the long-term health of our pets. After all, good food is preventive healthcare. 

(1) Real food is more nutrient dense and bio-available, needing less per serving vs kibble.  This diet of 100% Woody’s real food is ideal for cats.

(2) We prefer mixing Woody’s real food with mashed sweet/regular potatoes (using water not milk) or brown rice, than kibbles.  Kibbles, even ultra-premium varieties, do no compare to the nutrients your pets can get from real food.  Plus whole foods are free of the questionable additives in kibbles and canned pet food.  Please note that some pets may not do well with rice.

(3) Assumes $0.15, $0.70, and $0.35 per pound of cooked rice, mashed sweet potato, and mashed potato respectively.  Mashed sweet and regular potato will be 50% potato + 50% water.  We recommend at least 60% Woody’s real food for dogs.

*Woody’s non-supplemented raw ground free range chicken necks/wings/backs/organs

**Woody’s non-supplemented cooked ground whole chicken (w/ bones & organs)

The difference has been "night and day" for Tim according to Crystal Bradley, Tim's mom.  The sores and inflammation on Tim's behind has completely healed after 4 months on raw food.  To all the manufacturers of commercial and prescription diets that caused him so much suffering, Tim can now say..."kiss my @@@@!"  

Most prevalent pet health issues are food related

Veterinary Pet Insurance (VPI) Company lists the most common customer claims for 2005

Holistic vets argue that most of the problems in VPI’s list are caused by poor nutrition and over-vaccination.    Unfortunately, most pet parents consider feeding good food only when their pet becomes besieged by disease.  Good food is primarily preventive, not curative medicine.  Once a disease occurs, it is hard to remedy using diet alone.

Top 10 Reasons for Vet Visits according to the Veterinary Pet Insurance (VPI):

Dog

1. skin allergies
2. ear infections
3. stomach upsets
4. balder infections
5. benign tumors
6. osteoarthritis
7. sprains
8. eye infections
9. enteritis
10. hypothyroidism

Cat

1. urinary tract infections
2. stomach upsets
3. kidney disease
4. skin allergies
5. respiratory infections
6. diabetes
7. ear infections
8. colitis
9. eye infections
10. wound infections

"Boo, our cat, has had chronic diarrhea for the entire time I've had him.  I got Boo from the St. Paul Humane Society about five years ago, and I suspect his severe bowel problems were a major reason he'd been dropped off there.   The loose stools were not pleasant for Boo, and the incessant cleaning was not pleasant for us.  Since I got Boo, we tried nearly every treatment suggested by our vet(s) and others.  We changed Boo's diet (prescription food, raw food, mixes from Chuck and Don's).  Several weeks ago we were prepared to take the next step of using steroids as recommended by the U of MN Veterinary Clinic.  By chance we saw an ad for Woody's Pet Food Deli in Minneapolis. We decided to try it since we were concerned that steroids might affect Boo's sweet personality. Within a week on Woody's food, Boo's bowel problems disappeared!  We still can't believe it.  Boo loves Woody's whole, natural food.  His poop is totally normal, formed and nearly odorless.  All of our cats (we have four) are now eating Woody's whole, natural foods.  Their coats look great, and they seem to have more energy."

- Wendy Weden, St. Paul, MN  

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:  The first dog food marketed as "complete" was 1907's Milkbone biscuits, talk about making our pets herbivores!