The Northwest Naturals Story:
Northwest Naturals is proudly owned by Morasch Meats in Portland, Oregon. Morasch Meats has been a family run business since 1956, specializing in meat processing products for restaurants, grocery stores, and independent retailers. The Morasch Meats facility officially became a USDA inspected and certified facility in 1980, and soon after they were asked to produce a private-label pet food under the strict guideline of a USDA facility. For the past 20 years, Morasch Meats has been a leader in developing unique and high quality products for the pet industry. In addition to the 85,000 square foot primary facility, Morasch Meats proudly acquired an additional 90,000 square foot facility where High Pressure Processing and Freeze Drying for both human and pet products takes place. Morasch Meats has been on the cutting edge of advanced food processing technologies and will continue to be so well into the future.
In 2004, Morasch Meats founded Northwest Naturals as their own brand of raw frozen pet food. We are fortunate to benefit from the knowledge and trusted techniques of Morasch Meats to ensure the highest quality of products for you and your pets.
What Kind Of Cat Food Does Northwest Naturals Offer
Northwest Naturals is dedicated to bringing a natural carnivore diet for cats and dogs. Since wild cats are not supposed to eat highly-processed or carb-dense meals in the wild, the company manufactures the cat food from raw meat and then freezes it to lock all nutrients in food.
All the recipes are very simple, but they deliver all the essential elements that processed cat food sometimes lacks. Northwest Naturals uses muscle meat, organs, and raw ground bones of the same fish or animal species without any fruit or vegetables. In this way, your feline eats natural meals inspired by its wild spirit.
Since the formulas contain bones, you might be worried about the mineral content. In particular, the phosphorus level, which is a critical parameter for senior felines or ones with kidney issues. Northwest Naturals food contains a moderate phosphorus level, so its safe for cats that are in the kidney failure risk zone. However, youd better ask your vet if they approve of this diet.
If you are concerned about the longevity of raw food, Northwest Naturals uses high-pressure processing to extend the shelf life of the raw food without changing its properties. The pressure reduces common foodborne pathogens, like Salmonella, E. coli, and Listeria, so the package could be stored much longer without breaking amino acids, proteins, enzymes, and other components.
Northwest Naturals offer two product line-ups:
- Frozen cat nibbles
- Freeze-dried cat nibbles
Raw May Not Be Your Best Option
Feeding raw can be a messy proposition. In addition to feeding your cat playing meat, you also have to seek out organ meat and bone to ensure that theyre getting all of the vitamins they need. You may also have to add nutritional supplements which can be expensive or hard to find. You may have to seek out a specialty store or butcher shop in order to procure the kind of meats that your cat needs.
You generally cant have as much fresh raw food on hand as you can with canned food or dry kibble. You may find yourself needing to shop more frequently for cat food, which is a great inconvenience.
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Convenient Raw Formula For Cats Without The Freezer
Northwest Naturals Freeze Dried Raw Diet Cat Food offers a convenient, easy way to supplement raw into your cat’s diet, featuring meat from the finest natural food stores. Choose from a Chicken or Turkey Recipe your cat will love! Simply add warm water, rehydrate and serve.
Freeze Dried Raw Diet Cat Food meats are chopped and undergo a quick freezing process to maintain ingredient quality. These recipes are in nugget form making them easy to feed- simply pour straight from the bag. This convenient raw formula has a shelf life of 2 years unopened or 1-2 months opened and stored properly.
Available in two flavors, Chicken or Turkey Recipe and 4 oz or 11 oz sizes.
Country of origin: Manufacturer:
Chicken Recipe
Ingredients – Chicken, Chicken Necks, Chicken Hearts, Chicken Liver, Egg, Ground Flaxseed, Kelp, Organic Dulse Powder, Gelatin, Organic Psyllium Husk Powder, Fish Oil, Potassium Chloride, Sodium Chloride, Taurine, Vitamin B Supplement, Zinc Proteinate, Iron Proteinate, Vitamin E Supplement, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Mixed Tocopherols , Vitamin D Supplement.
*Fish Oil – Combination of Alaska Wild Caught Salmon, Pollock and Herring oils
Calories – 3,807 kcal/kg, 134 kcal/oz
Guaranteed Analysis
Northwest Naturals Frozen Cat Nibbles Review
Frozen cat nibbles by Northwest Naturals are pieces of blended meat, organs, bones, and other ingredients, minerals, and vitamins that come in the pre-sized kibble form.
The peculiar feature of this frozen cat food is that all the ingredients are mixed and then blended into a uniform consistency. Then the mass is poured onto trays, gets frozen and cut into smaller pieces.
These recipes are made of the same meat you can find in your grocery stores, so the available flavors are chicken, turkey, duck, rabbit, and whitefish. They never mix protein sources and use all the meaty ingredients from a single species.
The Northwest Naturals Frozen Chicken Nibbles are one of the bestsellers and are loved by cats. This is high-quality frozen raw food that offers plenty of nutrients for the feline in the bowl. Since this food doesnt undergo processing at high temperatures, all the essentials are locked into the food and are waiting till the time they arrive at a cats tummy to be distributed over the whole body.
Ingredients:
Chicken, Chicken Necks, Chicken Hearts, Chicken Liver, Egg, Gelatin, Water, Dulse Powder, Dried Kelp, Ground Flaxseed, Organic Psyllium Husk Powder, Salmon Oil.
Warning!
Before serving this frozen food, thaw the portion in your fridge overnight in a container or 20-30 mins at room temperature.
Good Stuff About These Northwest Naturals Frozen Chicken Nibbles:What You Might not Like About These Northwest Naturals Frozen Chicken Nibbles:
- Gets easily spoiled
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Overview Of The Northwest Naturals Brand
The Northwest Naturals brand was founded in 1956 and has remained a family-owned business since its inception. This brand is unique in that they only offer freeze-dried and raw frozen cat food products.
This brand offers their customers what they call the Northwest Naturals Difference which promises the highest quality ingredients and manufacturing processes. Their products are chopped with a single grinding process to ensure the proteins arent crushed or overworked, and the pieces are individually quick frozen to preserve product integrity.
Northwest Naturals may not be the biggest brand out there, but they are committed to the quality and safety of their products. They are also committed to independent retailers, maintaining that long-term commodity relationships means consistency in recipes.
What Is Manufacturing Facility Location
Morasch Meats has two manufacturing locations in Portland and Oregon. By the way, their facility was the first production building certified by USDA to produce raw frozen pet food. All cat recipes are made in the same premises used for making meat products for people, so you can be sure that your feline gets the best raw meat meal.
Northwest Naturals stands for eco-friendly manufacturing, so it upgrades technology and facilities to produce quality raw cat food without contaminating the environment. They recycle metals, plastics, office supplies and stick to energy efficiency programs.
Northwest Naturals cat food is made of ingredients that are mainly sourced from the USA. However, some of the meat types come from New Zealand and France . It is dictated by the desire to use only the highest quality Northwest Naturals cat food ingredients that would allow producing exceptional and safe raw pet food.
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Transitioning Your Cat To Raw Food
Transitioning your cat to raw food when they previously only ever eaten dry kibble or wet can food can be tricky. Cats may not recognize a piece of chicken on a bone as being something that they should eat, especially if theyve been trained to avoid eating people food. Cats can be especially picky about how their food looks and feels in their mouths.
Freeze Dried Raw Dog Food: Most Value For Money
First, lets address the elephant in the room.
Cost is the main reason that we do not feed Primal as a main meal for Ashley.Ashley the Border Collies review on FurFlr
Freeze dried raw dog food is expensive so I was interested to find out how these five freeze dried brands compared with each other. Are there particular freeze dried brands that are cheaper or last longer compared to others?
It seems like based on Donnas weight of 14 kg or 30 pounds, most freeze-dried dog raw food at around 12-15 oz packs will feed Donna between three to five and a half days.
List of freeze dried food in order from lowest to highest cost per meal
Scroll down for details in the photos below. You can see how I have repacked each pack of freeze dried food into daily servings based on its recommended feeding guide. This gives you an easy to see view of the number of days they can last, and the cost per meal for a 14kg dog like Donna.
People do adjust the amount they feed based on whether their dog has gained or lost weight while on the food. Obviously, its not advisable to keep feeding the recommended amount if your dog is overweight and not losing weight at all.
But the interesting thing is, each of these brands have different recommendations how much kilocalories a day that 14kg Donna needs. You can see in the table below, the recommended kcal/per day can range anywhere from 401kcal/day to 726kcal/day! Thats a big range.
So the key takeaway here is:
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Is Northwest Naturals Good For Your Cat
If your feline doesnt have any health conditions that forbid your cat to eat raw food or your pet already sticks to the raw diet, you should give Northwest Naturals frozen food a try.
Based on the above Northwest Naturals cat food reviews, this company produces delicious cat raw meals by following safety and quality standards. They add organic ingredients and avoid any GMO- or antibiotic-based products.
All Northwest Naturals products are made of the only meat protein source, like chicken, turkey, duck, rabbit, and whitefish. Of course, you wont find a great assortment of flavors in this brand, but the quality of the existing ones is more critical, in my humble opinion. So, all the recipes are made of muscle meat, protein-rich organs like lungs, hearts, livers, and are enhanced with eggs, kelp, salmon oil, and ground flaxseed to bring the essential elements that meat lacks.
The company doesnt add fillers, grains, vegetables, and fruit and completely relies on meat and minerals to build a balanced and nutritionally-rich cats diet.
Is Northwest Naturals Worth Trying
Of course, there are many pros and cons of raw cat food. If you are inclined to believe in only the positive sides of the raw diet, Northwest Naturals might be a good brand to go with.
Northwest Naturals recipes are all organic and contain the meat and organs of only one animal species, which makes the digestion process much easier for felines. Besides, there are no grains, fillers, or vegetables that might be hard to digest. Thus, this cat food is known to be a remedy for tummy issues and can be a great diet for pets who do not tolerate grains and gluten.
The company offers the same recipes in two different manufacturing variations: just frozen and dried-freeze. The first one requires special storage conditions and has a limited shelf life. Because of this, the food gets spoiled once you do not stick to the temperature regime or do not use the opened package within 3 days. These inconveniences turn away many customers, and they switch to dried-freeze options because they might be stored at room temperatures and have a much longer expiration period. As these meals are dehydrated, you need to add some water to bring back the moisture level.
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A True Carnivore Diet
We use the same meats found at your finest natural food stores. All of our muscle and organ meats are chopped partially frozen at the time of processing to ensure the availability of the highest quality nutrients, then individually quick frozen to keep the integrity of the ingredient quality.
Our recipes are very simple: muscle meat, organ meats and natural raw ground bone, all from the same species. No added fruits or vegetables. A true carnivore diet!
- Freeze Dried Diets in the perfect cat size nibbles
- Pour and feed straight from the bag
- Always make sure water is available with any freeze dried foods
- Shelf life for freeze dried is 2 years unopened 1-2 mos. if stored properly after opening
- Complete and Balanced Diets can also be used for treats or as a topper
- All poultry products are HPPd for product and food handling safety
- Highest quality muscle and organ meats
- Chicken, Duck, Turkey and Whitefish Sourced in the USA. Rabbit sourced in France.
- No Added Hormones and Antibiotic Free Federal regulations prohibit the use of hormones in poultry.
- 2 sizes for added convenience
Interpreting Cat Food Ratings
Brands with an A to A- grade should be at the top of your list when shopping for cat food. They stand out with superior nutrition, great customer experience, and high ingredient quality. In many cases, theyve never been recalled.
Brands between B+ and C score well in some areas and fall short in others. You can find great products from these brands, but it will take more effort compared to top-rated brands.
While brands rated C- or lower may be good choices, they usually have problems. Common flaws include quality control issues, low-value ingredients, or a messy recall history. Consider us your trusted cat food advisor that can help with cat food comparison across different brands.
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How To Make Raw Cat Food
Northwest Naturals Cat Nibbles Duck Recipe Freeze
- Freeze Dried Diets in the perfect cat size nibbles
- Just pour and feed straight from the bag
- Always make sure water is available with any freeze fried foods
- Shelf life for Freeze Dried is 2 years unopened 1-2 mos. if stored properly after opening
- Complete and Balanced Diets can also be used for treats or as a topper
- All poultry products are HPPd for product and food handling safety
- Highest quality muscle and organ meats
- Chicken and Turkey Sourced in the USA
- No Added Hormones and Antibiotic Free Federal regulations prohibit the use of hormones in poultry
- 2 sizes for added convenience
Ingredients
Duck with Bone, Duck Heart, Duck Liver, Egg, Dulse Powder, Kelp, Distilled Water, Gelatin, Ground Flaxseed, Psyllium Husk Powder, Salmon Oil, Inulin, Potassium Chloride, Sodium Chloride, Mixed Tocopherols . Fish Oil*, Zinc Proteinate, Vitamin E Supplement, Taurine, Iron Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Vitamin A, Vitamin B6, Thiamin Mononitrate, Vitamin D3 Supplement. *Fish Oil, Combination of Alaska Wild Caught Salmon, Pollock and Herring oils.
Guaranteed Analysis
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What Kinds Of Cat Food Does Northwest Naturals Offer
Northwest Naturals offers two types of cat foodfrozen and freeze-dried. These low-temperature processes extend the foods longevity, and reduce the risk of pathogen contamination. Compared to high-temperature processing, leave more nutrients intact.
Additionally, Northwest Naturals uses HPP to break the cell walls of foodborne pathogens without damaging amino acids, fibers, enzymes, and other beneficial components.
Both their freeze-dried and frozen recipes are made from muscle meat, organs, and raw ground bone with no vegetables or fruits. Theyre broken down into what the company calls nibblesbite sized pieces that are easy for cats to eat.
While some other brands go overboard with bone and have excessive mineral content, Northwest Naturals foods have moderate phosphorus, making them an acceptable option for seniors and those concerned about kidney health. Along with controlled bone content, the foods use of fiber supplements makes Northwest Naturals food less likely to cause constipation.
Stella & Chewys Freeze Dried Raw Dog Food
Whats in my bag of freeze dried dandy lamb dinner patties?
What I like about Stella & Chewys
Stella & Chewys branding focuses very much on organic raw ingredients.
It all began when I adopted Stella, a terrier mix, in 1997. I figured shed be happier if she had a boyfriendso Chewy, an Airedale/Shar-Pei mix, joined the family.
I soon found out from the vet that Chewy was very sick with distemper. I began researching raw diets so I could nurse Chewy back to health. I shopped at Whole Foods, filling my cart with organic meats and veggies, which I prepared for him. Chewys health dramatically improved on this organic dog food diet.
Based on my success with Chewy, I was determined to bring a healthy pet-food product to marketStella & Chewys, my organic raw pet food line, was born in 2004.
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Besides the focus on quality, this product is also the only one of the five examined in this post with not less than 10,000,000 CFU/oz microorganisms in the bag. This is a level significant enough for the food to give your dog the benefit of its healthful, probiotic properties.
More about Stella & Chewys 5 Star review on dogfoodadvisor.com
What I didnt like about Stella & Chewys
Again this is less of an issue if you rotate brands or even rotate between different formats of food such as home-cooked, dry food, etc.
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