Author Topic: Stella & Chewy's is making kibble now.  (Read 1581 times)

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Offline Middle Child

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Stella & Chewy's is making kibble now.
« on: May 05, 2017, 07:16:02 PM »
So first they ruin the cat freeze dried raw product by adding two horrible ingredients.  That, no doubt is to make the product in a cheaper way while still charging a high price, increasing the profit.

Now they've gone one step further and are making kibble.  So going against everything they supposedly stood for, when they first started up.

Is it greed, or necessity, that makes these once good companies stoop so low?

Go to the link, hover over "dogs" you will see "meal mixers to "kick start kibble" and two kinds of kibble.

Offline Middle Child

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Re: Stella & Chewy's is making kibble now.
« Reply #1 on: May 05, 2017, 07:20:44 PM »
Here's the ingredients of the chicken kibble.  Look at all the junk in the first ingredients.  And we all know what happens to chicken as the first ingredient, when the food is actually processed.  Drops way way down on the list. Those livers and gizzards, as well, wil actually be down near the bottom.

Chicken, chicken meal, chickpeas, peas, chicken liver, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), chicken heart, natural chicken flavor, salmon oil, suncured alfalfa, chicken gizzard, fenugreek seed, flaxseed, coconut oil, pumpkin seed, organic cranberries, organic spinach, organic beets, organic carrots, organic squash, organic blueberries, pumpkin, inulin (from chicory root), thyme, sage, rosemary extract, tocopherols (preservative), dried kelp, taurine, potassium chloride, choline chloride, calcium carbonate, dicalcium phosphate, tricalcium phosphate, sodium phosphate, zinc proteinate, iron proteinate, copper proteinate, manganese proteinate, sodium selenite, vitamin E supplement, thiamine mononitrate, niacin supplement, d-calcium pantothenate, riboflavin supplement, vitamin A supplement, vitamin D3 supplement, vitamin B12 supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, folic acid, salt, dried Pediococcus acidilactici fermentation product, dried Lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, dried Bifidobacterium longum fermentation product.

Offline DeeDee

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Re: Stella & Chewy's is making kibble now.
« Reply #2 on: May 05, 2017, 09:55:00 PM »
All they've really done is try to make their own version of Nature's Variety Instinct and Instinct Raw Boost.  :(
"In order to really enjoy a dog, one doesn't merely try to train him to be semihuman. The point of it is to open oneself to the possibility of becoming partly a dog." Edward Hoagland
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Offline Middle Child

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Re: Stella & Chewy's is making kibble now.
« Reply #3 on: May 07, 2017, 08:54:04 AM »
Their response to my question about why are they making kibble and it goes against everything that the company originally stood for (and of course I threw in another complaint about what they did to the cat food)

thanks for reaching out. We have always been about making raw more available and convenient and believe any amount of raw in an animal's diet is valuable. When developing our kibble we focused on creating a less processed baked product to offer a better kibble that includes freeze dried raw in every bite with our same commitment to pristine ingredients. The reality is that the majority of pet parents feed a kibble so we want offer the best possible kibble while also introducing many more people to raw. With our full raw products we continue to make the same reliable safe raw food. On our cat food we did get feedback on a few ingredients (pea fiber, Menadione Sodium Bisulfate) as being undesirable. We have listened and have already updated all of our cat food recipes without those ingredients. We are in the process of updating the cat food bags, but those ingredients are no longer part of the cat food we're making.

In other words "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em"

Offline Pookie

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Re: Stella & Chewy's is making kibble now.
« Reply #4 on: May 07, 2017, 10:15:17 PM »
It's my understanding that cats (and presumably dogs) digest raw and processed carbs like kibble at a different pace.  When I was first learning about raw feeding, I read more than once that you shouldn't feed kibble and raw together because it takes much longer for the pet to digest kibble, which would give the bacteria in/on the raw more time to make the pet sick.  So IMO, a "combination" of raw, dried or not, and "kibble" is just not a good idea for several reasons (including kibble just isn't good for pets).

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Offline Middle Child

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Re: Stella & Chewy's is making kibble now.
« Reply #5 on: May 08, 2017, 04:57:47 AM »
I thought so too Pookie.  It was Nature's Variety that started this sort of feeding. I remember writing to them about it, saying the same things you did above, and they had their own way to double talking and not answering.

I don't trust them and won't use them or recommend them any more.

Offline DeeDee

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Re: Stella & Chewy's is making kibble now.
« Reply #6 on: May 08, 2017, 10:57:52 AM »
Personally, I don't think that stuff can be actually raw when it's been processed to dry. Nature's Variety Instinct and NV Instinct-Raw-Boost are freeze-dried raw, and that's why it doesn't have to stay in a freezer.

They DO have some frozen-raw food in the freezers of stores, but that's the only kind that's not been freeze-dried.

Instinct Raw Market is another that's come out where you add water like Honest Kitchen--again it's dried. That's why ours only get this kind of food when we're on the road in the RV. Then they get their regular raw once we're parked. You're just not going to get me to believe that adding water to something makes it truly raw again.
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Offline Lola

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Re: Stella & Chewy's is making kibble now.
« Reply #7 on: January 07, 2018, 10:05:58 AM »
I stopped following them on Facebook, and I will no longer buy any of their products.  The dehydrated line was in our rotation for a long time. 
I did mention to them that I will no longer buy their products OR recommend them...  because of this "raw kibble" line. 
S & C was a way to introduce easy raw to newbies.  Not anymore!  Sad to see what used to be a great company go down the toilet....
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