Post by luci on Nov 19, 2008 1:10:01 GMT -5
www.woodyspetdeli.com/
I visited their store today. They're really trying to bridge that gap between human desire for convenience and pet health. They buy dressed meats and grind them themselves into fresh ground pet food. The store was full of real meat treats like freeze dried lamb lung, pogos, salmon jerky, etc. They seemed shocked (of course) that I feed my cats and ferrets whole raw instead of ground, but they were very interested. Enrique (whom I believe is the "meat expert") talked to me for a long time about his suppliers and what he does. I asked about him selling whole carcasses and he was willing to work with me, so I left there with one 2.4lb rabbit. I also gave him the web sites for www.rodentpro.com and www.hare-today.com and he is going to look into buying rodents in bulk to sell in smaller quantities. He said that many customers got squeamish with him stocking mouse pogos and might have to keep it on the downlow that he's carrying mice. I don't doubt it. The store is in a snooty area of south Minneapolis. Heaven forbid those privileged people think about what their cat REALLY wants to eat! I feel like I could work with them and maybe even help educate people further about a natural diet for cats and maybe even ferrets. Of course they're geared mostly toward dogs because that's the only REAL pet, right? Cats and ferrets are second class pets.
I hope I can drive some business their way so they can stick around during these trying economic times. This is a great place to make natural pet diets more accessible to the ignorant masses.
Our store is named after Woody, our German shepherd mix. We adopted Woody from St. Francis of Assisi Animal Rescue of Forest Lake (SFAAR) , MN in November 2006 at the senior age of 9. Two months later, we adopted Fred, an 11 year-old Beagle to keep Woody company. Both dogs had serious health issues. Woody was undernourished, had inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and was losing hair on his head and legs. Fred was 46 lbs, almost twice as much than he should weigh, had pollen allergies, heart murmur, severe chronic ear infection, arthritis, multiple cysts, anal sac problems, hot spots, and excessive shedding. Both led us to this journey of discovering that real pet food is whole foods.
The changes to both Woody and Fred have been dramatic since moving them to a whole foods diet. Both have soft, shiny, and full-bodied coats. Woody has maintained a healthy weight, and is now seldom beset by diarrhea. Fred is now “buff” at 26 lbs. There are barely signs of his heart murmur and his arthritis and anal sac problems have disappeared. His chronic ear infection has been more of a challenge, a result of years of poor nutrition, and constant antibiotic and steroid administration. We are now working with our holistic vet to address Fred’s pollen allergies and keep his ears clear and comfortable.
But our story doesn’t end with Woody and Fred. For more than a year now, we’ve been assisting SFAAR help dogs with ailments. In this effort, we’ve been seeing how majority of these dogs’ health problems go away by simply giving them whole foods, be they raw or cooked. Together with St Francis Animal Rescue, we’ve been able to bring these dogs back to relatively good health and find them forever homes.
Woody’s Pet Food Deli, therefore, is our grassroots effort to educate pet owners of proper pet nutrition. There is nothing more elemental in optimal and preventive pet healthcare than the simple act of feeding our pets real food.
The changes to both Woody and Fred have been dramatic since moving them to a whole foods diet. Both have soft, shiny, and full-bodied coats. Woody has maintained a healthy weight, and is now seldom beset by diarrhea. Fred is now “buff” at 26 lbs. There are barely signs of his heart murmur and his arthritis and anal sac problems have disappeared. His chronic ear infection has been more of a challenge, a result of years of poor nutrition, and constant antibiotic and steroid administration. We are now working with our holistic vet to address Fred’s pollen allergies and keep his ears clear and comfortable.
But our story doesn’t end with Woody and Fred. For more than a year now, we’ve been assisting SFAAR help dogs with ailments. In this effort, we’ve been seeing how majority of these dogs’ health problems go away by simply giving them whole foods, be they raw or cooked. Together with St Francis Animal Rescue, we’ve been able to bring these dogs back to relatively good health and find them forever homes.
Woody’s Pet Food Deli, therefore, is our grassroots effort to educate pet owners of proper pet nutrition. There is nothing more elemental in optimal and preventive pet healthcare than the simple act of feeding our pets real food.
I visited their store today. They're really trying to bridge that gap between human desire for convenience and pet health. They buy dressed meats and grind them themselves into fresh ground pet food. The store was full of real meat treats like freeze dried lamb lung, pogos, salmon jerky, etc. They seemed shocked (of course) that I feed my cats and ferrets whole raw instead of ground, but they were very interested. Enrique (whom I believe is the "meat expert") talked to me for a long time about his suppliers and what he does. I asked about him selling whole carcasses and he was willing to work with me, so I left there with one 2.4lb rabbit. I also gave him the web sites for www.rodentpro.com and www.hare-today.com and he is going to look into buying rodents in bulk to sell in smaller quantities. He said that many customers got squeamish with him stocking mouse pogos and might have to keep it on the downlow that he's carrying mice. I don't doubt it. The store is in a snooty area of south Minneapolis. Heaven forbid those privileged people think about what their cat REALLY wants to eat! I feel like I could work with them and maybe even help educate people further about a natural diet for cats and maybe even ferrets. Of course they're geared mostly toward dogs because that's the only REAL pet, right? Cats and ferrets are second class pets.
I hope I can drive some business their way so they can stick around during these trying economic times. This is a great place to make natural pet diets more accessible to the ignorant masses.