Wrangling Up Some Good Grub #chewyinfluencer

Hi. Sunshine the Cat here with another scintillating review for Chewy.com. If you recall, I was SILENCED last month in favor of a BIRD named Jade. Okay, I admit it was exciting for Chewy.com to now be including exotic pets in their array of pet products. But it meant someone had to be shoved aside for a month and it can't be NOODLES (it is her blog, after all). By default that shoved aside one was ME. So I pouted for a small while and then put on my Happy You're Happy face for Jade. In other words, I started plotting for June.

It totally worked. I got to pick something to review in JUNE.

The selection in the June newsletter was so vast that I had some difficulty narrowing the choices down to a reasonable size. I eventually decided to go with Nature's Variety Chicken Cravings because it is a brand I have history with. Plus CHICKEN! Need I say more?

I think you know as well as I do that the picture on the package seldom looks like the real thing. I don't know what I was expecting but this was not it. I doubted it was this nice looking.

BUT

Fooled me! It VERY MUCH looks just like the photo on the pouch! And the smell? Well, I almost fell off the counter when it wafted my way. Wafted is too delicate of a work to describe the aroma of this pouch of pleasure. I was completely engulfed in the sweet aroma of the chicken bits (REAL CHICKEN) and accompanying gravy. It was heady, I tell ya.

The taste, to which the picture does not do justice, was an amazing melange of sweet chicken and savory chicken flavor gravy. Let me tell you, I am not a pretty site right now all looking at this photo, remembering the flavor, and drooling. MMMMMMMmmmmmmmmm!

But, as you no doubt know, liking a food is not the whole deal. It must be nutritious and provide protein and moisture to a CAT'S diet. Nature's Variety Chicken Cravings does that by being

• Grain and Gluten FREE
• Devoid of dyes, preservatives and artificial flavors
• A good hydration source
• Good for all ages and breeds
• Corn, wheat and soy FREE

The calories are reasonably low for GOOD food which lists its ingredients as Chicken Broth, Chicken, Chicken Liver, Eggs, Pea Flour, Natural Flavor, Sodium Phosphate, Guar Gum, Salt, Sodium Carbonate, Dl-Methionine.

As tasty and nutritious as it is, Natures Variety Chicken Cravings is not meant to be a whole meal and should only be served as a topper or supplement. But believe me, a topper is all that is needed to make you culinary dreams come true.

Nowadays when you see me sleeping, notice the smile on my face. I am dreaming about my meal of kibble topped with Nature's Variety Chicken Cravings.

If you are not a real chicken fan, Nature's Variety Cravings come in several flavors (from real meat, fish, fowl): Chicken, Duck, Tuna, Salmon, Lamb, and Rabbit.

I graciously give this product FOUR dignified PAWS UP for flavor, smell, and overall healthiness.

** I was provided free of charge a sufficient number of pouches to allow me to try, taste, and assess the food. I am not being nor have I ever been paid to write a post nor for my opinion. Furthermore, all opinions expressed in this blog are this of the blog owner only. So if you're gonna blame anyone, blame Noodles (snicker, snicker)

Now it is Time for a Little Affirmation

#chewyinfluencer I've Never Met a Food I Didn't Like and This One is NO Exception

This is me sitting pretty. Why am I sitting PRETTY? Well, in anticipation of food, of course. And I am here to tell you about a FOOD we recently taste tested for Chewy.com called Nature's Variety Instinct Raw Market Chicken Recipe Meal Blends Freeze-Dried Dog Food. 

Let me tell you the WHOLE story . . . from the beginning. It was a sunny morning and already the temperature was WARM. It promised to be a toasty day and one I would generally enjoy in the BACKYARD picking apples. In fact, that is exactly what I was doing when I heard Molly yapping at the top of her lungs. If you've never heard Molly bark, you are lucky. I am pretty sure that loud, ear-piercing yap can be heard from here to Timbuktu! She is loud. And to make matters worse, she stands by the door where the decorative window is clear at HER EYE level. She barks at the kids across the street. . . she barks at people walking past the house. . . she barks at cars driving too fast through the neighborhood, she barks at the squirrels in the Italian Cypress. You guessed it - she BARKS ALL THE TIME.

But this particular time she barked at the PACKAGE DELIVERY guy because he was walking up to the door carrying these -

What in the WIDE WIDE WORLD OF SPORTS do we have here, I mused from under the apple tree? So I got up from the nest of fallen apples I had made and dashed to the back door - barking all the way. One must always answer a BARK with a BARK - that is classic Dog Behavior 101. Mommy let me in and I made a wild dash to the front door and joined Molly in her sing fest. We did that until Mommy got the hint (she is so dense sometimes - and much to her dismay, does not speak DOG). When she opened the door she was so surprised to find these TWO boxes sitting by the plant on the PORCH. She tortured us a little making us pose for pictures on the porch, on the box, staring at the boxes (see above), and so on. We just wanted to know what was IN the boxes. One box was for Sunshine and we discussed this on MONDAY, if you recall.

This is what was in the second box - Poop bags by Frisco (review tomorrow) and THE FOOD . . . . Nature's Variety Instinct Raw Market Chicken Recipe Meal Blends Freeze-Dried Dog Food. We chose the chicken formula because we are particularly fond of chicken. Sometimes we eat other stuff but this time the chicken sounded too tempting. This is why we chose it, aside from the fact we love love love Natures Variety Instinct Raw Boost because of these FACTS:

1. No grain or gluten. The jury is out regarding gluten. Some dogs are allergic to it. But the big question is, does gluten do more than just fill a pet up? What are the benefits of gluten in a pet's diet. I am not here to answer those questions because I am not a nutritionist. But the NUTRITIONISTS at Nature's Variety have determined that gluten just might not be important to pet health SO they left it out
2. You can re-hydrate the freeze-dried foods to make a complete meal. I am not sure why adding water makes it a complete meal and we had issues with this part
3. Cage free chicken, real peas, real potatoes
4. It is a protein rich food containing 76% chicken and liver, 24% vegetables, fruits and vitamins
5. Made in the USA but uses certified food sources outside the USA. From their website - All of our poultry and pork come from the U.S., our beef is from the U.S. and New Zealand, our lamb is from the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand, our venison is imported from Australia and New Zealand, and our rabbit is imported from France and Italy. We are very stringent in our sourcing standards and prioritize building close relationships with our vendors.

So there are a lot of GOOD reasons for feeding a Pug Princess and Majestic Maltese these foods. The remaining UNKNOWNS ARE

• Would a picky Maltese Mix like the food
• Would Nature's Variety deliver  what it promises in terms of ultimate Pet Health (coat, skin, energy)
• Would it make Mommy's life a little easier when it comes to OUR feeding time

So. . . we love dehydrated foods. They are rich in flavor and the texture is kinda fun and exciting. For a whole meal . . . maybe not. So Mommy set about following the directions about hydrating the food. She was happy to not have to heat water in order to do so (like she had to for Stella and Chewy's Chicken Patties). So she carefully decided how much to feed us (there is a chart on the back of the bag) and how much water to put into the bowl. All of the pieces floated to the top and just stayed there. She reminded us it would take TEN TORTUROUS MINUTES before we could eat it. We waited and waited and WAITED. When she looked in the bowl. . . THE PIECES WERE STILL FLOATING! They had not hydrated at all! Granted, she had not completely followed directions and did not crush them. . . but one would THINK that hydration would still take place. But, NO. Didn't matter, though. We lapped up the "soup" and happily crunched through the pieces as if it worked right. I gotta say, and I know Molly would agree, this is one TASTY meal.

The next day we tried it again and this time with HOT WATER which meant waiting a little more than TEN MINUTES (because we had to let it cool down). GUESS what? The food still floated on top and did not really hydrate. The "soup" was a little tastier than the previous time, though.

At the end of the day, Mommy said FORGET IT when it came to hydrating and fed it to us AS IS. We loved it. Ate it RIGHT UP with no pause to think. She made sure we had plenty of fresh water near by, too. Too much un-hydrated freeze dried food can make you very very thirsty.

Unfortunately, the food also did not fill us up and we promptly began begging for MORE as soon as we licked our bowls clean. This was true even when she upped our portions a little. She DID NOT want to risk SOMEPUGGY putting on weight so she did not up it too much. For Casa de Noodles purposes, I think this food is better used as a topper. That way we get all of the benefits of the carefully formulated proteins and minerals without messing with (1) the water and (2) us little beggars being unsatisfied.

All in all we give this food SIX PAWS UP because the only real negative to it was the lack of hydration. We are definitely showing other benefits from the food including shiny coats and an increased playfulness.

*We received from Chewy.com enough food to test the product for the month. We are not paid not prompted for our opinions. They are ours and ours alone. And we gleefully share them with everyone because we are generous like that, and stuff.

Ever Try to Stand On Your Head For a Treat?

Oh Chewy.com - you are SO GOOD to me. . .

I have - and it is not easy, I tell you. But I WILL try anything for some treats - like Nature's Variety Prairie Pumpkin and Cranberry TREATS. I admit, I was a little unsure if I should pick these when Chewy.com offered these as part of their October Pumpkin extravaganza newsletter. I mean, they SOUNDED yummy and all. But they also advertised these treats as a healthy choice. SINCE WHEN is a treat. . . a GOOD treat. . . ever a healthy choice?

EVERYTHING had pumpkin in some form. It was so hard to choose just one! But I had to do just that (plus SOMEONE would NOT let me choose TWO kinds of treats to try). I decided to stick with the company that makes my favorite food in the whole wide world -  (Instinct Raw Boost) Nature's Variety. I knew they wouldn't disappoint me. BUT. . . I was totally unprepared for how much I would love these treats.

First, some business re the Natures Variety Prairie treats -

1) They are OVEN BAKED and not fried
2) They contain ALL NATURAL ingredients like Oatmeal, barley, tapioca, pumpkin, cranberries, canola oil, turkey meal, montmorillonite clay, ground flaxseed, natural flavor, cinnamon, cloves, mixed tocopherols (preservative), citric acid (preservative), rosemary extract
3) They have no wheat, corn or soy and NO artificial preservatives (which they totally don't need because they won't hang around that long)
4)They TASTE GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRReat!

They arrived at Casa de Noodles like all Chewy.com stuff - FAST! I knew the instant the doorbell rang that it was Mr. Delivery Man bringing me something from Chewy.com. So I welcomed him - loud and clear. And for a long time. FINALLY, Mommy brought the package inside and opened it for us. Molly was going positively bonkers - so much so that Mommy could not get her to pose nicely with me (she kept trying the nip at my paws).

This was the best picture Mommy could take. Molly is
practically across town!

So then Mommy put them away. She said we were being too wild to deserve a treat and we'd have to wait until we calmed down. How could she do that to ME of all pugs?! All because of THAT MOLLY, too. So I nipped at Molly's paws like she had done to me. Mommy said a few HBO words and before I knew it, WE were on TIME-OUT in the big room.

TIME-OUT!!!

When she finally decided we had REPENTED enough, she let us out and asked us into the kitchen. DOGGONE. . . it was bad. . . real bad. . . I knew at a glance that this was where the REAL TORTURE was gonna happen!!! There, at DOG LEVEL was the bag of treats and TWO biscuits, one at Molly's eating spot and one at mine. I started to trot over to what was CLEARLY my reward for being a good dog when Mommy GROWLED real loud -"NO!!!"

I almost had to excuse myself because she scared me so much! I stopped IN MY TRACKS and immediately sat down. "I'm a good girl, I'm a good girl, I'm a good girl" I kept chanting to myself. Molly, in the meantime, skulked back to the big room. Mommy smiled about then and cajoled Molly to come out of the big room and get a treat. I looked from Mommy to my treat to Mommy to my treat. . . I was so confused.

When Molly finally tiptoed out of the big room and over to her treat, Mommy intercepted her and made her sit IN FRONT of her TREAT. She also could not eat it.

Molly trying to look nonchalant

Mommy said we had to wait until she commanded it and then we could eat the treat. She does that sometimes - some sadistic pleasure for her, I am sure. Well, we stared at those treats for what seemed like a really really long time and I couldn't help it - I DROOLED. Those treats were smelling so good with all the pumpkin smell and the cinnamon. . .

EAT IT!!!!!

When Mommy told Molly she could eat hers, Molly got all weird again and SNIFFED it. And SNIFFED it. AND SNIFFED it before she ever set her teeth or tongue on it. Meanwhile, I'm DYING over on my side of the kitchen and was screaming "Molly Eat It Already" like a wild DINGO! I was desperate because I wanted to EAT THAT TREAT and Mommy wasn't letting me.

So I did the only thing I could think of that would definitely win me the command to EAT THAT TREAT - I tried a HEADSTAND.

Whew! I'm not sure how long I can HOLD this HEADSTAND!

Nature's Variety Prairie Pumpkin and Cranberry treats are so yummy. You gotta try them yourself. It is so easy to do - you just click this link and it will take you right to CHEWY.COM and the exact page for the Nature's Variety Prairie treats. Put them in your virtual cart, click PAY, borrow your 'rents' credit card, and VOILA - you will have treats before you know it. Almost as fast as a treat dispenser in your kitchen!

We give them EIGHT. . . no TEN appendages up because EIGHT is not enough. Since we only have EIGHT PAWS between us, we added our HEADS to the count. So, to sum up, they're a TEN on a scale of EIGHT. Succinctly put, they ROCK!!!!

*Disclaimer - I was not paid for this post not for the opinions in this post. All observations and opinions expressed in this post, and indeed in this blog, are all mine and offered free of charge. I did receive a bag of treats to try so that I can offer an informed opinion.