Smallbatch Brand Raw Food

[Tobermory]

Is anyone familiar with Smallbatch Pets raw food? My local independent pet store carries it, and I want to try my three kitties on the frozen rabbit blend in the two- or three-pound package before I commit lots of $$ to order in bulk from either Hare Today or WholeFoods4Pets. It appears that I would need to add supplements which isn’t a problem since I have them anyway. It looks like a simple meat, bone and organ grind so I thought I might add some boneless chicken thighs to be safe because I can’t find the percentages and don’t want to overdo the bone. Does anyone have any experience with this brand?

The girls aren’t typically picky, but I just bought some Rad Cat venison because I wanted to give them some variety, and they looked at it, looked at me, looked at it again, looked at me again...and walked away. Even my new semi feral kitty who eats like a vacuum cleaner vacuums wouldn’t touch it. I had to hurriedly thaw some of their homemade chicken food for them. Thus my reluctance to invest lots of money in a big quantity of a new protein!

 

[EmmiTemmi]

I can't speak to how good they are, but make sure you don't get any of the batches that were recalled earlier this year for salmonella. Only the chicken blend was recalled, so if you're only going for one of the other proteins then no worries.

Smallbatch Pets Inc. Voluntarily Recalls Frozen 2LB Chicken Blend For Dogs And Cats Due To Possible Salmonella Health Risk

 

[Tobermory]

Thanks for the heads up, EmmiTemmi . I'm glad to see they did the recall voluntarily. I had emailed them last week to see if they could tell me the percentage of bone in the rabbit blend, and I just now found the response in my spam filter. They say 10%, so that's a positive.

 

[LTS3]

The local independent pet store has samples of the Smallbatch sliders which are complete diets. I tried it for the cats once. Emma wouldn't eat it. Leroy ate it but had an allergic reaction to it: oozy red bald scabby spots on his head

 

[Tobermory]

Oh, no! Ugh. That's bad. Poor Leroy. Emma should have warned him. Well, here's what they add to the sliders so you have to wonder (in addition the actual protein): organic dandelion greens, organic apple cider vinegar, organic kelp, organic bee pollen, organic barley grass, organic cranberries. The blends, though, seems to be quite different. Here's the total list for the rabbit: whole rabbits including bones, rabbit livers, rabbit hearts, rabbit kidneys, rabbit lungs. That looks more like it.

 

[yeva2292]

Sorry, this is extremely late, but the Smallbatch blends are listed on the company blog as supplemental feeding only. You would probably have to add in your own supplements.

I've fed the chicken sliders Smokey for a couple months, while looking for alternatives, but overall I'm not too pleased with it. I think the bone and cartilage could be ground a lot smaller than it is. Smokey's bowl looks like a disaster area after she eats it, because she shakes her head to get the bigger pieces out of her mouth.

I did buy the lamb sliders once. They smell really weird (not lamby - something else).

 

[Tobermory]

Thanks, yeva2292 . I think I’ll give the sliders a pass, then. I did buy the rabbit in the two-pound “log” (not the sliders—just the meat, organs and bone grind), ground a pound of boneless chicken thighs into it and added supplements. The rabbit appeared to be finely ground or I would have ground it again myself. Two of my three like it. The third is picky, though, so I wasn’t surprised she wouldn’t eat it.

 

[Sica]

Another late response! We've been feeding Smallbatch sliders for a few months to our cat, kitten and also our dog. The kitten and the dog love love love it! They down it like no other food. The adult cat took a while to get used to it, but now prefers it (the Turkey one) over other foods. So taste wise, it's one of the best for our family. Other than the taste, I really like the brand and how transparent they appear to be. You can ask them anything about their products and actually get answers. In addition to that, they do not do high-pressure processing on their batches compared to Stella & Chewy's and Primal among others. You may or may not want them to do that. I like the fact it is the more "natural" option out of those. Additionally, the pickier cat seems to prefer the freeze dried version rather than the frozen ones. I assume it has to do with the texture after the water is added to it. Lastly, we have had no issues with the Smallbatch not being ground enough.

 

[Tobermory]

I really like the brand and how transparent they appear to be. You can ask them anything about their products and actually get answers.

I also found Smallbatch to be very responsive when I emailed them. So many don’t. The majority of what I feed the girls is homemade, but it’s nice to have good commercial raw options to give them some variety.

 

[himawari]

SmallBatch definitely response in a timely manner. I had asked about their treats and they responded on the same day. I feed the sliders to my cat cause I've never seen the blend/am not interested in having to do the supplements myself (not ready for that yet). I do agree with yeva2292 about bone/cartilage being too big. My cat isn't a fan of the size & tends to leave/eat around it. I think that's why he prefers Rad Cat more.

 

[maureen brad]

Very late response- my cats LOVEthe Small Batch all of it. I do add supplements to make it a complete meal.

 

[jen]

My hesitation with SmallBatch (rabbit, I randomly picked) is all the extra unnecessary stuff added to it... (salmon oil, organic dandelion greens, organic apple cider vinegar, organic kelp, organic bee pollen, organic barley grass, organic cranberries) basically everything after the rabbit parts. According to Dr Pierson's instruction kelp should be avoided do to unknown levels of iodine which affect the cats thyroid.

Edit: salmon oil is fine.

 

[Tobermory]

My hesitation with SmallBatch (rabbit, I randomly picked) is all the extra unnecessary stuff added to it... (salmon oil, organic dandelion greens, organic apple cider vinegar, organic kelp, organic bee pollen, organic barley grass, organic cranberries) basically everything after the rabbit parts. According to Dr Pierson's instruction kelp should be avoided do to unknown levels of iodine which affect the cats thyroid.

Edit: salmon oil is fine.

They do make a line of frozen raw without all of that extra stuff in it. You have to add supplements. It comes in beef, chicken, duck, rabbit, lamb and turkey and it's 100% single protein with meat, organs and bone. For example, here's what the rabbit blend (they label it "blend" for some reason) has in it: whole rabbits including bones, rabbit livers, rabbit hearts, rabbit kidneys, rabbit lungs.

 

[jen]

They do make a line of frozen raw without all of that extra stuff in it. You have to add supplements. It comes in beef, chicken, duck, rabbit, lamb and turkey and it's 100% single protein with meat, organs and bone. For example, here's what the rabbit blend (they label it "blend" for some reason) has in it: whole rabbits including bones, rabbit livers, rabbit hearts, rabbit kidneys, rabbit lungs.

Ohh I like that much better. If it has the bones and livers and everything do you still have to add the suppliments? I know you do if it is just the meat....

 

[Tobermory]

I do add supplements--everything in Dr. Pierson's recipe except the liver and, of course, the bone meal. So taurine, fish oil, Vitamins B and E, 1/2 tsp. Morton Lite Salt, eggs and water. I dug around on Small Batch website and found this statement in the FAQs: "...blends are 2lb. chubs and come in a variety of protein choices with or without veggies. These can be used for both dogs and cats but we do suggest that you add your own supplements and ingredients adequate for your pet." I use a 2 pound chub of Small Batch rabbit, a pound of chicken thighs and then follow Dr. Pierson's rabbit/chicken recipe.