The Lily’s Kitchen range is simply the best you can feed your pet – because we use a healthy, nutritious organic range of whole ingredients which will help keep your pet in the best condition. We do not use ANY chemical additives, colours or flavour enhancers.
We produce our organic homestyle foods in small batches and not in 4-million-tins an hour batches like many pet food companies! When you open a tin of our food you will immediately see the difference: lovely chunks of butternut squash, whole blueberries, pieces of meat etc. You can even smell the difference – our foods smell absolutely delicious!
There are some pet food companies who claim their food is organic, but unless it has been CERTIFIED organic then this is a false claim and the pet food is definitely not organic. There is a loophole in the law which says that pet food companies are allowed to call their food organic even if its not! The law is changing, but it will take another two years before the consumer is protected. If you would like to feed your pet an organic food, you must ensure it is certified organic by one of the three government-appointed certifiers. Only pet foods which have at least 95% organic ingredients are allowed to be certified. Most of the Lily’s Kitchen range of foods is certified organic by Organic Farmers & Growers. You can find out more: www.organicfarmers.org.uk.
Organic ingredients and recipes are thoroughly checked and certified by outside authorities to ensure they are completely pure and have no harmful additives in. Organic farming is also the kindest to the environment and to livestock welfare.
Holistic certification means every ingredient has been chosen to be of optimum nutritional value for the pet: the usual pet food ingredients of carcass, blood, meal etc would not be considered nutritious enough so would not be allowed to be included. It also means no unnatural ingredients have been added in. Look for Holistic certification on the pack.
This has unfortunately become a completely meaningless term these days and is used all over pet food labels to hoodwink consumers. ‘Natural’ is applied to so many things, which are frankly, far from what nature intended.
All our food has a low oil/fat content.
One of the ways you can see the level of oil or grease in dry food at home is to put a handful in a bowl and pour water over it – in 30 to 60 minutes or so you will see how much oil is in the food your dog is eating. In Lily's Kitchen Organic Chicken and Vegetable Bake there is only a very small amount, in most other dry pet foods there is a very thick layer of grease - not very healthy!
We produce a special recipe for puppies and kittens which have a slightly higher meat content than our other ranges and some extra vitamins and minerals too. However all our range is suitable for Pups and Kittens because each recipe contains a high quality blend of ingredients and we do not use any additives or flavour enhancers in any of our range. For Puppies we recommend feeding our Organic Dinner for Puppies recipe and you can also use our Organic Chicken and Vegetable Bake as a mixer. Our foods are made with the highest quality ingredients and will not aggravate or cause any digestive issues for the new addition to the family! We do not produce a dry food for cats or kittens as we believe that they should be fed wet foods only as dry foods can have severe long term health effects on felines - from a range of kidney problems to FLUTD and crystal formation. If you feed you kitten a good quality food from the beginning they will have a great start in life and not be prone to developing illnesses later on.
It’s important when introducing a new diet that you do it gradually over a period of approximately 5-7 days. This is so your pet’s digestive system can be accustomed to the new diet. We would recommend that you introduce Lily’s Kitchen by mixing a small quantity with you pet’s current food and then increasing the proportion over a 5-7 day period until you are feeding 100% Lily’s Kitchen.
Feeding guidelines are on each of our packs. As a guideline, small dogs can eat between 150g-350g wet food per day; medium size dogs, 400g-600g per day and large dogs 600g – 1000g per day. Very large dogs can have 1000g-1200g per day.
If you are just feeding dry food, then a guideline would be: small dogs 100-150g per day; medium 150g-250g; large 250g - 400g; very large 450g-600g.
If you are feeding a combination of wet and dry food then adjust accordingly.
Feeding requirements differ depending on your dog’s breed, age and activity level – and each dog is an individual and you should check with your vet if you are not sure how much to feed. If your dog looks overweight or underweight adjust the amount fed accordingly by about 10%. We recommend that your dog’s daily allowance is split into two meals. For puppies, this should be split into three meals per day.
Yes. But it’s also a good idea to sometimes feed these separately so your pet has the chance to use their teeth to crunch the dry food, which is very good for them.
This has been developed by Vets to easily test whether your dog is overweight or not. The following Body Condition Score chart is based on a 1-5 point scale (1 emaciated and 5 obese). This chart is a useful technique to assess the condition of your dog but is a guide only and if your dog doesn’t fall into the ‘ideal’ range then consult your vet for further advice.
Dieting: for an overweight dog, you may need to reduce the amount fed by approximately 10%, monitor your do’s weight and avoid treats. Always ensure your dog gets plenty of exercise. For more information on body condition scoring, we recommend you consult your vet.
Cats are natural grazers eating little and often, they very rarely over-eat. But as a rough guideline, an average cat weighing between 9 and 12 pounds will eat 2 to 3 Lily’s Kitchen trays per day. Each cat is an individual and circumstances vary widely. If in doubt consult your vet regarding your cat.
Our foods are low fat. Our dry food is 7.5% oil, which is very low and our wet foods are all low fat, this is because we use great quality ingredients in our range of foods and don’t bulk up with extra oils and fats.
Our cat food has naturally occurring Taurine because of the quality and high percentage of meat content. We also add extra Taurine to our range in line with nutritionists and European Federation recommendations. This creates the perfect amount for cats. Taurine is an Amino Acid which is essential in a cat’s diet.
Simply because of the cost of our ingredients. Some of the organic ingredients we use can be up to 10 times the cost of non-organic.
Spelt is an ancient grain found in many health foods. It has very low allergic reactivity compared to other grains, for example wheat.
Lentils are extremely digestible as well as being a good source of protein and fibre. No they won’t make your dog windy!
Carageenan is a natural thickener that is made from seaweed.
This is added in by pet food companies to apparently ‘reduce odour in dog faeces’, however our food is so good you will notice the odour is already reduced because of the high quality ingredients we use in each recipe. Good ingredients: low odour!
We work with a number of specialist pet nutritionists as well as holistic nutrition experts. We also have a full time Vet on the team.
Yes, Lily’s Kitchen is recommended to help a dog who has colitis issues. All our recipes are certified either Holistic, Organic or both. This means that we do not use any chemical additives in our foods which reduces the risk of allergies and will not irritate the intestines. Our foods are high in soluble fibre which helps dogs prone to colitis and contain organic herbs as well as Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids which are shown to have beneficial properties as well as being anti-inflammatory. If in doubt, do check with your vet.
Chocolate contains a stimulant called threobromine, which if ingested in large amounts can cause sever illness. If you dog has eaten a large amount of chocolate you may wish to consult your vet for advice.
Clean, fresh water should be available to your pet at all times.
Our pet food is low in salt – there is 0.5% in our tray range and 0.2% salt in the Lily’s Kitchen tin range. Salt is an important ingredient to keep your pet healthy – but only in very small amounts, which is what we include at Lily’s Kitchen.
No. We do not use soya as it is considered to be very indigestible to dogs and cats. It is often used in pet foods to increase the protein percentage.
Absolutely not. If you are an animal lover and want to be certain the pet food you are buying has not been tested on animals look for the PETA sign on their website. Many pet food companies do invasive animal testing which is painful and cruel. Our new recipes are tested and approved by Lily together with dogs and cats belonging to friends, family and colleagues.
Absolutely not. Our certified organic pet food range is your guarantee that animals have been reared to the highest level of care and welfare. Animals have open green fields to roam around in and are fed only on an organic diet. None of our meats have antibiotics in them - factory farmed animals are given very high doses of this to try and keep the levels of disease down. Most products used in many pet foods come from factory farmed by-products; factory farmed animals live in squalid conditions, with no access to the outside in extremely cramped conditions where disease is rife.
Our pet foods are tested by a number of independent outside authorities. Our recipes are tested by a panel of animal nutritionists, vets, holistic nutritionists and pet food experts. We do not carry out invasive animal testing because we think this is cruel, but also we do not put in any strange fillers or artificial ingredients in our foods that then have to be tested to ensure the pet accepts them. Our pet foods are completely pure with no artificial supplements, chemicals and additives either in the original ingredients we use or added into the cooking process.
Yes - all our foods are naturally low in fats and oils. We do not add oils to any of our wet food range - the oils and fats there are naturally occurring from the meat we use. Our Organic Chicken and Vegetable Bake has a 7.5% oil level which is low and this oil comes from excellent sources such as sunflower oil, pumpkin seeds and flaxseeds - so all highly digestible. We do not bulk up any of our range with cheap oils and fats that are found in most other pet foods. We rely on a wide range of ingredients for taste in our foods - and not on flavour enhancers and oils. Even our new treats are only 5% fat.
Our foods are naturally very satisfying and so dogs do not crave more and are therefore not likely to put weight on. If you need to put your dog on a diet then our foods are ideal because they rely on natural whole foods like vegetables, meats, seeds and fruits and not on bulking ingredients like wheat and oil. You can follow the feeding guideline and reduce by 10% if your dog needs to lose weight - if in doubt consult your vet.
Yes. Cats can get FLUTD from having a diet consisting mainly of dry food. A high quality wet food diet ensures cats are getting enough moisture as they tend not to drink lots of water (like dogs do!) and so if fed a dry diet this can put a lot of pressure on the kidneys' ability to flush out toxins and waste.
Our cat foods are certified organic, they have low sodium as well as the correct Phosphorus/Calcium balance. We also include herbs such as Dandelion and Nettle which are nature's diuretics and protect organ function too. We also include organic Spirulina in our recipes which provides over 50 amino acids for healthy organ function. We do not put any grains or cereals into any of our cat foods - each recipe is made mainly from extremely high quality protein from meat. We like to think we produce the healthiest cat foods in the world.
Consult your vet for further advice. You can also email our holistic vet for advice: Richard Allport at info@naturalmedicinecentre.net and there is also a useful website: www.catinfo.org
Yes!