Written by
Australian Dog Lover
15:18:00
-
0
Comments
Of course, most pet retail stores remained open throughout and offered us new contactless options in-store and could drop deliveries to our doorstep. But as since we are promoting buying small / shopping local, why not use this opportunity to try something new whilst supporting a local Sydney business?
As we prepared ourselves to bunk down and take this opportunity for a bit of confinement cooking, the last thing on our mind was however scrambling for dog food each week or cooking for them.
About myCompanion
After researching the pet food industry, the Founder, Jonny uncovered two main unmet needs: a fresh healthier alternative to dry food prescription diets (owners often have to sacrifice their personal values of nutrition to get results from food) as well as limited variety (commonly 2-3 recipes) which was not enough to last a lifetime or prevent boredom, especially for people who loved to cook for their dogs.
"We developed a world first in pet tech nutrition to meet these needs, and turn food into an adventure you can explore together with your dog, whilst improving their health" explains Jonny.
"A scientific approach, but playful."
All good points but a lot of companies were already offering freshly cooked and portioned meals for dogs so how was myCompanion going to stand out from the pack?
What is new and different about myCompanion?
What really grabbed our interest was the algorithm used by the myCompanion website, which allows you to build your own unique recipes from thousands of combinations of fresh ingredients.
This the genius part as their work in collaboration with ACVN board-certified veterinary nutritionists ensures every recipe you create is complete and balanced by AAFCO standards (the same nutritional standards used by the big pet food companies).
At first, you could be daunted by the sheer number of options so you could leave it up to the experts to surprise you once you've created your dog's profile.
As we prepared ourselves to bunk down and take this opportunity for a bit of confinement cooking, the last thing on our mind was however scrambling for dog food each week or cooking for them.
About myCompanion
We had just discovered myCompanion, a Sydney-based startup human-grade dog nutrition and delivery service whose mission is to make it easy to give dog owners back the control of their pets’ nutritional health and happiness - whilst making it impossible for dogs to ever be bored of food.
After researching the pet food industry, the Founder, Jonny uncovered two main unmet needs: a fresh healthier alternative to dry food prescription diets (owners often have to sacrifice their personal values of nutrition to get results from food) as well as limited variety (commonly 2-3 recipes) which was not enough to last a lifetime or prevent boredom, especially for people who loved to cook for their dogs.
"We developed a world first in pet tech nutrition to meet these needs, and turn food into an adventure you can explore together with your dog, whilst improving their health" explains Jonny.
"A scientific approach, but playful."
All good points but a lot of companies were already offering freshly cooked and portioned meals for dogs so how was myCompanion going to stand out from the pack?
What is new and different about myCompanion?
What really grabbed our interest was the algorithm used by the myCompanion website, which allows you to build your own unique recipes from thousands of combinations of fresh ingredients.
This the genius part as their work in collaboration with ACVN board-certified veterinary nutritionists ensures every recipe you create is complete and balanced by AAFCO standards (the same nutritional standards used by the big pet food companies).
However what we were interested in was to customise our own recipe from scratch tailored to our preferences and our advice is not to overthink it! Keep in mind your dog's main health goal and his favourite foods (or known food allergies) to guide you through the process.
Early customers would often ask: "but how can my recipe be balanced?" myCompanion world-first algorithm tests millions of combinations of ingredients and portions to ensure every recipe is complete and balanced to global industry standards (AAFCO).
The company works with you to understand your goals and change food for you, whilst giving you the confidence to be creative.
It's a bit like cooking in the kitchen but with a Veterinary Nutritionist!
It's a bit like cooking in the kitchen but with a Veterinary Nutritionist!
Our experience with myCompanion
It all starts online which is great when you’re preparing for your self-isolation…
All the meats come from a local Bondi (Sydney) butcher and they are all human-grade meats (not pet grade meats).
2. Choose up to TWO Carb option: (Brown or White Rice, Chickpeas, Lentils, Potato or Sweet Potato, Barley).
3. Choose UP to TWO from a variety of Superfoods (including fruit and vegetables e.g. Kale, Blueberry, Carrot, Pumpkin, Broccoli, Zucchini, Apple).
Once you’ve chosen your recipe based on your dog’s tastes and health goal (arthritis, weight loss, inflammation), you will receive a personalised email within 24 hours with your dog’s custom-made recipe and plan (pre-portioned daily meals).
Bear in mind that at this stage you haven't purchased so you are free to proceed or not.
Your detailed email will also confirm the weekly cost (which obviously depends on your dog's weight and health goals), it allows you to set your delivery address and includes a timetable on when to order to be part of the next round of delivery (it worked out at 10 days for us as we missed the initial cut-off date).
Your detailed email will also confirm the weekly cost (which obviously depends on your dog's weight and health goals), it allows you to set your delivery address and includes a timetable on when to order to be part of the next round of delivery (it worked out at 10 days for us as we missed the initial cut-off date).
You will receive a fortnightly delivery to your door usually at the week-end.
Because of the new covid-19 restrictions and as we live a long way out in the suburbs, we ended up with 28 days of meals (packed as daily portions) delivered in person by Founder Jonny, who wore a PPE mask befitting the times so we had a quick chat standing 2 metres apart.
When some big pet food companies say that dogs will be happy eating the same recipe day in, day out we know now it's simply not true...
Your dogs will be 'fed' as recipes meet their basic nutritional requirements but you're not delivering a daily bowl of joy and goodness!
Your dogs will be 'fed' as recipes meet their basic nutritional requirements but you're not delivering a daily bowl of joy and goodness!
What was in Conner’s custom trial recipe?
Based on our wishlist of helping our 30kg senior Tervuren with his worsening arthritis, we selected Chicken Mince, Sweet Potato, Chickpeas, Spinach and Blueberries for our customised recipe.
This is where the smart algorithm kicks in to add extra ingredients that will help reach your dog’s health goals so Conner’s recipe also included: Lentils, Kale, Barley, Beef Liver and Cod Liver. Your personalised recipe profile gives you the full breakdown of every ingredient (%) as well as the entire list of included Vitamins, Minerals & Amino Acids.
 |
| My Companion - 7 days of Conner's customised recipe |
Our dog's recipe nutritional contents were broken down into 32% protein, 14% fat, 39% carbohydrates, 10% fibre and 4% ash - not altogether dissimilar to some kibbles we have used in the past as we favour a high protein content / ketogenic diet for Conner suffering from occasional epileptic fits.
In his senior years, this higher protein content also helps preserve muscle mass and maximise mobility. We used to add some sardines to his food but the myCompanion recipe already includes a higher level of Omega 3 fatty acids which assist in reducing joint inflammation.
The big difference? Regardless of the recipe you end up creating for your dog, you can be certain that there aren't any fillers or preservatives. The food is made of 98% wholefoods (which you can see and trust) blended with 2% of essential vitamins and minerals. Plus all the ingredients are locally sourced and prepared in myCompanion's human-grade safety kitchens.
The company says that every batch is inspected before being mixed to make sure chunks are left in to give the gift of different textures to your dog and this certainly rang true as we could see the bigger pieces of chicken, sweet potato and spinach in every bag we opened.
Our dog's daily portion was 723g (extremely precise) which was divided into 50/50 for breakfast and dinner.
Theoretically you should follow the company's transition guidelines and ease our dog(s) into his new diet over 7 days but we find that (unlike kibble swaps), dogs adjust very quickly to high-quality lightly cooked meals. We only used as 50% of his daily meal allocation for a couple of days and then went up right to 100% with no issues.
 |
| Conner prepared to chomp through the pouch for a taste! |
We must admit that we have not done this yet having a full 28 days of meals already planned but we will have another go very soon with one of our other dogs!
Our food was made on Friday 3rd April and delivered on Saturday 4th April so you can't get any fresher than this unless you made it at home!
If you're using them regularly, myCompanion will collect and re-use your old packaging when they deliver your new food making sure it's safe before reusing. Zero waste!
We loved seeing Conner doing 2 spins (we never taught him any tricks) without fail before we put his bowl down at every meal!
He had no issues with palatability (even trying to chomp through a pouch on Day 1) and licked his bowl clean every single time. He made his siblings extremely jealous in the process so we ended up cutting the pouch open a few times so they could lick the inside of it...
The only hiccup (entirely of our making) was with planning the thawing of his meals.
Having received 28 days of food, portions were stored in a deep chest freezer so it took more than the expected 24 hours (more like 36-48 hours) to thaw them in the fridge before they could be used so the trick is to put 2 pouches in the fridge when you open a new one!
In case you get caught like us, simply submerge an unopened frozen pack in warm water for a few minutes. On a cold winter day, you could warm it in a pan slightly for a few minutes! Once thawed, your meals can be used within 3 days.
If you'd like to see and use food that works for others, you can decide to add your profile to the community because we are #bettertogether!
myCompanion is available online with deliveries across an increasing list of suburbs in Sydney.
RRP: $11.94/day based on Conner’s (30kg dog) daily meal of 723g. At $83.58/week (or $16.50/kg) this is not a cheap option but you certainly get a real super premium dog food delivered to your door.
If you have a dog under 10kg with average activity level (based on our recipe), the cost goes down to less than $42/week. That's just $6 per day.
Start your journey at mycompanion.com.au to discover a world of options for your dog.
You can also follow them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/mycompanionlife/ or
on Instagram at www.instagram.com/mycompanionlife
Disclaimer: 28 days of meals (arthritis recipe goal) from myCompanion were provided for our editorial consideration.
No comments
Post a Comment