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Last night we opened our dogs' last pouch of Lyka pre-portioned cooked meals and no doubt they won’t be looking forward to their next dinner quite as much...
Back in 2019, we first trialled the Lyka Pet Food subscription service, which delivered freshly cooked recipes to your home and we were very impressed by their range.
It is always interesting revisiting products a few years later and the company has certainly come a long way with its marketing and strong customer following since.
A bit of background about Lyka
Lyka was founded in 2018 by Anna Podolsky, an animal lover and dog mum to an 11-year old Border Collie named Lyka.
When her dog started experiencing severe health conditions including low energy, bald patches and tooth decay whilst eating “premium” commercial pet food and exercising normally, she thought something wasn’t quite right.
Her research uncovered that her dog’s “premium” pet food came with a shelf life of up to 25 years! This set her on the path to preparing home-made, fresh meals for Lyka.
After noticing Lyka’s conditions had improved noticeably within weeks, she decided to offer the benefits of a real food diet to all Australian dogs and launched the Lyka Bowls.
The Lyka Pet Food Bowls Range
Dr Matthew Muir is an Integrative Veterinarian with a background in sustainable food development and nutrition and he's also Lyka’s co-founder.
This oversight ensures that the food formulation delivers the correct nutritional requirements and the right balance for every type and age of dog, meeting the AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials) standards as well as those of FEDIAF (European Pet Food Industry Federation).
The result is a range of 4 dog meal recipes that are species-appropriate and minimally-processed wholefood diet.
Dr Muir emphasizes the need to slowly transition your dogs over a 7 to 14 day period especially if your dogs were previously fed commercial kibble.
Our dogs would have been more than happy with the “gobble and go” approach from Day 1 but we did slow down the process for the first week. A sensible plan (still a speedy 7 day transition) includes starting your dog off with:
- Day 1+2: 25% new food / 75% old diet
- Day 3-5: increase to 50 % new / 50% old
- Day 6-7: 75% new / 25% old
- Week 2: switch to 100% of the new food.
We sprinkled a teaspoon over our dog's food twice a day (quantity for medium dogs 11kg-25kg) to stretch it a little further.
Earlier in 2021, Lyka added their new Turkey Bowl recipe to the range bringing the total number of options to four so if your dogs suffer from particular intolerances or have a favourite protein, it is now even easier to keep them satisfied.
1) Beef Bowl (55% Crude Protein*, 18% Crude Fat*)2) Lamb Bowl (46% Crude Protein, 23% Crude Fat)
3) Turkey Bowl (58% Crude Protein, 15% Crude Fat)
The newest recipe Turkey Bowl is the only one containing Turmuric and would be our first choice for a senior dog. Curcumin, an active compound found in turmeric has been shown to offer anti-inflammatory support for dogs suffering from osteoarthritis. Turmeric also contains high levels of iron, which helps our dogs’ bodies make the haemoglobin they need for healthy red blood cells.
4) Chicken Bowl (65% Crude Protein, 12% Crude Fat)
* Average composition (dry matter), this excludes moisture to make it more comparable to kibble nutrients profiles.
Our two Malinois - Porthos and Aramis - dutifully worked their way through all 4 recipes following a two-week meal plan provided by Lyka Pet Food, being fed 700g daily (after the transition) based on their medium activity levels and an average 30kg body weight.
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| Aramis examines the Grass Fed Big Boppin' Beef Bowl, sprinkled with the Transition Powder |
With the transitional period during the first week, this extended to a 3-week trial as they only ate 25% or 50% of the pouches per meal during the first week.
What is common to all 3 recipes is the Protein (in mince form) is the first named ingredient with the addition of offal (Heart) for the Beef, Lamb and Chicken varieties. Ethical choices are important to Lyka and they only use wild-caught, grass-fed and free-roam proteins.
What you also notice is the great selection of fruit and vegetables (e.g. Broccoli, Carrot, Kale, Spinach, Pumpkin, Blueberries, Cauliflower) and added superfoods (Kelp, Spirulina, Flaxseed Oil, Turmeric, Hemp Seeds etc) which are clearly visible in your dog's bowls.
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| Porthos performs a sniff test on the Lyka Turkey Bowl, truly Tail Tappin' |
The mix varies depending on the recipe but 85%-95% of each recipe is made with Australian ingredients so you're supporting local suppliers.
For those who are fans of a raw diet, it is important to note that there’s no high-temperature processing (as opposed to commercial kibble manufacturing). All the Lyka Bowls recipes are only lightly cooked below 90°C to help retain the nutrients which allows your dog’s body to absorb as much of the goodness as possible.
How to get started with a Lyka Meal Plan
1. Give a few details to build your dog’s profile
You just need to answer a few quick questions about their breed, size, activity level and eating style.
If your dog suffers from any intolerances or health issues, please be specific (Lyka is free from common intolerances such as corn, soy, dairy, lactose and sugar) and the website’s algorithm will build a box customised to their needs.
2. Select your custom plan
Lyka will design a meal plan and work out the portion sizes just right for your dog.
You just need to decide between the full or half bowl plan or you could dip your toes in with their starter box.
3. Box Delivered within days
Your dog’s freshly made meals are delivered for free at the door. It is a subscription service however there’s no locked in contract so you can feel free to make any changes, pause or cancel at any time.
The Lyka kitchen-to-door service now extends to cover 70% of Australia.
Our Lyka unboxing experience:
Because the Lyka meals are delivered frozen, you’ll need some serious space in your freezer if you have big dogs! We received 2 large boxes, each containing 14 pre-portioned pouches (700g each), which means we would go through 19.6kg of freshly cooked food just for 2 dogs (30kg each) every 2 weeks!
For those who are fans of a raw diet, it is important to note that there’s no high-temperature processing (as opposed to commercial kibble manufacturing). All the Lyka Bowls recipes are only lightly cooked below 90°C to help retain the nutrients which allows your dog’s body to absorb as much of the goodness as possible.
How to get started with a Lyka Meal Plan
 |
| Select your choice of any recipe for each dog |
You just need to answer a few quick questions about their breed, size, activity level and eating style.
If your dog suffers from any intolerances or health issues, please be specific (Lyka is free from common intolerances such as corn, soy, dairy, lactose and sugar) and the website’s algorithm will build a box customised to their needs.
2. Select your custom plan
Lyka will design a meal plan and work out the portion sizes just right for your dog.
You just need to decide between the full or half bowl plan or you could dip your toes in with their starter box.
3. Box Delivered within days
Your dog’s freshly made meals are delivered for free at the door. It is a subscription service however there’s no locked in contract so you can feel free to make any changes, pause or cancel at any time.
The Lyka kitchen-to-door service now extends to cover 70% of Australia.
Our Lyka unboxing experience:
Because the Lyka meals are delivered frozen, you’ll need some serious space in your freezer if you have big dogs! We received 2 large boxes, each containing 14 pre-portioned pouches (700g each), which means we would go through 19.6kg of freshly cooked food just for 2 dogs (30kg each) every 2 weeks!
 |
| Porthos & Aramis, two puppers living their best life after receiving their Lyka freshly cooked meals |
Because Lyka are big advocates for sustainability, this shows in the way your dog’s meals are delivered:
✔️ The shipping box is made from 100% recyclable materials.
✔️ The wool insulation is biodegradable so can be composted or thrown in the red bin.
✔️ The food pouches are also recyclable in your REDcycle (soft plastic collection) bins.
The boxes would be fine left for a few hours on your doorstep but it’s always best to put the meals in the freezer as soon as possible and then thaw individually (the night before by moving the pouches to the fridge so it can defrost overnight) based on your needs. Occasionally, we forgot but it’s easy enough to place a pouch in a pot filled with hot water for a speedy defrost!
As we’re heading into the colder months, you can also warm the meals up slightly for your pooches or serve them fresh depending on their preference. Once defrosted your Lyka pouch will last 7 days in the fridge (unopened) and 2 days after opening.
Our overall verdict on the Lyka Pet Food subscription service
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| Porthos dedicated himself to tasting Lyka's Beef Bowl |
We would give this food a top rating for palatability (the food even smelled nice to us especially the Turkey Bowl) and digestibility (no runny poos or any "rearranging" of the food) which is pretty impressive over three weeks.
There was nothing wrong with the presentation of the food two years ago but we feel that Lyka has certainly stepped up in its presentation with much clearer labelling (extremely well designed pouches clearly showing the variety and manufacturing date) and very impressive collaterals.
There was nothing wrong with the presentation of the food two years ago but we feel that Lyka has certainly stepped up in its presentation with much clearer labelling (extremely well designed pouches clearly showing the variety and manufacturing date) and very impressive collaterals.
The leaflets included are probably the best we've ever received and will answer any questions you may have regarding any aspect of the business; every single ingredient for each recipe is itemised as well as detailed nutrients profiles.
The website is easy to use and the communication from the company (ordering, tailored "on-bowling" tips, tracking) timely and professional.
The only negative for us is being immediately forced onto a subscription (no matter how flexible the system is) and we think it would great to allow consumers to order ad-hoc, based on their own needs. Especially when you order a Starter Box, there should be no expectation that you will be automatically converted to a Full Meal Plan before you’ve even completed your first trial.
The other thing you need to keep in mind for your first order is that there’s a 7 to 10 day process time to receive your first delivery (e.g. an order placed on April 5 will be received on April 15) so you need to plan well ahead.
Price & Where to Buy:
Based on a weekly commitment for our two Belgian Malinois (30kg), it would cost $113.75/week based on the Full Bowl Plan which is quite expensive when you feed large dogs.
However, this represents 9.1kg of food which works out to be $12.50/kg.
The other thing you need to keep in mind for your first order is that there’s a 7 to 10 day process time to receive your first delivery (e.g. an order placed on April 5 will be received on April 15) so you need to plan well ahead.
Price & Where to Buy:
However, this represents 9.1kg of food which works out to be $12.50/kg.
If you consider that you would expect to pay around $10/kg for only basic (3 star) beef mince at the the supermarket, which has no added fruit and vegetables or superfoods and factor in the cost of home delivery, then this looks a lot more reasonable. Definitely an option we'd love to use more regularly even if we couldn't commit to a subscription plan.
For more information, please visit lyka.com.au
Disclaimer: A complimentary 2-week trial of the 4 varieties (mixed box) was provided to us by Lyka Pet Food in order to complete this review.
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