Swiss Lick Swissies

Red Moon Pet Food

Tuesday, August 10th, 2010 | Beowulf, Indigo, Ozzy

While trolling around on the Swissy forum last month, I heard of a new(ish) company out there (well, new to me) that manufactured and shipped custom pet foods. I contacted the company, Red Moon Custom Pet Food, about getting a trial for our three dogs. I received a prompt reply from someone who was happy to help out. Go figure – she was a Swissy person that I met two months prior at the National event in May. Now I was even more interested in getting my hands on some of this food.

Navigating through the site is pretty simple. You pick your pet type (dog or cat), and it has a process that you follow to pick your base formula, then add-ins. You have six options for your base:

High Protein: Lamb and Potato Fusion or Chicken and Yellow Pea Medley
Moderate Protein: Lamb and Potato Fusion or Chicken and Yellow Pea Medley
Low Protein: Lamb and Potato Fusion or Chicken and Potato Medley

All options are grain, soy and gluten free. You basically need to determine what formula is right for your dog given their breed, age and activity level. As you mouse over the options on page, it gives you assistance. For example – I chose the low protein chicken option because I have a Swissy puppy. If I was unsure, they can provide me assistance, but the mouse over told me this:

Low protein chicken and potato medley is formulated to be ideal for large and giant breed dogs and puppies, or for any dog that has a low activity level. The formula contains no grain, no gluten, no corn, no wheat, no rice and no soy.

After I determined the correct base formula, I chose an energy level. There were three options, and I actually did two separate bags and used two of the three options. You can pick Senior or Weight Management, Normal Activity and Weight, or High Energy or Puppy.

Next, you pick your bag size, and it also gives you a base price. Don’t be freaked out by these prices – it’s a premium food (meaning you won’t be feeding as much as you would with Iams or Science Diet), and the shipping is free. (Or at least it was at the time of this review.)

After the bag size is picked, you have the option to add in up to six supplements – two are free. I picked Digest-Aid and High Gloss Skin and Coat Makeover. You can also chose Antioxidant Immune Booster, Perfect Pant Oral Health Support, Spring Step Joint Reviver, or Spring Step Joint Reviver Plus.

Next you finalize your order, and you can save your custom food formula with a name that gets printed on the bag.

I ordered on a Tuesday and had my bags on a Thursday. I was amazed! I opened the bags up immediately and let all three dogs try a small amount. The smell of the food was fantastic – even grouchy Beowulf was super interested. I’m not exaggerating when I say that they were all clawing at my hand to get a taste of the food. They really, really wanted it. I let each of them try a little, and we used it mixed in with treats for a few days since we were traveling and didn’t want to do a food change out of town…

The following Monday, we started feeding them all the Red Moon food for one meal per day. Again, they were very, very excited about the food. I don’t think it was only because it was a different food – it was a nice, substantial kibble and it had a very, very good smell. Mister Picky Eater (again, Beowulf) ate his food in record time.

We experienced the same things you would expect during a food change – a little gas and funky poop. Seeing that we didn’t go through a full food trial (I would consider a full trial to be 4 weeks), it’s difficult to tell you whether or not my three would have resolved their issues or not. I have a feeling they would have. I am considering purchasing a full month supply for Beowulf, partially because he was so very enthused about this food. I love to see the old guy interested if food again.

So, initial review is definitely a thumbs up with a possibility of more info to follow. It’s definitely worth a try.

Tags: Beowulf the Basset, Greater Swiss Mountain Dog, Indy the Swissy, Ozzy the Swissy, Red Moon Pet Food, Swissy

2 Comments to Red Moon Pet Food

Tom
August 27, 2010

I have my own experiences with Redmoon to share. I was impressed by your comments about picky eaters and the smell of the food. So, I thought that leaving some comments which I’ve already posted on another blog might be helpful to others. I welcome any comments on my comments. Thanks. -Tom

____
I went looking for reviews of Redmoon and have found very few. I want to try to remedy that problem because I’ve had such a good experience with it and hope to help others to decide to use it, too.

I’ve tried this product for the past 3 months now….I’ve experimented with different variations customized for my two young Dachshunds. They are both now just over a year old (14 months and 18 months). My girl “Gertrude” is a very picky eater. My boy “Walter” will eat anything (even if it’s not food—like plastic, wood, paper, etc.).

I first discovered the Redmoon site because I was looking for food for “picky eaters.” I’d already tried all the Science Diet/Prescription Diet varieties that used to work for my older (now passed-on) Dachshunds, “Helmut” and “Seigmund”. But, Gertrude would just not eat anything but fresh food (like cooked meats and rice) with any gusto at all. That all changed with Redmoon. Gertrude actually looks forward to eating her meals now…whereas before I had to literally beg her to eat. She’s still a slow and careful eater (Walter’s a speed demon who can down his bowl of food in less than a minute), but she looks up at me with anticipation and runs over to the bowl (she’ll even “defend” it from Walter). All in all, an amazing change in her behavior!

Not only has the Redmoon food changed the nature of mealtime for both my dogs, it’s also had a noticeable effect on their coat quality. Both of them look healthier now with shiny and moist coats that come from the proper oils in the diet.

I’m now trying my cat “Kestra” on a custom blend. She’s a very picky eater and can’t tolerate anything but the very expensive Prescription Diet “Feline ID” (because she’s a vomiter). I even have to admit that all the Redmoon food actually smells good to me (a human). It has a “natural” quality and intense smell…sort of like something you’d cook up yourself. It’s hard to explain what I mean by smell, but I have a sensitive nose so I can tell a whole lot from the smell of foods. This product just smells good to me….and obviously it smells good to my dogs.

In summary, I’m frankly amazed at the quality of the Redmoon product. They always deliver within a week’s time and the website is a real pleasure to use (very good design and operational ease). I can sincerely recommend this product with no reservations. My only concern is that I hope they do well enough to stay in business a long time. I can’t bear to think of going back to regular visits to the big-box pet stores (or even my pricey vet’s office) for poor-quality (and expensive) pet food again.

Oh, one more thing I want to say: the VALUE of this product is amazing too. I think it’s very fairly priced, particularly when compared to any “premium” or “boutique” brands (like Orijen or Blue). And when compared to the increasingly-pricey Science/Prescription Diet brands, it’s no contest. Redmoon is a far better value: my dogs will eat it and they are clearly healthier.

kitty
March 16, 2011

OMG that is terrific! I love your work! Guess I am not as contemporaneous as your usual fans! I swear I have fallen in love with your blog… Terrific writing! You’re an outstanding and talented person, keep up the individuality

Leave a comment