Markus Muhle and other cold pressed dog food

[Dottie]

It is (predictably) German and the company website is here.  Seeing that so many cold pressed foods are coming from there, I can't help but wonder why some enterprising soul doesn't set up a plant in this country. 

[Pegasus]

I've tried Gentle samples with our dogs (they liked it) but found the 5kg too expensive and the 15kg too big a risk for our fussy dogs with the relatively short sell by date - it's happened too often where they have tried samples and liked them only to go off them when I open a big bag. We've stocked MM (and Farmfoods HE) in the past but found many owners find their dogs get 'bored' of only one flavour, which may be different if you are adding BARF to the nuggets.

[David]

* Cost - MM is considerably cheaper then Gentle. I don't know why because the products are all made at the same plant in Germany.  I understand from this website that there isn't one in the UK at the moment.  Gentle is said to be a UK company but seems to have the same person contact details as MM.

Yes indeed. Beate Rothon has been the UK distributor for Markus Mülhe for a long while and last year she formulated her own recipe, Gentle, which she gets made in the MM factory in Germany. I hope that clears things up.

[Dottie]

Having recently been in conversation with someone who has begun to feed her dog with Gentle, I thought it might be useful to update this thread.  The person in question changed food as the dog had a tendency to soft and loose stools.  They had improved on Gentle but were not as firm as she wanted.  I had previously advised her to weigh the food carefully but it has transpired that she has been using a measuring cup which she had for another dog food product.  The dog was therefore being over fed.

These products are dense and when comparing the same weight of cold pressed food with traditional kibble the quantity is less. This can be seen at the beginning of this film which also demonstrates the difference in absorption of the two types of food.

Measuring these products in mugs, cups or whatever is not recommended.  For anyone who is considering changing to a cold pressed food, it is essential that it is weighed accurately.  The recommended daily allowance is 1% to 1.2% of the dog's body weight for Gentle but obviously this needs to be adjusted in accordance with the dog's needs. I am not sure about the other cold pressed products but I would imagine that it would be the same or similar.  It goes without saying, always check the manufacturer's guidelines.

Link.

[Eden Holistic Pet Foods]

Weighing is essential with many of the higher protein foods Dottie, not just cold pressed, and especially with smaller breeds, where a couple of kibbles can make up several percent of the daily allowance.

Not also that some scales only weigh in 5g increments, ideally ou need 1g increments, it has also been seen that different flavours in the same product range can have different densities, so a scoop can hold different amounts based on the flavour.

Weighing also makes it easy to fine tune daily amounts when weight loss or gain is required.

[Dottie]

It seems that I have missed a cold pressed dog food.  It is Healthy Dog.  At the moment it is not reviewed on the Dog Food Directory. Link.

[FurriesMom112]

Hi. How are you dog's weight on cold pressed food? My dog has an enlarged gallbladder and I'm seeking out a new food. I'm particularly interested in Gentle or Lupo as they seem to meet his health requirements.  He has also experienced a steady weight loss over the past 6 months or so and therefore I am looking for a food which may help maintain his weight  or even help put some on. Would be welcome to hear any experiences with dogs weight on this diet. Thanks

[Dottie]

The recommendation is for 1% to 1.2% if body weight for adult dogs.  However, they do say that it can vary according to the dog's requirements.  For instance, puppies and bitches in whelp or nursing would get a lot more than this. 

From my own experience, two of my dogs have problems with weight control - they easily put it on.  At the 1% of body weight it would be 85g RDA but they only get 65g in the bowl and about another 10g in a Kong so it is below this.  However, I am finding that it works for them.  I have just weighed them this morning and they are holding their weight very steady indeed so I am pleased. 

With your dog needing to put weight on you would probably need to start at the 1.2% of body weight and then monitor weekly.  You can add 10% as needed.  A word of warning though - always weigh the food accurately and don't be surprised if it doesn't look much.  It's very easy to overfeed using cold pressed food.  I'm used to it now but I still feel that it looks a tiny amount in comparison to kibble.  If you are on Facebook check out the Gentle page and there is a photograph of two glass bowls, one containing Gentle and the other kibble.  You will see the difference immediately. 

If you do switch I would be very interested to hear how it goes.  Don't forget that you can always email the company or give them a call for advice.

[FurriesMom112]

Thanks Dottie. Think Harvey would actually prefer a 'smaller' bowl of food. He eats small meals throughout the day and doesn't always finish in one go so a smaller meal might just suit him better.

[Dottie]

Mine get the daily allowance divided into three. This particularly suits my little one because like your Harvey, she prefers little meals.  Might be wrong, but for dogs who don't have such a big appetite cold pressed food is maybe something worth considering because of the smaller amount needed.

[Greg]

In reply to Dottie at the top of the page (Sorry it won't let me quote for some reason) I posed the question  of why a UK business hasn't started manufacturing it here yet at Cruft's to some kibble manufacturers and fears of the sterility of the food seemed to be the answer. What i was told was that because the food isn't cooked at a high temperature for a certain amount of time like in extruding there are worries about salmonella etc, not so much affecting dogs, but if peoples kids etc get hold of the food.

They all did say it's definitely something that will be happening in the future though.

And hi everyone, first post!

[Dottie]

Welcome to the forum Greg and thank you very much for asking about that and for telling us about it.  I have to say that I had no idea that sterility was an issue.  TBH I have never even thought about it, particularly as there are products for human consumption that are cold pressed. However, they are oils, not meat and fish.  It would be interesting to hear what the company's take is on this.  On the Scampers website there is an article about a visit that the owner made to the manufacturing factory in Germany.  He mentions actually tasting the food himself so I would imagine that if there was any risk that would not have been allowed.   BTW there is an article in the March issue of 'Dogs Today' by the holistic/natural therapy vet Richard Allport.  He talks about diet and mentions Gentle as a good quality, minimally-processed food. It is one of the three that he recommends if the owner cannot, or does not want to feed a raw diet.

[Eden Holistic Pet Foods]

Which are the other 2 Dottie?

[Greg]

I was the same Dottie, i hadn't considered it either, one of the companies i spoke to said that they were excited about the idea and that everything looked great in theory but when they looked at the practical side of things those sort of problems started popping up.

I didn't get a chance to go to Farm food's stand because i would have asked them how they get around it, i'm assuming there must be a certain level of cooking at some point to kill bacteria? Or maybe freezing perhaps? would that work?

Also, does anyone know why it won't let me quote? It says i'm not allowed to post external links but all i'm trying to do is quote, the posts i'm trying to quote don't have links in either? 

[Dottie]

David - they are ZiwiPeak (he prefers air dried version as it is the least processed) and Orijen - available as a dry food and in a freeze-dried range. 

Greg: I think that FarmFood HE (cold pressed) is made in the Netherlands. The distributor is in fife, Scotland. I don't know why the forum is not allowing quotes.  I  tend not to use them much but when I do I type it myself in brackets and end with the same but / in front of the word quote.  I will leave a message for David about this.