Lucille (Lucy to her friends), is a thirteen year old Chocolate Lab. She has had bad parents that did not know how to feed her before meeting Randi Astrom at the Natural Pet Pantry in Houghton. From age twelve to thirteen, we have seen Lucy succumb to age more with each passing day and three weeks ago, her decline was reversed by switching to a diet of raw duck, turkey and chicken. We also added a few duck necks and raw goat’s milk to her diet. Her energy has rebounded; not to puppy levels but to a higher quality of life for sure. Her ears, which had been chronically plagued with infection, dried up and are not bothering her anymore - at all! Her coat is darker and shinier and she smells quite a bit more pleasant but still like a dog!

While still new to this level of care and feeding, I have learned a few things in this first month of feeding Lucy a raw diet. The frozen meat is kept in our freezer downstairs and I keep a two pound / two day serving is thawed in our refrigerator upstairs that I serve her meals from. A month’s worth of two pound packages is approximately equal in space to four shoe boxes in volume. It is smart to start thawing the next 2 pound ration a day before serving so that you don’t need hurry the defrosting process. I mix in a little goat’s milk, pumpkin and sometimes a little of her old kibble food to extend the meal if she is looking lean or especially hungry. It is easy to rationalize the extra time and expense of feeding Lucy this food because the difference in her health, from before to after, is profoundly improved.

While I would have been a better person if I had met Randi earlier in Lucy’s life, it has made me very happy to learn about and experience the benefit of Natural Pet Pantry food in time for Lucy to rebound like she has. I believe that Lucy is more comfortable and less stressed with her new diet and living very noticeably better. Thank you, Randi!

Warm regards,

Kurt Watkins