Mad Paws joins Australian companies in launching raw food meal delivery service for pets

Pet owners are now buying ‘Lite ‘n Easy style’ home-delivered raw dinner meals — but they come with a warning from vets.

Pet owners are increasingly pampering their pooches with ‘Lite ‘n Easy style’ home-delivered raw dinner meals that claim to be good enough for humans to eat.

But veterinarians are warning pet owners about switching a dog’s diet to raw meat without consulting them first — and argue not all dry kibble is bad.

Mad Paws is the latest Australian company to launch a weekly delivery service for dogs called Dinner Bowl, featuring raw human-grade meat sourced from local farmers combined with vegetables.

Mad Paws Community Manager Thomas Derricott told News Corp Australia they now deliver in NSW, Queensland, Victoria and the ACT, with plans to expand to South Australia and Western Australia.

Mr Derricott said each meal – which arrives frozen and can be served raw after being defrosted – had been created with a team of nutritionists.

A dog eating one of the the Mad Paws Dinner Bowl meals. Picture: Supplied

Mr Derricott said costs for the meals are based on a dog’s age, weight, gender, and breed.

He said the meat was “human-grade” and could be cooked and eaten by pet owners.

“We understand some owners like to be economical and offer kibble but this is a fresh option,” he said.

Vet Dr Julie Crawford warned against feeding all dogs the same diet.

“Veterinarians are trained in nutrition and can keep pet owners informed about what’s best for their dog,” Dr Crawford, who is the Small Animal nominee to the Australian Veterinary Association Board, said.

She said the pet food is still self-regulated with voluntary industry standards.

“We strongly recommend people look at the label and find the Australian Standard for the Manufacturing and Marketing of Pet Food known as AS 5812 to make sure their food is compliant,” she said.

She said she had seen a lot of new puppies during COVID-19 in her clinic with diarrhoea, with some being triggered by raw food diets.

Your Vet Online’s Dr Leigh Davidson warned a poorly-formulated raw diet can have the opposite effect.

“For example, some raw diets will lead to severe mineral imbalances (in particular calcium deficiency) that can result in poor bone development that has the potential to result in fractures,” she said.

“We want to ensure that the microflora of bacteria in the dog’s gut is diverse and we know that diets that contain kibble do this.

“It is always best to choose diets that are formulated by a veterinary or degree qualified nutritionist. They need to be complete and balanced.”

Ally Petrie with her dog Pippa who eats the new Mad Paws' fresh raw food dinner service. Pictire: Peter Wallis

Allysha Petrie, from Tarragindi in Queensland, said she now gives her husky Pippa, 7, the dinner bowls because she sees it as a “healthier alternative”.

“I was giving her kibble before but she is very picky and after a week of it, I found she was reluctant to eat it again,” she said.

“I also used to feed her wild kangaroo mince and veggies, but this is a more convenient way of doing it as we are also try to calorie count her meal as she was on the heavier side.

“We don’t give her scraps at the table either.”

Ms Petrie spends around $65 a week on food for Pippa and her other dog Joey, 2.

“I’m probably spending about the same as making it myself but I know I am getting well-portioned meals and they eat it.”

WHERE MAD PAWS DELIVER

In NSW, the meals are delivered across Sydney to the Blue Mountains, Central Coast, Newcastle, Wollongong and as far as Orange, Tamworth, Dubbo, Armidale, Coffs Harbour and Byron Bay.

In the ACT, they deliver to Canberra and the ACT south coast.

In Victoria, they deliver to Melbourne and other regional areas including Ballarat, Bendigo, Geelong, Geelong Regional, Mornington Peninsula, Albury Wodonga, Gippsland and Mildura.

In Queensland, they deliver to Brisbane, Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast.

Originally published as Mad Paws joins Australian companies in launching raw food meal delivery service for pets