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Nature's Menu manufactures all-natural foods for dogs and cats. The growing awareness of the many negative aspects of commercial pet foods has created demand for a healthy alternative among veterinarians, dog breeders, pet stores, and concerned pet owners nationwide.
The products began almost by accident in 1991 by Rose Estes, inventor and founder of Nature's Menu. Rose was approached by a fellow animal lover who had many sickly cats that were going to be put to sleep if not adopted. Rose couldn't bear the thought of the animals being put down, so she took them into her care and started her mission of returning them to top health.
As she studied the ingredients of a typical commercial cat food product, she thought to herself, "I can do better than that." and began to research and prepare a healthy diet. Rose mixed meats and vegetables together and cooked them in big vats on her kitchen stove. Then she started adding vitamins and supplements. But, as Rose thought about it, it occurred to her that cats and dogs don't eat cooked food in their natural environment, they eat everything raw.
Soon she realized that even with her science background, she needed more scientific input. So, she began to search for animal nutritionists who would know just what cats need to satisfy their nutritional needs.
Finally, after doing an extensive search and speaking with a very large number of veterinarians, Rose found Dr. George Fahey and Dr. Gary Pucillo, both board certified veterinary nutritionists; two of only 26 board certified vet/nutritionists in the country. Fahey and Pucillo confirmed that it is natural and most effective to feed both dogs and cats meat in its raw form as systems were designed to extract protein and nutrients from meat in a raw state. Once cooked, meat cannot be assimilated by the animals' bodies. Furthermore, Fahey and Pucillo determined that grain products are not eaten in the wild by dogs and cats, and that their systems are not equipped to breakdown and assimilate carbohydrate-based products.
So, Fahey and Pucillo came up with a vitamin/mineral supplement to add to meats and a recipe of organs and meat to form a complete diet for both dogs and cats.
The research and development process of trial and error with Rose's cats and dogs went on for many years. As the diets became complete and were fed regularly, the once sickly animals showed amazing signs of improvement. Not long after, the cats completed their recovery and were being placed in new homes. The veterinary/nutrtitionists were very impressed and mentioned Rose's diets to others. Soon, strangers who were veterinarians and dog and cat breeders and owners began calling Rose and asking her about her diets and requesting portions for themselves.
The demand from others for the raw meat diets led Rose to research how her diet could be mass-processed, packaged and stored. She began the long road to deciding on the best form of packaging, storage, and distribution.
News of Rose’s Diet continued to spread via word-of-mouth to an even greater extent and potential customers tried to place orders. She then began Nature’s Menu.
Lydia Estes continued to market and expand Nature's Menu for several years, feeding dogs and cats in areas all over the country.
In 2007, a new manufacturer came on board to make the raw meat diets for Nature's Menu. Contract Comestibles improved the production and packaging of the products, and streamlined the distribution.
Late in 2009, Lydia Estes moved on to studies of plants and animals in Central America, and Contract Comestibles took over all of the distribution of the Natures Menu Diets. With a larger facility and more frozen storage capacity, almost all the challenges of keeping products in stock and in rotation should be history.
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