Dr. Marty Pet Food now available at your local Treats Unleashed

For the modern pet parent, it seems like there are more pet food options than ever to choose from. Gone are the days of a single kibble provider or having to make your pet’s food by hand just to give them a whole, balanced meal with minimal ingredients. In today’s world, you can access anything from grain-free recipes to fresh toppers and everything in-between.

While there’s a plethora of options on the market, it can also be overwhelming to navigate. In a sea of marketing buzzwords and scientific lingo, are you equipped with the real knowledge that will help you make a smart purchase?

If not, don’t worry. Treats Unleashed is staffed with pet food experts, and we love to share our knowledge with pet parents like you that come to us with questions about their pet's food and nutrition choices.

In this blog, let’s break down one of the newest brands on our shelf, Dr. Marty.

Before jumping in, as we talk about different pet food formats, here’s a handy cheat sheet:

• Kibble: A pre-cooked, shelf-stable food option. Under USDA regulation, all brands are required to be balanced and meet nutritional needs of the pet in question (dog, cat, puppy, senior pet, etc.) 

• Raw: A diet consisting of organ meats, whole/ground bones, eggs, whole muscle, or even dog-safe fruits & veggies. Ingredients are uncooked and minimally processed.

• Fresh: Seen as an alternative to kibble and raw. Unlike raw, fresh food is still cooked or gently-cooked but at lower temperatures retaining more of the vitamins and minerals.

• Air Dried:  Made by slowly drying raw ingredients at low temperatures. This format results in a nutrient-dense food that is similar in texture to jerky.

Let's Talk About Dr. Marty

Created by the brand's namesake doctor with over 50 years of veterinary experience, Dr. Marty Pet Food is a freeze-dried, raw food option made from whole foods. The result is a nutrient-first food with a delightfully crunchy texture. Freeze-drying is not a specific type of food, but rather a cooking process where the moisture from a raw food is removed after mixing or preparation. This cooking method preserves nutrients more than other cooking processes that rely on high heat. In other words, the raw goodness gets preserved, without the need for freezers.

As a raw food, their recipes utilize premium meat (turkey, beef, duck, salmon, and organ meat), meaning their food is a great option for pets needing a high-protein diet. Meat also provides taurine, an amino acid that benefits organs like the brain and heart. The addition of real veggies, fruit, and seed provide great digestion benefits and added vitamins.

TU TIP: When you look at your pet’s food container, note that ingredients are listed in order of quantity in a recipe. That means, for high-protein food recipes like those from Dr. Marty, you’ll want to look for meat as the first listed ingredient. Some brands replace grain ingredients with other carbohydrates. If that’s an area of concern, look for ingredients like lentils and white potatoes in the list as well. 

Their formulas also have zero artificial preservatives or additives, but due to the freeze-drying process, their food options are shelf-stable with no refrigeration, freezing, or prep required. 

At Treats Unleashed, as a team that understands the power of whole ingredient nutrition for our pets, we have added three of their Nature’s Blend line to our shelves:

• Their Essential Wellness option prioritizes essential vitamins with an impressive squad of turkey, beef, salomon, and duck as the top ingredients.
• Their Sensitivity Select blend features a blend of turkey, duck, goose and quail; four protein sources specifically chosen for pups with sensitive stomachs or food allergies.
• And finally, their Small Breed Blend is the same freeze-dried raw formula dogs love, but crafted into smaller, bite-sized pieces designed specifically for small breed dogs (and smaller jaws).