Best Served Stirred! What is the texture of our cans? Our formulas fall within the pate category although they are different than most other pates within the industry. The primary reason that our products appear differently than a traditional pate is because they are free from thickening ingredients such as guar gum and carrageenan. As a result, our products are much more loose and can be stirred into a similar consistency to Greek yogurt. In addition, they do not harden the same way most pates do when refrigerated which is why we receive high palatability feedback on the second day of feedi ..read more

At FirstMate Pet Foods, we are passionate about providing the best quality nutrition to dogs like Callie, the 12-year-old Landseer Newfoundland who has been thriving on our food for the past 10 years. We were thrilled to receive feedback from Ron, who believes that FirstMate has played a significant role in extending Callie’s life beyond the normal lifespan of a Newfoundland dog. Callie, born on December 13, 2010, was adopted by Ron in March 2011 and has been a beloved companion ever since. She was a therapy dog with St. John Ambulance for six years, visiting long-term care homes, universities ..read more

FirstMate’s Limited Ingredient Diets use 1 meat protein and 1 carbohydrate to provide complete and balanced nutrition. This simple approach helps to improve digestion while reducing the likelihood of a food allergy or stomach sensitivity. Our success stories include: Food Allergies Loose Stool & Stomach Upset Tear Staining Pancreatitis (Veterinarian Review & Approval Required) ? SUCCESS STORIES ? The post Sensitivity & Solutions appeared first on FirstMate Pet Foods ..read more

One of our favourite frequently asked questions we receive from pet parents is “Why does the new batch of FirstMate food looks different from the previous one? “. As you know, FirstMate is a family-owned and operated pet food company that’s been on the market for the last 30 years. We take pride in the quality of our product, our approach and the ingredients we use. And receiving questions like this gives us another opportunity to educate our pet parents on the natural variation of our products. Our company uses natural ingredients only, without the addition of artificial colour additives or b ..read more

Our chicken fat is produced using a centrifuge to separate the chicken fat from the chicken protein. When an animal has a food allergy, the allergen(s) they react to is almost exclusively the protein in that ingredient. Our chicken fat is protein-free and therefore should not cause a food-related allergy. The source of fat is a critical part of pet food formulation. Fat provides energy and is required for essential fatty acids, absorption of fat-soluble vitamins, texture, aroma, and flavour. We use chicken fat in all of our dry formulas as it is far more digestible than most other fat sources ..read more

Did you know that our FirstMate, KASIKS, and SKOKI diets are often more nutrient and physically dense than other pet food varieties?   Our diets average 500k/cals per cup, and each cup will weigh more than most other foods.  This often means FirstMate will deliver the same satiety and calories in fewer cups of food, and that is why you will typically feed less, and your FirstMate will poop less on our formulas. The reason starts with our ingredient selection.  When formulating our dog and cat formulas, we select quality ingredients that provide a high percentage of meat protein ..read more

Over 30 years ago, before starting FirstMate Pet Foods, Michael fished commercially off the shores of British Columbia, Canada, and Alaska. The digestibility and health benefits of a fish-rich diet were evident to Michael and important for him to incorporate into his own pet’s diets.   All FirstMate dry fish formulas use a combination of wild-caught herring, anchovy, and sardine.  As these fish are net caught near the surface of the water, fishing for these species is less damaging to our oceans than those caught with draggers or other methods.  Our fish is primarily caught in ..read more

Our company believes that to produce a truly superior product, you need to have control over the ingredient sourcing and the manufacturing process.  That is why FirstMate has invested in owning and operating a dry facility and human-grade cannery. We have been producing quality dry dog and cat food since 1989.  When we decided to enter the canned dog and cat food market, our first priority was to have control over quality.  Our Founder and President, Michael Florian, reached out to contacts from his time in commercial fishing and found that one of those contacts was producing ca ..read more

Cats can be picky about their food, and therefore palatability (acceptance/taste) is an important factor to consider when designing cat food. High palatability ensures cats receive the nutrition they require because they will be motivated to eat their food. However, palatability is complex and affected by many factors, including smell, taste, texture, kibble size, and kibble shape (Pekel et al. 2020). Recent work has found that kibble shape, in particular, can have a strong impact on the palatability of food for cats. A recent study done by AFB International (2020) found that cross/star-shape ..read more

Why potato can be just what your dog needs. Pet parents tend to overlook a potato inclusive diet because it is thought to be high glycemic. But is this actually true, or has this little vegetable been mislabelled, and could it be a perfect option for grain-free, limited ingredient diets? Let’s start by first reviewing the glycemic index.  The glycemic index measures how quickly individual ingredients are converted into blood sugar after being consumed. The index is based on a scale of 0 to 100, with 100 being the highest. To better understand the scale, imagine a spoonful of sug ..read more