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| Frequently Asked Questions | ||
| Service Questions |
Health Questions
Product Questions | |
| What areas do you service? | Do you sell out of stores or ship overnight? | |
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Mika's Meals does not provide food for distribution by other stores and we do not ship food outside of our delivery area. | |
| Do you freeze your food? What is the shelf life? | What type of container do you use for food storage? | |
| Our food can be frozen and defrosted for later use. We provide you with two weeks of food of which 10 days are frozen at delivery. The food has a refrigerated shelf life of at least one week and will defrost, if frozen, within 24 to 48 hours depending on size and defrosting temperatures. | Mika's Meals is extremely proud to use a biodegradable and compostable paper container lined with PLA - a plant based, environmentally friendly product safe for hot and cold human grade foods. You can safely throw this container into the trash or a compost bin knowing it will decompose within one year or less. |
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| Ingredients - What goes into the food we make? | Acrylamide and Cancer - How Mika's Meals addresses this issue. | |
Our recipes uses some set of the following ingredients:
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Discovery of acrylamide in foods:
Acrylamide was discovered in foods in April 2002 by Eritrean scientist Eden Tareke in Sweden when she found the chemical in starchy foods, such as potato chips (potato crisps), French fries (chips), and bread that had been heated higher than 120 C (248 F) (production of acrylamide in the heating process was shown to be temperature-dependent).[17] It was not found in food that had been boiled[17][18] or in foods that were not heated.[17]Mika's Meals is proud to state that all egg and meat products are boiled or sous vide as the cooking method. All vegetables are maintained raw or boiled and the oats/barley are cooked with the liquid left over after boiling the meat to add extra flavor. |
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| Cooked vs. Raw Dog Food | Health Issues - How we use nutrition to improve your dog's quality of life. | |
| There are many people who believe a raw diet is appropriate for dogs and there are those who think it is a dangerous method of feeding. Those in favor point out the "natural diet" of wolves who share a genetic similarity to domesticated dogs (across all breeds) and there are those who disagree with the genetic similarity. Those against raw diets argue there are food-borne illnesses from consuming raw meats that cooking significantly reduces the risk of. Further, the cooking process makes the digestion process easier. Ultimately, Mika's Meals feels the safest way to reduce the risk of food-borne illness is to cook the meats, wash the vegetables and properly prepare the food in a sanitary environment. Although dogs are animals, they are not wild when they live with humans in modern society; they are members of the family and should be treated as such. |
Among the many scientific articles and books available regarding animal nutrition are those that argue for a change in nutriton distributions as a means of combating some illnesses. The amount of calories obtained via Fat, Protien and Carbohydrates greatly impacts the volume of the food, the rate of absorption and the impact the nutrients will have on the animals body. Mika's Meals uses this science to formulate foods for various conditions including Lactation, Gestation (Pregnancy), Type-II Diabetes, Obesity, Radiation/Cancer Therapy, IBS (Fat Sensitivity), Dental Sensitivity, Urinary Tract Disease (UT), Kidney Disease (KD), Cardiovascular Disease and Ingredient Allergies. We accomodate for the dog's size, activity level and age. Yup, we do puppy food too! The best part is there are NO REGULATED DRUGS or CHEMICALS USED and thus no prescription is necessary. We simply apply basic concepts of nutrition to the ingredient distribution. IMPORTANT NOTICE: Mika's Meals food does not cure the underlying disease or problem of your dog (except in cases of obesity where the "cure" is to loose excess weight); rather the product helps your dog better cope with the health issues present. Remission may occur in some cases, however Mika's Meals makes no claim to the result. Proper nutrition will ensure a healthy lifestyle, but cannot be guaranteed to cure any disease or health issue present in your dog.
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| Treats - Do you accomodate treating with your recipes? | Nutrition Information - Can we see your recipe distributions? | |
| Mika's Meals does not produce treats at this time and we do not think it is necesssary. There are a few treats we will recommend due to their low calorie count so as to minimize the impact they have on your dog's diet; we do not benefit in any way with these recommendations as we do not sell these treats directly. Dogs that require heavy treating for behavior, or simply get too many household table scraps, can have their portion sizes adjusted as needed. | All recipe distributions, nutritional information and related labeling requirements are provided once we establish a relationship with a client. A full work-up is done based on your Sign Up - Introductory Interview. This ensures we use the proper recipe and quantities for your dog. Mika's Meals provides you with a portion per container and enough containers to last one full week (7 days). You will never have to calculate portions sizes or worry about how much to give when. We handle all that for you. |
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| Why the Sign up Interview? | What is the Performance Interview? | |
| Mika's Meals wants to give your dog the best possible diet; period. To do this we need to understand your dog's health conditions and living environment. The interview is designed to ask all the important questions and provides you with the opportunity to provide us with all the information you find important. |
Did you know your dog's energy needs can change based on the time of year? Some dogs are more comfortable and thus more active during colder seasons while others use more energy keeping warm due to their size. Many factors cause changes in your dog's dietary needs, and the performance interview helps us keep track of these needs and provide adequate nutrition as those needs change. The Performance Interview is a weekly interview that gives us a basic status report on your dog. It asks about the dog's energy levels, behaviours, weight and, of course, poop condition. Mika's Meals uses this assessment to adjust kCal requirements and keep an eye out for changes that may suggest a health problem. The interview will be done when we drop off the food; we also take the time to weigh your dog on our scale to keep track of how they are doing. Just answer a few questions when we deliver and go about your day! |
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| How does Delivery work? | How are Payments Processed? | |
| We deliver your food! That is correct! Every two weeks a fresh batch of food (10 days frozen, 4 days ready to serve) will be delivered by our driver and they will conduct the performance interview while there. Your delivery schedule can be setup in your Member Account after sign up. |
Payment for the following 2 weeks of food is due upon delivery. A Mika's Meals Delivery Agent will process your credit card when delivering your dog's food. | |
| How do you calculate your Pricing? | What is the 2 Week Transition Period? | |
| Mika's Meals uses a flat pricing method per 1000 kcal to deterimine the specific cost for your dog. Each dog requires a specific amount of daily kcal based on their energy level, health conditions and ideal adult weight. Factors such as radiation therapy and weight loss are also taken into account. You will be provided with an estimated cost during the sign-up interview. All prices are subject to change and may change as a result of market price fluctuations. |
There is a 7 day adjustment period when changing a dog's diet. This ensure the digestive system can adapt to the change without shocking the system. Remember, your dog basically eats the same thing every day for all meals. Sudden changes can be harmful. Mika's Meals provides a half size portion for transition weeks so you can mix the portion with half portion sizes of the original food. |
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| Vacations - Scheduling & Managing | Grain Free Food and Cardiomyopathy Disease | |
| Vacations with dogs make life complicated and it is even more so with fresh dog food. Mika's Meals offers member services for scheduling vacations. We will produce extra frozen food to keep your dog on schedule while you are vacationing! | A July 2018 warning by the FDA was issued that there might be a link between grain free food and cardiomyopathy disease in dogs. Specifically, they state that a shortage of Taurine (found in eggs, meat and fish) may be the direct cause; however they are still investigating. Mika's Meals uses Taurine supplementation for dogs with cardiomyopathy disease or other heart conditions only. |
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| Anxiety Supplementation - Nervous Dogs | Nutritional Facts - What we base our food content on. | |
| There has been a trend in dog food to add Tryptophan an L-Theanine as calming supplements for dogs under some anxiety conditions. These supplements are used with behavior modification treatments - they are not meant to cure the anxiety directly. Research has been inconclusive about the effect of Tryptophan; however they have found positive results using L-Theanine. Mika's Meals has an L-Theanine supplement available for addition to your pups recipe. |
All nutritional minimum requirements defined by AAFCO, the FDA and the State of Pennsylvania are used as the basis for our recipes. We also have referenced more than 100 journal articles and a number of veterinarian technical books to customize our dietary solutions to the various health needs of your dog. | |
| What to do in a Medical Emergency | ||
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