Monday, October 21, 2013

MilkOpet review - a.k.a. my dog, the cat

MilkOpet: Rethink milk.
I swear sometimes I think my dog is a cat.

She washes her face and feet like a cat.

She is not fond of water and loathes getting a bath.

She is more than a little aloof and spectacularly independent.

And she loves milk. Or in this case, MilkOpet.

I spent some time chatting with Doug from MilkOpet when I attended the BlogPaws conference in May. (Actually I spent some time loving on his beautiful Labrador and then he and I started talking about the product but I digress...)

What is MilkOpet?

"MilkOpet® is our range of nutritionally enhanced Lactose free milks for dogs in their main life stage groups, Puppy, Adult Dogs, and Less Active Dogs."

I wasn't exactly sure what the point of the product was but Doug explained to me that it could be used towards a variety of ends:
  • It can be used as a simple treat or snack to re-hydrate your dog after play or exercise.
  • Or added to dry food to provide additional moisture and flavor.
  • And, while dogs who are stressed during travel may not be inclined to eat, they are often enticed by a tasty drink.
One carton of MilkOpet provides all the necessary vitamins and minerals to use as a meal replacement and, since it doesn't have to be refrigerated, it is easy to pack along for the ride. Plus it provides hydration as well as nutrition.

As mentioned, it can be used as a snack or in our case, it can be used to get the finicky dog to take her medicine.

I have written on several occasions of the difficulties we have getting Bella to take her medicine because she is a very fussy eater. We have jumped through all sorts of hoops to get her to take her pills but even things she likes one day have been known to fail on others.

On top of that, Bella has some tummy issues that we have to deal with so our options for what we feed her are limited. She has Colitis (apparently very common among nervous and anxious dogs) and is on a prescription diet to help her with that.

But of course, getting Bella to eat plain dry kibble is a feat beyond measure.

I believe the word you are looking for is
"nopenopenopenopenopenopenope".
That'd be a whole lot of "Nope".

So please indulge me while I go on a MilkOpet rave here today. Because it has had all the lactose removed, Bella's tummy loves it. And because it's milk, Bella loves it, too.

We've been pouring just a tablespoon or two on her dry kibble at feeding times and lo and behold, she is eating it all right up.

And that's a really big deal in this house.

Additionally, it can be really difficult to get Bella to eat during storms which is when she especially needs to take her medicine. But even when stressed, Bella will still drink this stuff up.



It's not inexpensive but if you're using it like we are, it's no more expensive than a high quality canned dog food. Right now, it's only available at a few locations near us but it is available online through Pet Food Direct and Pet 360. (I don't get anything for mentioning that. Just sayin'.)

There's a lot more nutritional information on their website as well as an explanation of the science behind it. If you're curious, you should check it out.

MilkOpet comes in 3 varieties: puppy, adult, less-active.

Disclaimer: We were given some MilkOpet products to test but anyone who knows me can tell you the opinions expressed herein are my own.


7 comments:

  1. Sure sounds as if she's at least part cat. :-)
    Glad you found a product that your happy with when she's being picky. We have that issue from time to time with Meadow, especially when she's stressed or afraid, so I understand how hard it can be. We've even resorted to canned cat food once or twice...which works too BTW!

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  2. "you're"

    oops! I hate when I catch these mistakes after the fact.

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  3. I am filing this one away for when I need it. Our shy and nervous dog also has colitis... but adding tons of fiber to her food for the past few weeks seems to have helped a lot.


    Thanks.

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  4. We managed Bella's tummy troubles for quite a while with extra fiber (Benefiber) and other natural sources. But this past winter/spring things got out of hand and one day she was literally screaming pain over it. That's when we turned to the Rx diet. It has worked VERY well but she won't, as you can see, eat plain kibble. I'm sure I sound like an advertising agency when I say this but MilkOpet was just what we needed. She loves it.

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  5. Oh, we have certainly been the 'hand-feeding' route - many disgusting times. ;)


    I like the hydration aspect of the milk for times when she's not eating or, like this weekend, when she's got it coming out both ends. At least I know she's drinking.

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  6. LOL - yeah, cat food, tripe, home-cooked, we've tried pretty much everything. And it all works - for a while. I'm sure even the milk will lose its attraction for a while here and there but that's part of the point to - load up your arsenal so you have a variety of ways to approach and solve the problem.

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  7. I came back with a couple container of MilkOPet but really didn't give it much thought before I donated it to a dog rescue. I was thinking it was more like high-calorie, human Ensure and that it wasn't something that was necessary for Chester and Gretel. I didn't realize it was good for so many things. I am glad it was able to turn Bella's nope into a yes :)

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