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FAQ & Ingredients

General

Do you have a store or main facility where I can get your products from you?

We do not sell our products directly, but there are a few ways to purchase Stella & Chewy’s! All our products are sold at neighborhood pet stores. Find a retailer near you with our Store Locator. A selection of products are also available at online retailers like Amazon and Chewy.com.

How much does it cost?

Pricing does vary from product to product and from store to store, so we do recommend reaching out to your local retailer for exact pricing. Price will also vary by recipe and size of bag.

Do you have free samples?

The neighborhood pet stores who carry Stella & Chewy’s products sometimes have samples. You can find a retailer in your area using our Store Locator. If your store does not have samples to give out, please know that we do have a Satisfaction Guarantee. This way, you can be confident in purchasing a bag to try!

We also have 1 oz. trail sizes of Chewy’s Chicken, Super Beef, and Tantalizing Turkey Meal Mixers, available for purchase in store and online. Shop Now!

How can I get coupons?

Be sure that you are signed up for our email newsletter, as we sometimes distribute coupons through there. Visit our website, scroll to the bottom, and enter your email address where it says, “Sign up and receive $3 off.” You can also complete a Pet Profile for an additional $5 off (one per household) and special offers throughout the year. Many retailers also offer their own coupons, promotions and sales on certain products and brands, so be sure to ask if they have any deals on Stella & Chewy’s coming up!

How can I work at Stella & Chewy’s?

For current Stella & Chewy’s employment opportunities, please visit our Jobs page or follow us on LinkedIn.

Feeding | Transitioning

How do I transition?

We always recommend a slow transition to avoid any stomach upset when switching to a new brand, product, or even recipe (depending on your dog or cat’s level of sensitivity to food changes). Here are some tips for transitioning dogs to new food and tips for transitioning cats to new food.

How do I use the frozen food?

Stella & Chewy’s frozen dinner patties or morsels should be gently defrosted overnight in a covered container in the refrigerator. If you are using our frozen dinner morsels, these can be defrosted in a bowl on your counter for 10-20 minutes. Please note that our products should never be cooked, heated, or microwaved. If you need to defrost product quickly, you can place the food in a Ziplock bag or glass bowl and submerse the product in warm (never hot) water for a few minutes. Once served, the food can sit out for up to 2 hours – anything left after that should be discarded.

How do I use the freeze-dried food?

Stella & Chewy’s freeze-dried raw patties and Meal Mixers can be fed dry or rehydrated prior to feeding. If you choose to use the products dry, please be sure your pet is drinking plenty of water at mealtime. If your pet is not a big drinker, or you are afraid that they may not get enough water, then we would suggest rehydrating the food with cool or warm (never hot) water or broth prior to feeding. If fed dry, the food can sit out for up to 12 hours prior to discarding. If fed rehydrated, the food can sit out for up to 2 hours.

Can I put rehydrated freeze-dried raw in the fridge?

Yes, but for no longer than 2 days. Once rehydrated, we would not recommend leaving the food out for an hour or 2 before placing it in the refrigerator.

Can I warm up the food?

Stella & Chewy’s products should never be warmed, cooked or heated in any way. To maintain the nutritional value, it is important to keep the food raw and in its natural state, and heating can eliminate many of the benefits before the food is served. Plus, we add raw, ground bone to our raw diets. While raw bone is incredibly safe and an essential part of a raw diet, it becomes brittle and can splinter when cooked; this poses an unnecessary danger to your animals.

Can I freeze Stella’s Stew?

You can freeze our Stella’s Stew wet food, just make sure you do not freeze a new, unopened container as it could expand and explode. If you have leftovers from an already opened carton, it would be fine to freeze.

Do I need to change flavors?

We suggest rotating proteins every 2-6 weeks. This means you would feed one flavor consistently for 2-6 weeks, then switch to another flavor for 2-6 weeks, etc. This is a great way to give your dog variety and to help keep protein-based allergies at bay. However, there is no issue in feeding your dog the same recipe long-term!

Why are my dog’s stools hard and small?

Many raw-fed dogs have smaller, firmer and less frequent stools as their bodies are utilizing so much of the food. Our recipes are enhanced with probiotics to support proper gut flora and contain natural sources of fiber like pumpkin seed and raw ground bone for healthy digestion. You can always add more water when rehydrating the food to ensure your dog is staying hydrated. Please do not hesitate to contact our team at info@stellaandchewys.com or 888-477-8977 with any questions or concerns!

Do you need to transition when using Meal Mixers?

When fed as a topper, we do still recommend introducing Meal Mixers to your dog’s diet slowly, working your way up to the feeding guidelines/full serving that’s shared on the back of the packaging. Whenever adding a topper, it’s also important to decrease whatever you are currently feeding in order to not overfeed your dog when adding Meal Mixers in with the meal. If you need further help with calculating how much you should be reducing, please reach out to us at info@stellaandchewys.com. If you will be feeding Meal Mixers as a complete and balanced meal (all recipes can be fed as complete and balanced meals with the only exception being the Savory Salmon & Cod recipe), it will be necessary to transition slowly using the timeline shared above.

I just transitioned my dog to your kibble and have been feeding the whitefish recipe. I’d like to start feeding the duck recipe. Do I need to transition between recipes?

If your dog is fully transitioned to a food type, it should not be necessary to transition them to a different recipe. That said, if your dog is a bit more sensitive with changes in their diet, you certainly can introduce it more slowly, but it typically isn’t necessary.

Should I switch up recipes? If so, how often?

If your dog doesn’t have any food allergies or sensitivities, switching the proteins/recipes can be a really good idea; it can actually help prevent intolerances and allergies from developing. We suggest feeding 1 flavor for 2-6 weeks, then switching to a different flavor for 2-6 weeks, etc. No transition is needed between flavors for an average dog.

Product

I accidentally bought dog food. Can my cat eat the dog food?

Our dinners for dogs are not harmful to a cat, and vice versa, and you may choose to feed them intermittently if necessary. However, we recommend regular use of our frozen or freeze-dried dinners for cats on a full-time basis because they are designed to be complete and balanced for a cat’s nutritional needs. The nutritional needs vary between cats and dogs, so we always suggest feeding the food that is specifically designed for them. We do offer a money-back guarantee so you’re always welcome to return or exchange the bag you purchased to the retailer.

How long is the bag good for?

Stella & Chewy’s raw and kibble products have an expiration date of 14-18 months past the date of production, and our wet foods have a 24-month shelf life. We suggest using our products by this date (stamped on the bag), or within a month after. Much past that and we would recommend discarding the bag. Freezing or refrigerating will not extend the listed shelf life. The expiration date remains the same regardless of if the bag is opened or not.

Once opened, the product is freshest within the first few weeks, and safest within the first few months. We also suggest the product be stored in the original packaging.

 

Why is there a packet in some bags and not others and is it harmful to my pet?

An oxygen absorber (the packet you see in some bags) is meant to keep the product fresh prior to opening – once open, the packet does not have any further effect. We use Ageless brand oxygen absorbers. It removes oxygen from the bag prior to opening. It truly is completely food safe and non-toxic (it is used extensively in the food industry because of this), though of course, it is not meant to be consumed. It’s made of iron and vitamin C – unless your pup has an iron storage issue, it’s not harmful. If you have any concerns for your specific pet, we would recommend reaching out to your veterinarian.

Additionally, since we also use nitrogen flushing on our products, not all products will have the oxygen absorber. Nitrogen is a harmless, tasteless, odorless gas that is used to help remove oxygen from the bag – it does not affect the food whatsoever.

 

The new bag I bought smells different and the pieces are harder to break. Is this safe?

We make everything in small batches using natural ingredients. Because of this process, it is common to see some variability from batch to batch. This typically shows up in things like color, scent and texture. Please rest assured, the product formulation and quality of ingredients remain consistent and safe. You can reach out to info@stellaandchewys.com for more information. If you are ever uncomfortable with a particular bag, we do offer a money-back guarantee.

Are your products human-grade?

Our raw and kibble diets are not considered human-grade; This is due to several factors, including the fact that we include ingredients such as ground bone and organs, which are not human-grade ingredients. Also, our non-wet products are manufactured in pet food facilities – this means they cannot be considered human-grade. Stella & Chewy’s is committed to using safe ingredients that meet our highest standards. We are most focused on delivering safe, best-in-class nutrition that will allow all pets to thrive. All our ingredients come from suppliers we know and trust and all our meats come from USDA inspected facilities (or similar inspection agencies outside the United States) that do not allow floor waste, sick or euthanized animals. The animal proteins used in our food recipes are responsibly sourced and always grass fed, cage free or wild caught. The fruits and vegetables we use in our raw food are all certified organic and provide strong vitamin and mineral nutrition. Our cat and dog wet foods and Broth Toppers are human-grade and made in a human-grade facility in Wisconsin.

Can I store your kibble in the fridge or freezer?

Stella & Chewy’s kibble should be stored in its original packaging at room temperature. Refrigerating or freezing does not extend the shelf life and our QA team advises against this as it could introduce moisture into the product and potentially mold.

Can I store my product in an alternative container?

Stella & Chewy’s product should always be stored in the original packaging, and resealed with the zip closure between uses. This preserves the lot information, in case it’s ever needed, and allows us to continue to offer our guarantee.

How many cups/patties are in each bag?

We package all of our products by weight, not by patty quantity, so the amount may vary slightly per bag. Approximate quantities can be found in our interactive product calculator.

Safety | Ingredients

Is your raw food safe?

Stella & Chewy’s has a unique food safety procedure to ensure the safety of our raw products. The most powerful step in this procedure is our high-pressure processing (HPP) step—this is a cold-water pressure process that effectively eliminates harmful bacteria from the food. We use this process on all our raw products, regardless of the protein. As food-borne bacteria can be present in any type of meat, we feel that incurring the extra cost of HPP for all our products is the responsible thing to do. This way, pet parents can rest assured that they are always bring a safe food into their home. Additionally, HPP is the only reliable method for maintaining the wonderful raw nutrition of our products while still removing harmful pathogens. We then send all batches to be tested for pathogenic bacteria – nothing leaves our facility without negative test results in hand. We also post these test results on our website. We are highly committed to creating the most nutritious, safe, and delicious product on the market. Learn more about our pet food safety.

Do you use humane ingredients?

Stella & Chewy’s is committed to using safe ingredients that meet our highest standards. We are most focused on delivering safe, best-in-class nutrition that will allow all pets to thrive. All of our ingredients come from suppliers we know, and trust and all our meats come from USDA inspected facilities (or similar inspection agencies outside the United States) that do not allow floor waste, sick or euthanized animals. The animal proteins we use are responsibly sourced and always grass-fed, cage-free, farm-raised, or wild-caught. We pride ourselves on using proteins from farms who believe in humane treatment of their animals.

What preservatives do you use?

We never use any artificial preservatives in our food. We use mixed tocopherols (a natural, vitamin E-based preservative) in our products, but the main method of preservation is freezing, freeze-drying, or baking!

What are natural flavors?

The natural flavors we use are essentially like bouillon – it is concentrated, dry broth that is added to enhance the flavors. We list the specific kind of flavor (i.e. vegetable flavor, etc.) on the ingredient panel to reduce confusion.

Are your products GMO-free?

We cannot guarantee that our products are GMO-free at this time, nor do we use organic meats – we do ensure that they are free of antibiotics and added hormones, though. Our fruits and veggies are completely organic. Additionally, if you are concerned with GMOs, you may want to consider our fish-based products. All the fish are wild-caught. Another option may be our red meat products (beef, lamb or venison). They are all 100% grass-fed.

Food For Specific Pet Needs

Is your food good for large breed puppies?

All our products are complete and balanced for large breed adults. However, if you are feeding a large breed puppy (defined as over 70lbs full grown), things would change a bit. Large breed puppies can eat any of our frozen or freeze-dried raw food as a complete and balanced diet, except for our Venison Blend and Simply Venison recipes. Things are more limited with our kibble, as you would need to stick with the puppy-specific kibble recipe (calcium and DHA levels aren’t enough for large breed puppies in non-puppy formulas) until your puppy has reached their adult weight. Learn more about large breed puppy food options.

Can my puppy eat this food?

We offer a variety of complete and balanced diets for puppies of all breeds and sizes, including frozen and freeze-dried raw options and kibble. Learn more about puppy food options.

Can my kitten eat your food?

We’re happy to let you know that our frozen and freeze-dried raw diets and kibble recipes for cats are designed to be complete and balanced for all life stages – that means they’re great for your kitten too! They do meet AAFCO standards for complete and balanced nutrition across all life stages. Please note that our wet food for cats is NOT complete and balanced for kittens. Learn more about kitten food options.

Do you have senior dog food?

We are happy to let you know that all of our diets are complete and balanced for all life stages, which means they are nutritionally balanced for senior pets too! We offer a variety of options, including frozen and freeze-dried raw, wet food, and kibble. Learn more about the options we offer that are great for senior pets.

Can my diabetic dog eat this food?

Most diabetic dogs do best on our frozen or freeze-dried raw diets. However, if the dog is stable enough, they may do okay with the kibble. Please reach out to info@stellaandchewys.com if you’d like more detailed information! We always recommend that you consult with a veterinarian first to be sure Stella & Chewy’s is right for your dog’s individual needs.

Do you have a food for weight gain? My dog is too skinny.

Stella & Chewy’s does not have a food that is designed specifically for weight gain. Rather, we recommend feeding to the weight that you would like for your dog to be at, instead of to the weight that your dog is current at. We provide recommended feeding guidelines on the back of all our packaging and on our website. Sometimes dogs require more or less than the feeding guideline says, so we always recommend consulting with your veterinarian to be sure that your dog is eating enough to gain the weight needed and doing so in a healthy way.

Do you have a weight loss food?

Stella & Chewy’s does not have a food that is designed specifically for weight loss. Rather, we recommend feeding to the weight that you would like for your dog to be at, instead of to the weight that your dog is currently at. We provide recommended feeding guidelines on the back of all our packaging and on our website. Sometimes dogs require more or less than the feeding guideline says, so we always recommend consulting with your veterinarian to be sure that your dog is getting enough food to lose weight in a healthy way. Stella & Chewy’s food is pure and nutrient-dense, which means no unnecessary carbohydrates. Our raw diets contain only 1-2% carbs.

My Account

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My Pet | Pet Profiles

I filled out a pet profile on the last site. What happened to it?

Don’t worry – we saved your furry friend’s information for you. We’ll bring it back for you, and even better – let you update and control the information yourself!

To import your pet:

  1. Create an account
  2. Click on “My Pets” in the left hand navigation
  3. Click “Don’t see your Pet’s Profile” to start
  4. Follow the prompts to import your pets
I tried to import my pet but it didn't work. Is there any other way to retrieve my past pets info?

You can either add the pets again through our Pet Profile Form, or you can contact us with the following information:

  • Email address used to create your previous pet profiles
  • Your pets name
  • Pet Type (dog or cat)

We may be able to search our database and manually add your pets.

I already have one pet, but I got another. How do I add it?

Log into your account, click “add a pet” and start entering your pets information. It will be stored in your account where you can keep it up to date.

I have multiple pets, but I only got one $5 off coupon. Why?

The $5 coupon is limited to one per household. Watch your inbox throughout the year for special offers only available to our subscribers!

My pet has passed on. How do I stop receiving personalized emails?

We’re sorry for your loss. As passionate pet parents ourselves, we know there is nothing tougher. To ensure you don’t receive emails with your beloved pet’s name, you can remove them by logging into your account, clicking “My Pets” and clicking “Remove” on your pet.

I want to unsubscribe from all email communications.

We’re very sorry to hear that. You can unsubscribe from our emails and special offers by clicking the unsubscribe link on the bottom of every email we send.

You can also opt out by entering your email here.

Retailers

The information on my store is wrong in the Store Finder. How do I fix that?

Great news – with our site you can now control the information about your store! To do that you need to claim your store. Instructions for that can be found in our retailer section.

I claimed my store recently, but haven't been approved yet. How long does approval take?

It may take two to four weeks to get approved. You should receive an email (check your spam) saying your account is approved and ready to be updated.

I own a local pet shop and we carry your products. How do I get in your store list?

You can reach out at retailers@stellaandchewys.com with your information and we can verify and add your store. From there, you can claim and maintain the store yourself. Learn more about claiming your store.

Recyclable Pet Food Packaging

Which products have recyclable packaging?

As we are gradually transitioning, here are our products that currently have recyclable packaging:

  • Freeze-Dried Raw Patties
  • Freeze-Dried Raw Meal Mixers
  • Freeze-Dried Raw Dinner Patties
  • Freeze-Dried Raw Lil’ Bites
  • Freeze-Dried Raw Meal Mixers
  • Freeze-Dried Raw Meal Mixers SuperBlends
  • Freeze-Dried Raw Dinner Morsels
  • Freeze-Dried Raw Stella’s Solutions
  • Freeze-Dried Raw Single Ingredient Treats
  • Freeze-Dried Raw Carnivore Crunch
  • Freeze-Dried Raw Wild Weenies
  • Freeze-Dried Raw Coated Biscuits
  • Crav’n Bacon Bites
  • Frozen Raw Stella’s Selects
  • Frozen Raw Dinner Patties
  • Frozen Raw Dinner Morsels
  • Marie’s Kitchen Gently Cooked
What is the difference between your original packaging and the new recyclable packaging?

We continue to use barrier bags that are specifically designed to keep the food fresh and safe. The recyclable bags are shinier and thinner with the recycling logo on the front and do require scissors to open due to the nature of the new bag material. The recyclable bags remain structurally sound but are ultimately healthier for the environment.

How can I recycle the new bag?

These bags can be recycled curbside but check with your local municipality/community to determine which recycling numbers they accept.

What if my municipality does not accept curbside recycling?

Our packaging with the How2Recycle® label can be dropped off in select stores to be recycled. Under current circumstances with COVID-19, please continue to adhere to social distancing recommendations and hold onto your bags to drop off at a later time or see if your local store is collecting bags in an alternative way. Visit How2Recycle® to find a location near you!

What is the recycling number for the products transitioning to recyclable packaging?

Frozen Raw Dinner Patties and Carnivore Crunch recyclable bags are number 4.

Why aren’t you making all of your packaging recyclable?

We’ve started with a limited selection of products in a phased approach to gain learnings from our retailer partners and pet parents as we expand our recyclable offerings. Our initial focus is on transitioning our frozen and freeze-dried raw products to recyclable packaging.

Why wasn’t your packaging recyclable before?

It’s taken some time and years of researching, but we’ve finally found a sustainable option that also meets our high standards for food safety and quality.

Does the product remain the same?

YES. Formulation, quality and nutrition remain the same and we haven’t touched our recipes. The only thing changing is the packaging.

How do I store the product in the recyclable packaging?

As we always recommend, continue to store the product in the original packaging as it’s still a barrier bag, specifically designed to keep the food fresh and safe. The shelf life remains the same and is printed on the bag.

Why are some bags recyclable while others aren’t?

Most packaging that isn’t recyclable is composed of multiple layers of different types of plastic that is impossible to melt down during the recycling process. Recyclable packaging, like our new bags, is composed of a single type of plastic that can be processed more efficiently.

What happens to the bags when they are recycled?

The bags will be sorted and transported to a materials recycling facility and sold to companies who will repurpose the melted down plastic.

What other products of yours can I recycle?

Our wet foods, including Stella’s Stews, Broth Toppers, and Marie’s Mix-Ins for dogs, along with Marvelous Morsels and Purrfect Pate for cats, are recyclable where facilities exist. Visit recyclecartons.com to see if they are recyclable in your area.

Need Support?

When it comes to caring for your pet, the amount of information available can be overwhelming. We have some resources below to help guide you with whatever you need.