November 10, 2025 • 35 mins
Learning Pet Nutrition Science may be easier than you realize. In this episode, I sit down with Holly Baer from Superior Feline to explore the world of homemade pet nutrition. Holly's journey began when her own cats faced serious health challenges—kidney disease, fish allergies, and inflammatory conditions that commercial foods couldn't address. What started as a desperate search for solutions became a mission to help cat parents everywhere take control of their pets' nutrition.
From Crisis to Solution
Holly's husband, a microbiologist, dove deep into research when their beloved cat Coconut developed kidney disease. What they discovered changed everything about how they approached feline nutrition. But Superior Feline goes beyond just food mixes. They've developed a complete system including omega-3 oils (both fish and plant-based options), postbiotics for gut health, and liver powder toppers for picky eaters.
What you'll learn in this episode:
- How to transition from commercial to homemade cat food safely
- The difference between probiotics and postbiotics for feline health
- Solutions for cats with allergies, kidney disease, and digestive issues
- Tips for dealing with picky eaters and multiple cats with different preferences
Husband and Wife team, Eric and Holly Baer, founded Superior Feline because of the positive, physical results they saw from making homemade cat food for their two cats, Coconut and Luna Belle, who had health issues. They started Superior Feline with the main goal of providing quality, science-based, affordable products that aren't built around marketing, but around the true pursuit of real results and long-term health for fur family. Follow Superior Feline on Facebook or Instagram.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:04):
Hello, my friends and fellow animal lovers.
Welcome to a brand new episodeof the Story of My Pet Podcast.
I am your host, Julie MartyPearson, as always, and I am
happy to welcome a new guest tothe podcast.
Hi, Holly.
Thank you for being here.
Hey Julie, thanks for having meon.
(00:25):
So we're definitely gonna betalking all things cats today.
We are two fellow cat ladies,cat moms.
You got it for sure.
So I met Holly.
We were both at CatCon thisyear.
Holly and her company, SuperiorFeline, what had a booth, and
(00:47):
she was one of the companies Imet there and really loved what
they're doing with their companyto help our pets and our cats.
And so we connected, and nowshe's here to share more about
her business and her fur familyand all of those things.
So how was CatCon for you andyour business?
(01:09):
Was that a good experience?
SPEAKER_00 (01:11):
Yeah.
So that was our fourth year ofCatCons.
We started in 2022 and have doneit every year since then.
But yeah, every year it justkeeps getting better and better.
It's a great event, and there'sso many wonderful people.
We get to meet great people likeyou and a whole bunch of you
know cat loving people, which isalways great.
(01:32):
But yeah, it's a wonderfulevent.
SPEAKER_01 (01:34):
I really enjoyed it.
I think I was a little shockedwhen I first got there.
Whoa, this is massive.
I had gone many years ago whenit was not that massive, and I
don't think I was prepared forthe volume of people and the
volume of boosts, but I guess itjust goes to show how much cat
(01:54):
people love our cats and lovekind of connecting with our love
of cats.
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (02:01):
Yeah, it's true.
It's something else.
And it's awesome that they havespeakers and then they have a
whole adoption area.
I think they adopted out all ofthe cats this year, which is
amazing.
So it's nice to be able tosupport an event that
encompasses everything aboutcats and the different ways
that, you know, we're able tobring them into our lives, which
is cool.
SPEAKER_01 (02:20):
Yeah, that it's so true because I think when I try
to explain cat con to people,they don't totally understand
it.
I always say Comic Con for catlovers, which is kind of what it
is, because people are dressedup as cats and all of that.
And there are probably hundredsof booths for different types of
companies and organizations.
But like you said, they also hadspeakers that were talking about
(02:41):
educational topics and advocacy,and Pasadena Humane was there
with a ton of cats and kittens.
The second day I know they had200 there, and before the day
was over, they had adopted themall out.
So nothing is better than that.
I've been to plenty of adoptionevents where it's they're not
adopting out.
So that is an it was an amazingevent, and it was so great to
(03:04):
connect with you and learn moreabout you and your company.
And before we dive into that, Ialways like to start with asking
my guests if you've always beenan animal lover and if you grew
up with pets in your family.
SPEAKER_00 (03:18):
Yeah, so I guess we've had a couple of dogs
growing up, but cats were moreof my thing.
I grew up out in the country ona farm in the 80s.
So naturally we had cats likearound.
There's a lot of things I woulddo differently now, knowing what
I know now.
Right.
I knew, you know, if I knew thenwhat I knew now, the chat was
(03:40):
back then.
So we had cats growing up aroundcats and kittens, but I
definitely have a love for cats.
And so then when I went tocollege and didn't have cats,
and then after college andliving on my own, didn't have
any for a while.
And then my friend introduced meto a guy that is now my husband,
and he had a white girl kittennamed Coconut.
(04:02):
And I was immediately like, thisis the guy.
Obviously, oh, here's Tucker.
SPEAKER_01 (04:07):
He's yay! I always love animal hello, sir or ma'am.
SPEAKER_00 (04:14):
He loves to make appearances whenever I am on
using my camera to talk topeople.
That's just what he does.
He likes to come and say hello.
SPEAKER_01 (04:22):
I don't think how do they know when to do it?
SPEAKER_00 (04:26):
Oh, yeah, all the time.
Yeah, he totally.
He just he knows he comes onover to say hello, but he's the
sweetest.
Orange tabbies are just likethey have their own personality.
He's just the sweetest boy, andI loved him.
He's nine years old now, so he'slonger.
SPEAKER_01 (04:40):
I love that.
It's so funny what you saidabout your husband, because you
know, my husband is an animallover too.
And I remember when I first methim and he had all these
different animals and things inhis room, and I was like, Are
you?
I remember moments where hewould say, you know, I grew up
(05:01):
with a menagerie, we're notgonna do that.
And I'm like, two.
We've been married 20 years, wecurrently have three cats, two
tortoises, a scorpion, and Idon't even know how many
tarantulas.
We won't even talk about that.
Those are his.
(05:21):
And one day he brought home arescue possum.
So you know it's always greatwhen we know our people get it.
SPEAKER_00 (05:31):
Yeah, exactly, right?
It's so true.
It's like if you love pets,they're just gonna find you one
way or another.
You just he didn't have achance.
unknown (05:39):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (05:41):
So tell us we got a preview with Tucker joining us.
What does your for familyconsist of right now?
SPEAKER_00 (05:49):
Yeah, so now we have we currently have four cats.
It's kind of our happy medium.
We like to stick around foursometimes when we lose one.
There's a grouping process, butthen we eventually get back to
four.
So right now we have Kona, whois 11.
He just turned 11.
Tucker is nine, our orangetabby, and Kona is just a
long-haired black cat with justa little bit of white.
(06:11):
And then we have Tucker, ourorange tabby, and then Mia, who
is very petite.
She's eight pounds.
Our neighbors found her outsidein their driveway when she was
just like three weeks old.
So I took her in, I bottled fedher for a week, and then we
weamed her on to our homemadefood.
And so she's our kitten that hasbeen solely raised on our
(06:32):
homemade food with the formulathat we make.
And she's doing great, and she'sjust nice.
She is my princess, she is mybaby.
And then we have Izzy.
Izzy is going to be two nextmonth, and she is a main coon.
It's a not that into our family,and she is a ball of energy, and
she's giant, and sometimes I'mlike, my life would be so much
(06:58):
calmer and probably more boringwith ours.
There's no words to describeIzzy, but she was a good
addition to the family as well.
So those are our four for ababy.
SPEAKER_01 (07:09):
It's funny.
I think we always have that onethat's it would be a lot easier,
but our life would be a lot moreboring if they weren't around.
And our youngest pumpkin is acalico, and oh lord, some days
are like, What is wrong withyou?
You're crazy.
And then she looks at you andyou're like, You're adorable,
(07:29):
you could do whatever you want.
I don't care.
SPEAKER_00 (07:31):
Exactly.
Yes, that's exactly how it goesall the time.
SPEAKER_01 (07:35):
Uh, sometimes I look at her and think, I was that
cute, I could really get awaywith anything.
unknown (07:40):
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (07:41):
But mentioned one of your cats, it has bit you bottle
fed and has been on your foodthe whole time.
So that kind of segues us intoyour business and which is
superior feline.
So, where did this businessstart?
What was the impetus of you guysgoing into this area?
SPEAKER_00 (08:00):
Yeah, I mentioned coconut.
Coconut, when she was around,gosh, I think she was around
between 10 and 12, had developedkidney disease.
And so my husband, being themicrobiologist, scientist, a
researcher that he is, went anddeep dove into that disease,
what causes it, you know, whatcould we do to help her out?
(08:23):
Also, around that time, we hadanother cat, Luna Belle, who we
had gotten most of our all ofour cats except for Izzy, have
come from shelters.
So two of them, Tucker and Kona,are from the Washington County
Humane Society in Wisconsin.
That's where we moved toCalifornia in 2018.
So two of them are stillWisconsin native.
And that's coconut, Lunabellealso came from that Humane
(08:45):
Society.
Luna Bell came into our familywhen she was about four years
old.
So she was already fully grownand we knew she had some like
oral issues and stuff.
So she had to have her teethpulled.
But she also developed a fishallergy.
So she had this horrible fishallergy where if she ate
anything with any kind of fishoil, anything in it, she would
vomit.
Like she would go and do like anepisode.
(09:07):
It wasn't just vomiting, like itwas horrible.
So we also had to figure outlike, what are we gonna do?
Canned food, whatever.
It most of it has some kind offish oil, fish something.
There weren't a whole lot ofalternatives.
Like this was even just sevenyears ago, like 2018-ish.
And so my husband, again, deepdove.
And so he said we should startmaking our own cat food.
(09:29):
And I looked at him, I was like,You are crazy.
Like, you wanna, we're gonnamake cat food, like with what
time that we have, right?
And so you know, we're gonna doit.
And so he he did it.
And then I was like, okay,whatever, you do it, I'll go
along with it.
And then I started noticing ourcats, like Tucker always, like
(09:51):
when he was a kitten, it hadcoarse fur.
And then all of a sudden,Tucker's fur started getting
softer.
And then Coconut, like, we wereable to manage her kidney
disease with the homemade food.
She never went past level two.
Like her markers went back tonormal.
The damage was already done.
So she was always at like stagetwo kidney disease.
But she just basically kind ofbalanced out and ended up
(10:13):
getting IBD, which is alsohorrible.
So we've been through the gamut,and then our cat ended up with
this horrible blood cancer thatonly mainly affects dogs and
angiosarcoma.
And we're pretty sure it was dueto the inflammation from like
the oral stuff she had going onbefore we got her.
And then, and with herinflammation and the fish
allergy and all the things.
(10:33):
So it was just, we were at thatpoint, we're like, we're just
doing homemade food because wewant to be able to control
what's in their diets.
We felt like coconut's kidneydisease.
A lot of that sometimes comesfrom their diet, especially
irritable bowel disease, becauseit's all information.
And so we're like, that's it.
Homemade food, we wanted to beable to make sure we did not
want to go through any of that.
(10:54):
We're trying to prevent as manyof those diseases as possible.
We know some things are gonnacome up just because as cats get
older, just like humans, thingsarise.
And the more we can control itwith their diet and give them
the food that's going to nourishthem and that is most species
appropriate for them.
That's why we're big proponents.
And then when we moved toCalifornia in 2018, I did not
(11:17):
want to go back into the fieldthat I was in.
And so my husband was like, whydon't we start our own company?
He has formulated products forpet companies, for doctors,
dentists.
Like he's he is excellent atformulating products and makes
really quality products.
And so he did a lot of research,read medical journals.
And so he, based on the AAFCOrecommendations or guidelines,
(11:41):
and then also the journalarticles he was reading,
formulated a mix with all thetrace minerals, vitamins, and
trace minerals that cats needthat combined with meat makes a
balanced diet for them, balancedmeal.
Because cats really only needmeat.
That's what they eat in thewild.
Actually, in carbohydrates likerice, peas, potatoes, grains,
(12:04):
vegetables, sometimes like theydon't have the enzymes in their
body to process those and tobreak those down to metabolize
it.
And so those can actually justend up as fillers and being
inflammatory to their system.
We took out there's no fillersin our products.
Every we say we have functionalproducts, like every ingredient
has a purpose.
And so our homemade cat foodmixes, we started with that in
(12:28):
20, he started doing theformula, and then I did all the
other things (12:32):
the website, the packaging, all the stuff, and we
just keep kind of upgrading thatas we go.
And then, because cats can bepicky, in addition to the
homemade cat food mix, we alsohave some toppers, like liver
powder toppers.
So we have just a plain chickenliver powder, a liver powder
plus that has some like littleextra ingredients in there that
(12:53):
cats tend to like.
Oh, like a yeast extract and aphosphate in there, but those
also serve purposes too.
Like the yeast has beta glucan,which supports the immune
system.
And the phosphate helps withlike bone development,
especially for kittens.
We also have a pork liver powderfor cats that can't eat poultry
because we are hearing fromcustomers that, oh, do you have
anything without chicken liverpowder?
(13:15):
Because our original homemadecat food mix has chicken litter
powder in it.
And there was a really desperatecustomer who was like, Can I
can, is there any way possible,can you please just make it
without it?
Because I can't find anything.
And we're like, okay, let's doit.
We just made it up for her, hadher try it out.
It worked.
And so we added that to herproduct line.
So we listen a lot to ourcustomers.
I used to do a farmer's marketright when we were starting out
(13:38):
to hear what people were asking,to see if people were interested
in what we offered.
And so, based on customerfeedback and the questions that
we get, even now by email, Ikeep a list of everything that
people ask for.
So that if we hear thingsmultiple times and we know
there's a need for it.
And then my husband goes intoresearch mode and comes out with
a prosthetic addition, that'sgreat.
But yeah, we try to make it assimple as possible for people
(14:00):
because again, we know cats canbe picky, ours is Kona is like
the pickiest.
I call them a jerk sometimes andlike bring me a jerk, just eat
your food.
I have a menagerie toppers, I'mjust like rotating through that.
So I have troubleshooting tipsfor everyone based on what we've
(14:20):
tried and awful feedback fromcustomers, and just try to
really help people.
You don't have to be somebodythat cooks a lot.
I hate to cook, but I'll cookfor my cats.
And so we try to make it as easyas possible, give people
different ways to prep the meator to the different kinds of
meat to use, like different,like just trying to make it as
(14:42):
easy as possible for the averagecat parent to go forth and
provide a healthier option fortheir cats.
SPEAKER_01 (14:50):
I love that because there's so many things that you
said that are important.
I think the first one is thatit's important to understand
what cats need, and it isdifferent than say what dogs
need, right?
And so it sounds like not onlydid you guys really do your
research to ensure that you'regiving the cats everything they
need, but you're not giving themthings that are going to harm
(15:11):
them or things that they arejust filler, like you said, they
don't need the veggies and someof that other stuff that dogs do
need or like to eat.
But also, yeah, every animal wehave is unique and for different
reasons, whether it'sgenetically how they're
predisposed, what they how theygrew up.
(15:32):
I just realized all three of ourcats are bottle babies at
different times and differentways, but they still all have
different likes now.
And our oldest, Charlie, who is16, who is diabetic, has never
liked wet food.
We had him, we found him aloneas a baby and bottle fed him.
And we tried to wean him fromthe bottle into slop and then
(15:55):
it, you know, into wet food, andhe refused.
Like I would put it there, I'dput his paws in, and he would
just look at me like, What areyou trying to do to me?
And then one day we look overand he's knee deep in the older
cat's dry food eating.
He went from the bottle to dryfood and has never eaten wet
food.
He will he'll he does thisstuff.
(16:15):
How dare you even put that infront of me?
But he's diabetic, he needs theyou know, he needs the water, he
needs that, but he's never eatenwet food.
Just like people, they can havean allergy to something.
And if it's in every food, likethere's no way to give them
another option.
So it sounds like you guys havereally starting with your own
(16:35):
cats and then expanding to otherpeople, really looked at the
different issues that a lot ofcat parents have and trying to
help us with some variety.
SPEAKER_00 (16:45):
Yeah, yeah, we try to do, we really try to do our
best.
Very obviously, you can tellwe're so passionate about it
just because of what we wentthrough with our own cats and
then just diving deep and doingthe research.
SPEAKER_01 (16:57):
Yeah, and you know, it was funny because I think
when we first talked, youmentioned your cat that had
kidney disease and trying tohelp them.
And the first cat I ever hadwhen he got older, Jack had
kidney disease.
And so we got the special kidneyfood from the vet, but the
problem was it was really tastyapparently because our other
cats wanted to eat it.
We're like, no, this isexpensive, you can't have it.
(17:20):
And at the time I was commutingto a job down in LA, and so I
started taking Jack with meduring the week so I could feed
him without worrying.
And he loved it because then hegot all my time.
And it helped him, you know, helived with kidney disease, I
don't know, two or three years,but I can imagine for some
people, maybe that isn't anoption, and they have to have
(17:41):
other ways of adjusting for dietand different health issues.
And you mentioned cancer.
I've heard so many differentpeople with various types of
cancers in cats, and I'm suresome of that comes from the food
and inflammation and all ofthose things.
So if someone is listening andsaid, Wow, I could make my cat
their food and have control overwhat is in it, what would you
(18:02):
say to them would be a goodfirst start in that process?
SPEAKER_00 (18:06):
Oh, it's such a great question.
So we actually, because again,we know that sometimes people
don't want to, it's hard tocommit to a full-size thing when
you're not sure if it's gonnawork.
So, right away off the bat, wehad trial size kits.
We still have them.
So we have trial size packetsfor people, low cost.
We basically break even on themjust to get people to try it,
(18:29):
just because we're just excitedwhen people want to try and do
this for their pets.
And so our trial size kits, it'sit's a little packet of mix.
So it's basically a scoop of ourhomemade cat food supplement
mix.
We have it available in bothformulas, and we also have a
kitten kit as well.
It's available in the originalformula and in the liver
powder-free formulas.
There's a packet of the mix inthere.
(18:51):
And so you just mix that with apound of meat.
Uh, you can, there's differentways to prepare it.
It can be used with raw meat,with cooked meat, with parcooked
meat.
Like we made it so that you canuse it with any type of meat
that you would like to for themost part, except for fish.
We don't recommend fish.
There's a variety of reasons,having phosphorus, heavy metal,
(19:12):
contamination possibilities,stuff like that.
So any kind of regular meat thatwalks on land.
So, yeah, so ground pre-groundmeat, which we always recommend
cooking because of bacterialpossibilities, but it's just
mixed with a pound of meat,water, and then an omega-3 oil.
We usually recommend it's not arequirement.
We recommend it.
(19:32):
Lots of benefits to an omega-3oil.
We even have a non-fish option,which we discovered when we were
going through the gamut withLinabile and our fish allergy.
So chia seed oil, we have thatas an option for people.
For it's a pet safe, it's likeone of the very highest
plant-based omega-3 oils.
And because of the way the seedis shaped, it has a less
(19:53):
possibility of going rancid.
So, like flaxseed oil, the wayit's shaped, the oblong shape,
the oil, and it goes rancid morequickly.
Chia seed oil is more protected.
And so we have an organic chiaseed oil.
And for cats and for dogs,actually, that any kind of fish
sensitivities, we recommendthat.
And then we have our wildanchovy oil.
(20:14):
And wild anchoby is actuallyhigher in omega-3 fatty acids
than like salmon, which isreally popular.
So wild anchovy, great, a greatomega-3 oil.
The main part between the twoomega-3 oils, wild anchovy oil
has DHA and EPA in it, justbecause it's that from fish.
Chia seed oil does not.
(20:35):
And so EPA and DHA, they helpwith cognitive function and
vision.
And so that's some benefits fromwild anchovy oil versus the
chia.
And then I got off a topic.
So the trial sized kit, thetrial size kit.
SPEAKER_01 (20:48):
That's so good because I will say I didn't know
any of this.
And I'm just thinking of likesome of the stuff you've talked
about are good for differentreasons.
And like when you talk about theanchovy oil, our our oldest cat
definitely has some sightissues.
Sometimes we look at him, we'relike, hi, can you like we'll
find him sitting like he's alittle confused, he's not sure
(21:09):
what he is.
And you can also see as they getolder, their eyes get glassy.
And so, anyway, we can help themjust like we help ourselves to
improve our sight or our hearingor whatever.
We all need those extra things.
And so I love that there are somany different benefits people
can get from the variousproducts you offer.
SPEAKER_00 (21:27):
Yeah, totally.
So the trial size kit comes withbasically a trial size of a
scoop of the mix, a little miniwildly anchovy or cheese seed
oil that you just pour rightinto there, mix in with the
meat, you mix in some water, andyou got yourself some cat food.
And we try to make it as easyand simple as possible for
people.
Our little trial size packetsalso come with a trial size of
(21:48):
our liver of a liver powdertopper again to help with
troubleshooting right off thebat.
Because sometimes you set stuffdown like Tucker will just eat
the food, y'all just set it infront of him, he's good to go,
just takes off eating.
Kona, if I set it in front ofhim, he looks at me and he's
expecting me to eat this.
And so I thought to sprinkle thestuff on top.
(22:10):
And so we try again to helppeople troubleshoot right off
the bat by giving them a littletroubleshooting right in their
pocket with it, too.
But and then that way people cantry it out, see if it works for
their cats.
Our cats actually like it whenwe freeze the food first, so we
make it in big batches.
So sometimes with the trialsize, we recommend, you know,
take half of the food, put it inthe freezer, put the other stuff
(22:31):
in your fridge, and then seewhat they like best.
If they like it frozen first andthen thought out, because it
does change the consistency alittle bit.
The freshly cooked stuff is alittle bit more, a little bit
more moist, a little bit morewet, I guess you can say.
And then when it comes onto thefreezer, it's like the moisture
got absorbed into the meat.
And so it's a little less.
And so our cats tend to likethat a little bit better.
(22:54):
Kona, who needs, he had urinecrystals when he was two years
old, hasn't had them since,thank goodness.
But he sometimes will add alittle extra water into his
food, a little extra moisture toget that so he's constantly
getting enough water into hissystem so he doesn't have to
deal with that issue again.
Um, but yeah, and there'sbenefits for that too, with cat
(23:15):
food being a little bit more isacidic, and so that can help
prevent against urine crystal.
There are a lot of benefits tothe meat.
But trying to make it easy.
SPEAKER_01 (23:25):
And that makes sense too, because Charlie had urine
issues early on.
And and they could never reallyfind out what the issue was.
But then, of course, yearslater, he ended up being
diabetic.
So obviously, he's always hadsome issues there, whether it
was from when he was a kittenand we found him outside, or the
fact that he would never eat wetfood ever.
(23:46):
Yeah.
Then I was gonna ask you aboutdoing it in a larger size and
being able how long it wouldlast.
So I'd love that you can freezeit and then use it too.
I think, especially today in theeconomy where everything is more
expensive, I feel like everytime I go in to reorder cat food
or treats, I'm like, wait, itwas like a dollar cheaper the
(24:06):
last time I was here.
And so I think what you guys areoffering with your products
really gives people not onlymore control over what's in the
food, but being able to do ityourself and freeze it and have
it and not having to beconstantly reordering and paying
more expensive prices for sure.
SPEAKER_00 (24:23):
Yeah, yeah.
And a lot of times you think,oh, human-grade meat, oh, it's
gotta be more expensive to makeit, but actually it's not.
It's, I mean, if you're payinglike two or three dollars a can
for some of that premium food,you got it's like less than
three sometimes, depending onthe type of meat you use, but on
average, like$1.50 to$2 a canwhen you're making it yourself.
(24:46):
So like a pound, you get moreout of a pound of food than you
would out of the can of food,which is good.
But it's definitely we found itto be more cost effective.
When we stop buying canned foodafter Coconut passed away, we're
like, oh, look at all the moneythat we have left over in our
cat budget.
Personality, Izzy just likesbeef.
We found out she likes beef.
And so now Kona wants beef,which is fine.
(25:08):
I'm glad he's eating it, but nowwe use that money against beef a
little more expensive men likechicken.
But it's definitely we're like,hey, if you're gonna eat it,
sweetheart, we'll feed it to youbecause we just look for sales.
Every time it goes on sale, westock up.
But yeah, we make about eightpounds, six to eight pounds of
food at a time, I would say.
Izzy likes her beef raw.
And so we seared outside to getoff any bacteria.
(25:31):
We grind it up, make it into catfood.
The other cats like there's alittle bit more cooked if they
like a little bit of rawness intheir chicken with the avian flu
scare this past year.
We've been cooking it all theway lately, but we'll probably
go back to a little bit raw inthe middle.
So, yeah, there's a lot of waysto kind of control and kind of
tweak the food based on what thecats like too, which is good.
SPEAKER_01 (25:53):
Yeah, that's great.
Yeah, because they all haveunique likes, but also like you
with four and us with three,they're all at different ages.
May need something else.
Versus, I had gotten some freesamples of I don't even remember
what food it was at CatCon thatwas for older cats.
And my Frenchie, who is 12,loves it.
(26:14):
So does pumpkin, but pumpkin'sonly three.
And I'm like, girl, this is moreexpensive, and Frenchie needs
it, but you can't keep her fromnot eating it.
I think it sounds so much likewhat you guys offer, gives
people the ability to do thatand to cater to the needs of
each individual pet.
And I know one of the things Ihad talked to you about was my
(26:34):
both of my girls, Frenchie andPumpkin, are very itchy,
especially right now going intothe fall.
And so we had talked about youhad send me a sample of some of
the oil to start using, and I'vestarted kind of slowly putting
that in.
So, what are some of the otherproducts that you offer that
help with issues like that, likeallergies, skin issues, things
like that?
SPEAKER_00 (26:54):
Yeah, great question.
Yeah, cats.
I know why is it alwayslong-haired ones that need to
get brushed and they're justlike, no, don't brush me.
I'm like, you come over here.
I feel your pain.
So we have skin allergies, itwas a big one, especially for
dogs.
Man, when I did the farmer'smarket, there'd always be people
coming up, like my dog.
(27:15):
One of my market friends, herdog had gotten into something,
his skin freaked out.
And so we had her try the omega,one of the omega-3 oils because
that definitely helps.
Omega-3 oil is veryanti-inflammatory, so it can
kind of help take down thatinflammation.
But then also we have thepostbiotic.
So our postbiotic helps with anumber of different issues.
It's a it works a littledifferently.
(27:36):
My husband hates it when I saythis.
But this is how it comes in myhead because he's a scientist,
so he knows explicitly like howit works.
SPEAKER_01 (27:44):
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (27:45):
But with a postbiotic, it does, it has kind
of a different purpose than aprobiotic.
So a probiotic, you're trying tointroduce the bacteria into the
system.
With a postbiotic, that littlesucker is going in there and it
is basically helping to createan environment in the gut for
the body to produce its own mostbeneficial bacteria.
(28:05):
So instead of trying tointroduce things that can get
killed off by the gut as it goesthrough and stuff, you're
actually putting, you know, thisis going in there and kind of
helping to clear out the badstuff and create a really good
environment.
And so this helps withinflammation, it helps with
their skin issues.
So we paired, I should knock itoff on the tangent for skin
issues, it helps with gutissues, it helps with
(28:27):
inflammation because there's ahuge amount of immunity stems
from the gut.
And so helping to reallystrengthen the gut and get it as
as you know as good as possibleis gonna help their brain
health, it's gonna help theirskin health, it's gonna help the
whole animal, the whole humanbeing as well.
SPEAKER_01 (28:45):
And I was gonna say a lot of what you're saying
makes sense because I takeomega-3s for myself, and
autoimmune issues, and it helpswith inflammation, and so it
makes sense.
And we've used different CBEproducts with myself and our
pets before for the same reasonthe inflammation, especially as
they get older.
So it sounds like your omega-3oils really help with a lot of
(29:06):
those things and for dogs aswell.
SPEAKER_00 (29:08):
Yes, yeah, yeah.
So we have most of our productsare can be used for both cats
and dogs.
Our only cat-specific product isour homemade cat food mix, our
formula.
So that's our only verycat-specific product, just
because dogs, again, like youmentioned before, they have
different needs, but we havesome aspirations of coming out
with a dog mix, and I'm gonnapush my husband to do that next
(29:32):
year.
But then now that we've goteverything pretty much good to
go with the cats and the catproducts, but customers have
been asking for that too, forone for the dogs.
But yeah, so that's our only catspecific product.
But yes, we are postbiotic is anexcellent product, it's human
grade and it's concentrated.
One of my husband's biggestfrustrations is a lot of the pet
(29:53):
probiotics you find on themarket are diluted and they
don't work as well as you wantthem to, but even Kona, like I
have to mix this with churu, andhe's the one that needs it the
most because of his hairballs.
That's another thing it helpswith, but also helps with hair
balls.
Our short-haired cats rarelyever get hair balls, and we
really attribute it to the homiecat food and the postbiotic.
(30:13):
Our long-haired cats dosometimes get hair balls, even
though I try to brush them asmuch as possible, but it
definitely helps cut downbecause with strengthening up
the gut's kind of able toprocess the hair a little bit
better.
So the postbiotic really that'sone of the other products that
we're super passionate about,just because of all the benefits
that could come from it.
(30:34):
And it can also be usedconcurrently with a probiotic.
So people have probiotics andthey want to continue using them
with their cat, it actuallyhelps to increase the
effectiveness of the probioticbecause it's creating that
environment in the gut for thebacteria to thrive.
So that way when the cats aretaking the probiotic, the
postbiotic is helping createthat environment for them to
(30:56):
take the most effect in thebody, which is that.
Yeah, that's great.
Yeah, and I forgot to mentionthe friend that had tried that
combination out.
She also did that her vet had toadjust a bland diet.
So she had him on, you know, ornot, I guess we'd call it a
bland diet.
It was like boiled chicken orsomething.
Just to make sure that she wascutting out whatever that could
(31:17):
have inflamed him.
But within, I think it was likea month, within like a month to
two months, he was back tonormal.
Like his fur because he wasstarting to lose fur in areas,
his fur was coming back in, likehe was doing amazing.
And so we're like, oh, that'sawesome.
And she's like just yourproducts and the chicken.
I'm like, wait, then we knowthat it works.
Um that was a really good testto see like how it, how those
(31:39):
products could work in you know,a dog or that that skin issue
that he was having theinflammation.
SPEAKER_01 (31:45):
Love that.
So anyone listening that's okay,I need to check this out.
I want to try the food, I wantto try this or that.
Superior Feline is an affiliatepartner of the podcast now,
which I love to share.
And I was just confirming in myhead, so I didn't get it wrong.
If you use code STORYOFMYPET,you will get 15% off your entire
(32:06):
purchase.
And of course, the link is inthe show notes or wherever
you're listening or watchingthis episode, or you can just go
to superiorfeeline.com and checkout their products.
And Holly said, there are somelike sample tester product
smaller ones you can get to tryit out and see how your pets
like it.
And if you have a pet that hassome unique issue and you're not
(32:29):
sure what the right thing is,reach out to Holly and ask her.
Obviously, she is a wealth ofknowledge between her and her
husband.
She'll give you some ideas ofwhat to try, and then you know,
you can see what works for yourpets and hopefully get some help
for whatever issues they'refacing.
SPEAKER_00 (32:46):
Totally.
Yeah, we definitely welcomeemails or contacting us to ask
questions before ordering, andthen we can definitely help
people pinpoint like what kindof products they're looking for.
SPEAKER_01 (32:58):
Yes, yeah, because sometimes I know for me, I'm
like, I don't even know where tostart.
There's so many of our vitaminsand supplements.
I'm like, somebody should tellme what to do.
SPEAKER_00 (33:06):
Exactly, exactly.
SPEAKER_01 (33:08):
I'm like, if we're dealing with it for ourselves,
we don't want to have to do allthe research again for our pets.
You guys are doing the researchfor us and providing us options
depending on what the needs areof our pets.
So go to Superior Feline, usestory of my pet to get 15% off
your purchase.
And I have a feeling that yourdogs and cats will love you for
(33:30):
it.
Maybe if we have some topicscome up that you guys really
want some more info on, Hollycan come back and we can answer
some of those questions.
So feel free to reach out andlet us.
Holly, thank you so much forbeing here.
Oh my gosh.
Thank you, Jerry.
You're for family, and tellingus a little bit about that and
also the journey with superiorfeline.
(33:50):
It sounds like it really is, youknow, making a big difference
for some pet parents out there.
And I'm happy to be able topromote it and share it with
more so that we can get and keepour pets healthy and also make
them happy with what they'reeating.
Ugly.
SPEAKER_00 (34:07):
Oh my gosh, thank you.
I appreciate you, Julie.
Thank you so much.
SPEAKER_01 (34:11):
Thank you.
Okay, guys, remember check outthe link in bio to learn more
about superior feline and shopand support.
Thank you so much for listeningto this episode of the Story of
(34:32):
My Pet Podcast.
I appreciate you listening andsupporting the podcast.
And if you haven't already,wherever you are listening to
this episode, make sure you hitfollow or subscribe and leave us
a rating or review.
All of that helps the podcastgrow and get to even more
listeners and help us educateand advocate for animals in need
(34:57):
around the world.
If you haven't done so already,make sure to check out our brand
new YouTube channel, Story of MyPet Podcast.
Again, hit the subscribe button.
Give us some likes and commentson our videos, and that will
help the podcast grow on its newhome on YouTube.
(35:18):
Thank you so much for beinghere, and much love to you and
your pet.
Hello, my friends and fellow animal lovers.
Welcome to a brand new episodeof the Story of My Pet Podcast.
I am your host, Julie MartyPearson, as always, and I am
happy to welcome a new guest tothe podcast.
Hi, Holly.
Thank you for being here.
Hey Julie, thanks for having meon.
(00:25):
So we're definitely gonna betalking all things cats today.
We are two fellow cat ladies,cat moms.
You got it for sure.
So I met Holly.
We were both at CatCon thisyear.
Holly and her company, SuperiorFeline, what had a booth, and
(00:47):
she was one of the companies Imet there and really loved what
they're doing with their companyto help our pets and our cats.
And so we connected, and nowshe's here to share more about
her business and her fur familyand all of those things.
So how was CatCon for you andyour business?
(01:09):
Was that a good experience?
SPEAKER_00 (01:11):
Yeah.
So that was our fourth year ofCatCons.
We started in 2022 and have doneit every year since then.
But yeah, every year it justkeeps getting better and better.
It's a great event, and there'sso many wonderful people.
We get to meet great people likeyou and a whole bunch of you
know cat loving people, which isalways great.
(01:32):
But yeah, it's a wonderfulevent.
SPEAKER_01 (01:34):
I really enjoyed it.
I think I was a little shockedwhen I first got there.
Whoa, this is massive.
I had gone many years ago whenit was not that massive, and I
don't think I was prepared forthe volume of people and the
volume of boosts, but I guess itjust goes to show how much cat
(01:54):
people love our cats and lovekind of connecting with our love
of cats.
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (02:01):
Yeah, it's true.
It's something else.
And it's awesome that they havespeakers and then they have a
whole adoption area.
I think they adopted out all ofthe cats this year, which is
amazing.
So it's nice to be able tosupport an event that
encompasses everything aboutcats and the different ways
that, you know, we're able tobring them into our lives, which
is cool.
SPEAKER_01 (02:20):
Yeah, that it's so true because I think when I try
to explain cat con to people,they don't totally understand
it.
I always say Comic Con for catlovers, which is kind of what it
is, because people are dressedup as cats and all of that.
And there are probably hundredsof booths for different types of
companies and organizations.
But like you said, they also hadspeakers that were talking about
(02:41):
educational topics and advocacy,and Pasadena Humane was there
with a ton of cats and kittens.
The second day I know they had200 there, and before the day
was over, they had adopted themall out.
So nothing is better than that.
I've been to plenty of adoptionevents where it's they're not
adopting out.
So that is an it was an amazingevent, and it was so great to
(03:04):
connect with you and learn moreabout you and your company.
And before we dive into that, Ialways like to start with asking
my guests if you've always beenan animal lover and if you grew
up with pets in your family.
SPEAKER_00 (03:18):
Yeah, so I guess we've had a couple of dogs
growing up, but cats were moreof my thing.
I grew up out in the country ona farm in the 80s.
So naturally we had cats likearound.
There's a lot of things I woulddo differently now, knowing what
I know now.
Right.
I knew, you know, if I knew thenwhat I knew now, the chat was
(03:40):
back then.
So we had cats growing up aroundcats and kittens, but I
definitely have a love for cats.
And so then when I went tocollege and didn't have cats,
and then after college andliving on my own, didn't have
any for a while.
And then my friend introduced meto a guy that is now my husband,
and he had a white girl kittennamed Coconut.
(04:02):
And I was immediately like, thisis the guy.
Obviously, oh, here's Tucker.
SPEAKER_01 (04:07):
He's yay! I always love animal hello, sir or ma'am.
SPEAKER_00 (04:14):
He loves to make appearances whenever I am on
using my camera to talk topeople.
That's just what he does.
He likes to come and say hello.
SPEAKER_01 (04:22):
I don't think how do they know when to do it?
SPEAKER_00 (04:26):
Oh, yeah, all the time.
Yeah, he totally.
He just he knows he comes onover to say hello, but he's the
sweetest.
Orange tabbies are just likethey have their own personality.
He's just the sweetest boy, andI loved him.
He's nine years old now, so he'slonger.
SPEAKER_01 (04:40):
I love that.
It's so funny what you saidabout your husband, because you
know, my husband is an animallover too.
And I remember when I first methim and he had all these
different animals and things inhis room, and I was like, Are
you?
I remember moments where hewould say, you know, I grew up
(05:01):
with a menagerie, we're notgonna do that.
And I'm like, two.
We've been married 20 years, wecurrently have three cats, two
tortoises, a scorpion, and Idon't even know how many
tarantulas.
We won't even talk about that.
Those are his.
(05:21):
And one day he brought home arescue possum.
So you know it's always greatwhen we know our people get it.
SPEAKER_00 (05:31):
Yeah, exactly, right?
It's so true.
It's like if you love pets,they're just gonna find you one
way or another.
You just he didn't have achance.
unknown (05:39):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (05:41):
So tell us we got a preview with Tucker joining us.
What does your for familyconsist of right now?
SPEAKER_00 (05:49):
Yeah, so now we have we currently have four cats.
It's kind of our happy medium.
We like to stick around foursometimes when we lose one.
There's a grouping process, butthen we eventually get back to
four.
So right now we have Kona, whois 11.
He just turned 11.
Tucker is nine, our orangetabby, and Kona is just a
long-haired black cat with justa little bit of white.
(06:11):
And then we have Tucker, ourorange tabby, and then Mia, who
is very petite.
She's eight pounds.
Our neighbors found her outsidein their driveway when she was
just like three weeks old.
So I took her in, I bottled fedher for a week, and then we
weamed her on to our homemadefood.
And so she's our kitten that hasbeen solely raised on our
(06:32):
homemade food with the formulathat we make.
And she's doing great, and she'sjust nice.
She is my princess, she is mybaby.
And then we have Izzy.
Izzy is going to be two nextmonth, and she is a main coon.
It's a not that into our family,and she is a ball of energy, and
she's giant, and sometimes I'mlike, my life would be so much
(06:58):
calmer and probably more boringwith ours.
There's no words to describeIzzy, but she was a good
addition to the family as well.
So those are our four for ababy.
SPEAKER_01 (07:09):
It's funny.
I think we always have that onethat's it would be a lot easier,
but our life would be a lot moreboring if they weren't around.
And our youngest pumpkin is acalico, and oh lord, some days
are like, What is wrong withyou?
You're crazy.
And then she looks at you andyou're like, You're adorable,
(07:29):
you could do whatever you want.
I don't care.
SPEAKER_00 (07:31):
Exactly.
Yes, that's exactly how it goesall the time.
SPEAKER_01 (07:35):
Uh, sometimes I look at her and think, I was that
cute, I could really get awaywith anything.
unknown (07:40):
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (07:41):
But mentioned one of your cats, it has bit you bottle
fed and has been on your foodthe whole time.
So that kind of segues us intoyour business and which is
superior feline.
So, where did this businessstart?
What was the impetus of you guysgoing into this area?
SPEAKER_00 (08:00):
Yeah, I mentioned coconut.
Coconut, when she was around,gosh, I think she was around
between 10 and 12, had developedkidney disease.
And so my husband, being themicrobiologist, scientist, a
researcher that he is, went anddeep dove into that disease,
what causes it, you know, whatcould we do to help her out?
(08:23):
Also, around that time, we hadanother cat, Luna Belle, who we
had gotten most of our all ofour cats except for Izzy, have
come from shelters.
So two of them, Tucker and Kona,are from the Washington County
Humane Society in Wisconsin.
That's where we moved toCalifornia in 2018.
So two of them are stillWisconsin native.
And that's coconut, Lunabellealso came from that Humane
(08:45):
Society.
Luna Bell came into our familywhen she was about four years
old.
So she was already fully grownand we knew she had some like
oral issues and stuff.
So she had to have her teethpulled.
But she also developed a fishallergy.
So she had this horrible fishallergy where if she ate
anything with any kind of fishoil, anything in it, she would
vomit.
Like she would go and do like anepisode.
(09:07):
It wasn't just vomiting, like itwas horrible.
So we also had to figure outlike, what are we gonna do?
Canned food, whatever.
It most of it has some kind offish oil, fish something.
There weren't a whole lot ofalternatives.
Like this was even just sevenyears ago, like 2018-ish.
And so my husband, again, deepdove.
And so he said we should startmaking our own cat food.
(09:29):
And I looked at him, I was like,You are crazy.
Like, you wanna, we're gonnamake cat food, like with what
time that we have, right?
And so you know, we're gonna doit.
And so he he did it.
And then I was like, okay,whatever, you do it, I'll go
along with it.
And then I started noticing ourcats, like Tucker always, like
(09:51):
when he was a kitten, it hadcoarse fur.
And then all of a sudden,Tucker's fur started getting
softer.
And then Coconut, like, we wereable to manage her kidney
disease with the homemade food.
She never went past level two.
Like her markers went back tonormal.
The damage was already done.
So she was always at like stagetwo kidney disease.
But she just basically kind ofbalanced out and ended up
(10:13):
getting IBD, which is alsohorrible.
So we've been through the gamut,and then our cat ended up with
this horrible blood cancer thatonly mainly affects dogs and
angiosarcoma.
And we're pretty sure it was dueto the inflammation from like
the oral stuff she had going onbefore we got her.
And then, and with herinflammation and the fish
allergy and all the things.
(10:33):
So it was just, we were at thatpoint, we're like, we're just
doing homemade food because wewant to be able to control
what's in their diets.
We felt like coconut's kidneydisease.
A lot of that sometimes comesfrom their diet, especially
irritable bowel disease, becauseit's all information.
And so we're like, that's it.
Homemade food, we wanted to beable to make sure we did not
want to go through any of that.
(10:54):
We're trying to prevent as manyof those diseases as possible.
We know some things are gonnacome up just because as cats get
older, just like humans, thingsarise.
And the more we can control itwith their diet and give them
the food that's going to nourishthem and that is most species
appropriate for them.
That's why we're big proponents.
And then when we moved toCalifornia in 2018, I did not
(11:17):
want to go back into the fieldthat I was in.
And so my husband was like, whydon't we start our own company?
He has formulated products forpet companies, for doctors,
dentists.
Like he's he is excellent atformulating products and makes
really quality products.
And so he did a lot of research,read medical journals.
And so he, based on the AAFCOrecommendations or guidelines,
(11:41):
and then also the journalarticles he was reading,
formulated a mix with all thetrace minerals, vitamins, and
trace minerals that cats needthat combined with meat makes a
balanced diet for them, balancedmeal.
Because cats really only needmeat.
That's what they eat in thewild.
Actually, in carbohydrates likerice, peas, potatoes, grains,
(12:04):
vegetables, sometimes like theydon't have the enzymes in their
body to process those and tobreak those down to metabolize
it.
And so those can actually justend up as fillers and being
inflammatory to their system.
We took out there's no fillersin our products.
Every we say we have functionalproducts, like every ingredient
has a purpose.
And so our homemade cat foodmixes, we started with that in
(12:28):
20, he started doing theformula, and then I did all the
other things (12:32):
the website, the packaging, all the stuff, and we
just keep kind of upgrading thatas we go.
And then, because cats can bepicky, in addition to the
homemade cat food mix, we alsohave some toppers, like liver
powder toppers.
So we have just a plain chickenliver powder, a liver powder
plus that has some like littleextra ingredients in there that
(12:53):
cats tend to like.
Oh, like a yeast extract and aphosphate in there, but those
also serve purposes too.
Like the yeast has beta glucan,which supports the immune
system.
And the phosphate helps withlike bone development,
especially for kittens.
We also have a pork liver powderfor cats that can't eat poultry
because we are hearing fromcustomers that, oh, do you have
anything without chicken liverpowder?
(13:15):
Because our original homemadecat food mix has chicken litter
powder in it.
And there was a really desperatecustomer who was like, Can I
can, is there any way possible,can you please just make it
without it?
Because I can't find anything.
And we're like, okay, let's doit.
We just made it up for her, hadher try it out.
It worked.
And so we added that to herproduct line.
So we listen a lot to ourcustomers.
I used to do a farmer's marketright when we were starting out
(13:38):
to hear what people were asking,to see if people were interested
in what we offered.
And so, based on customerfeedback and the questions that
we get, even now by email, Ikeep a list of everything that
people ask for.
So that if we hear thingsmultiple times and we know
there's a need for it.
And then my husband goes intoresearch mode and comes out with
a prosthetic addition, that'sgreat.
But yeah, we try to make it assimple as possible for people
(14:00):
because again, we know cats canbe picky, ours is Kona is like
the pickiest.
I call them a jerk sometimes andlike bring me a jerk, just eat
your food.
I have a menagerie toppers, I'mjust like rotating through that.
So I have troubleshooting tipsfor everyone based on what we've
(14:20):
tried and awful feedback fromcustomers, and just try to
really help people.
You don't have to be somebodythat cooks a lot.
I hate to cook, but I'll cookfor my cats.
And so we try to make it as easyas possible, give people
different ways to prep the meator to the different kinds of
meat to use, like different,like just trying to make it as
(14:42):
easy as possible for the averagecat parent to go forth and
provide a healthier option fortheir cats.
SPEAKER_01 (14:50):
I love that because there's so many things that you
said that are important.
I think the first one is thatit's important to understand
what cats need, and it isdifferent than say what dogs
need, right?
And so it sounds like not onlydid you guys really do your
research to ensure that you'regiving the cats everything they
need, but you're not giving themthings that are going to harm
(15:11):
them or things that they arejust filler, like you said, they
don't need the veggies and someof that other stuff that dogs do
need or like to eat.
But also, yeah, every animal wehave is unique and for different
reasons, whether it'sgenetically how they're
predisposed, what they how theygrew up.
(15:32):
I just realized all three of ourcats are bottle babies at
different times and differentways, but they still all have
different likes now.
And our oldest, Charlie, who is16, who is diabetic, has never
liked wet food.
We had him, we found him aloneas a baby and bottle fed him.
And we tried to wean him fromthe bottle into slop and then
(15:55):
it, you know, into wet food, andhe refused.
Like I would put it there, I'dput his paws in, and he would
just look at me like, What areyou trying to do to me?
And then one day we look overand he's knee deep in the older
cat's dry food eating.
He went from the bottle to dryfood and has never eaten wet
food.
He will he'll he does thisstuff.
(16:15):
How dare you even put that infront of me?
But he's diabetic, he needs theyou know, he needs the water, he
needs that, but he's never eatenwet food.
Just like people, they can havean allergy to something.
And if it's in every food, likethere's no way to give them
another option.
So it sounds like you guys havereally starting with your own
(16:35):
cats and then expanding to otherpeople, really looked at the
different issues that a lot ofcat parents have and trying to
help us with some variety.
SPEAKER_00 (16:45):
Yeah, yeah, we try to do, we really try to do our
best.
Very obviously, you can tellwe're so passionate about it
just because of what we wentthrough with our own cats and
then just diving deep and doingthe research.
SPEAKER_01 (16:57):
Yeah, and you know, it was funny because I think
when we first talked, youmentioned your cat that had
kidney disease and trying tohelp them.
And the first cat I ever hadwhen he got older, Jack had
kidney disease.
And so we got the special kidneyfood from the vet, but the
problem was it was really tastyapparently because our other
cats wanted to eat it.
We're like, no, this isexpensive, you can't have it.
(17:20):
And at the time I was commutingto a job down in LA, and so I
started taking Jack with meduring the week so I could feed
him without worrying.
And he loved it because then hegot all my time.
And it helped him, you know, helived with kidney disease, I
don't know, two or three years,but I can imagine for some
people, maybe that isn't anoption, and they have to have
(17:41):
other ways of adjusting for dietand different health issues.
And you mentioned cancer.
I've heard so many differentpeople with various types of
cancers in cats, and I'm suresome of that comes from the food
and inflammation and all ofthose things.
So if someone is listening andsaid, Wow, I could make my cat
their food and have control overwhat is in it, what would you
(18:02):
say to them would be a goodfirst start in that process?
SPEAKER_00 (18:06):
Oh, it's such a great question.
So we actually, because again,we know that sometimes people
don't want to, it's hard tocommit to a full-size thing when
you're not sure if it's gonnawork.
So, right away off the bat, wehad trial size kits.
We still have them.
So we have trial size packetsfor people, low cost.
We basically break even on themjust to get people to try it,
(18:29):
just because we're just excitedwhen people want to try and do
this for their pets.
And so our trial size kits, it'sit's a little packet of mix.
So it's basically a scoop of ourhomemade cat food supplement
mix.
We have it available in bothformulas, and we also have a
kitten kit as well.
It's available in the originalformula and in the liver
powder-free formulas.
There's a packet of the mix inthere.
(18:51):
And so you just mix that with apound of meat.
Uh, you can, there's differentways to prepare it.
It can be used with raw meat,with cooked meat, with parcooked
meat.
Like we made it so that you canuse it with any type of meat
that you would like to for themost part, except for fish.
We don't recommend fish.
There's a variety of reasons,having phosphorus, heavy metal,
(19:12):
contamination possibilities,stuff like that.
So any kind of regular meat thatwalks on land.
So, yeah, so ground pre-groundmeat, which we always recommend
cooking because of bacterialpossibilities, but it's just
mixed with a pound of meat,water, and then an omega-3 oil.
We usually recommend it's not arequirement.
We recommend it.
(19:32):
Lots of benefits to an omega-3oil.
We even have a non-fish option,which we discovered when we were
going through the gamut withLinabile and our fish allergy.
So chia seed oil, we have thatas an option for people.
For it's a pet safe, it's likeone of the very highest
plant-based omega-3 oils.
And because of the way the seedis shaped, it has a less
(19:53):
possibility of going rancid.
So, like flaxseed oil, the wayit's shaped, the oblong shape,
the oil, and it goes rancid morequickly.
Chia seed oil is more protected.
And so we have an organic chiaseed oil.
And for cats and for dogs,actually, that any kind of fish
sensitivities, we recommendthat.
And then we have our wildanchovy oil.
(20:14):
And wild anchoby is actuallyhigher in omega-3 fatty acids
than like salmon, which isreally popular.
So wild anchovy, great, a greatomega-3 oil.
The main part between the twoomega-3 oils, wild anchovy oil
has DHA and EPA in it, justbecause it's that from fish.
Chia seed oil does not.
(20:35):
And so EPA and DHA, they helpwith cognitive function and
vision.
And so that's some benefits fromwild anchovy oil versus the
chia.
And then I got off a topic.
So the trial sized kit, thetrial size kit.
SPEAKER_01 (20:48):
That's so good because I will say I didn't know
any of this.
And I'm just thinking of likesome of the stuff you've talked
about are good for differentreasons.
And like when you talk about theanchovy oil, our our oldest cat
definitely has some sightissues.
Sometimes we look at him, we'relike, hi, can you like we'll
find him sitting like he's alittle confused, he's not sure
(21:09):
what he is.
And you can also see as they getolder, their eyes get glassy.
And so, anyway, we can help themjust like we help ourselves to
improve our sight or our hearingor whatever.
We all need those extra things.
And so I love that there are somany different benefits people
can get from the variousproducts you offer.
SPEAKER_00 (21:27):
Yeah, totally.
So the trial size kit comes withbasically a trial size of a
scoop of the mix, a little miniwildly anchovy or cheese seed
oil that you just pour rightinto there, mix in with the
meat, you mix in some water, andyou got yourself some cat food.
And we try to make it as easyand simple as possible for
people.
Our little trial size packetsalso come with a trial size of
(21:48):
our liver of a liver powdertopper again to help with
troubleshooting right off thebat.
Because sometimes you set stuffdown like Tucker will just eat
the food, y'all just set it infront of him, he's good to go,
just takes off eating.
Kona, if I set it in front ofhim, he looks at me and he's
expecting me to eat this.
And so I thought to sprinkle thestuff on top.
(22:10):
And so we try again to helppeople troubleshoot right off
the bat by giving them a littletroubleshooting right in their
pocket with it, too.
But and then that way people cantry it out, see if it works for
their cats.
Our cats actually like it whenwe freeze the food first, so we
make it in big batches.
So sometimes with the trialsize, we recommend, you know,
take half of the food, put it inthe freezer, put the other stuff
(22:31):
in your fridge, and then seewhat they like best.
If they like it frozen first andthen thought out, because it
does change the consistency alittle bit.
The freshly cooked stuff is alittle bit more, a little bit
more moist, a little bit morewet, I guess you can say.
And then when it comes onto thefreezer, it's like the moisture
got absorbed into the meat.
And so it's a little less.
And so our cats tend to likethat a little bit better.
(22:54):
Kona, who needs, he had urinecrystals when he was two years
old, hasn't had them since,thank goodness.
But he sometimes will add alittle extra water into his
food, a little extra moisture toget that so he's constantly
getting enough water into hissystem so he doesn't have to
deal with that issue again.
Um, but yeah, and there'sbenefits for that too, with cat
(23:15):
food being a little bit more isacidic, and so that can help
prevent against urine crystal.
There are a lot of benefits tothe meat.
But trying to make it easy.
SPEAKER_01 (23:25):
And that makes sense too, because Charlie had urine
issues early on.
And and they could never reallyfind out what the issue was.
But then, of course, yearslater, he ended up being
diabetic.
So obviously, he's always hadsome issues there, whether it
was from when he was a kittenand we found him outside, or the
fact that he would never eat wetfood ever.
(23:46):
Yeah.
Then I was gonna ask you aboutdoing it in a larger size and
being able how long it wouldlast.
So I'd love that you can freezeit and then use it too.
I think, especially today in theeconomy where everything is more
expensive, I feel like everytime I go in to reorder cat food
or treats, I'm like, wait, itwas like a dollar cheaper the
(24:06):
last time I was here.
And so I think what you guys areoffering with your products
really gives people not onlymore control over what's in the
food, but being able to do ityourself and freeze it and have
it and not having to beconstantly reordering and paying
more expensive prices for sure.
SPEAKER_00 (24:23):
Yeah, yeah.
And a lot of times you think,oh, human-grade meat, oh, it's
gotta be more expensive to makeit, but actually it's not.
It's, I mean, if you're payinglike two or three dollars a can
for some of that premium food,you got it's like less than
three sometimes, depending onthe type of meat you use, but on
average, like$1.50 to$2 a canwhen you're making it yourself.
(24:46):
So like a pound, you get moreout of a pound of food than you
would out of the can of food,which is good.
But it's definitely we found itto be more cost effective.
When we stop buying canned foodafter Coconut passed away, we're
like, oh, look at all the moneythat we have left over in our
cat budget.
Personality, Izzy just likesbeef.
We found out she likes beef.
And so now Kona wants beef,which is fine.
(25:08):
I'm glad he's eating it, but nowwe use that money against beef a
little more expensive men likechicken.
But it's definitely we're like,hey, if you're gonna eat it,
sweetheart, we'll feed it to youbecause we just look for sales.
Every time it goes on sale, westock up.
But yeah, we make about eightpounds, six to eight pounds of
food at a time, I would say.
Izzy likes her beef raw.
And so we seared outside to getoff any bacteria.
(25:31):
We grind it up, make it into catfood.
The other cats like there's alittle bit more cooked if they
like a little bit of rawness intheir chicken with the avian flu
scare this past year.
We've been cooking it all theway lately, but we'll probably
go back to a little bit raw inthe middle.
So, yeah, there's a lot of waysto kind of control and kind of
tweak the food based on what thecats like too, which is good.
SPEAKER_01 (25:53):
Yeah, that's great.
Yeah, because they all haveunique likes, but also like you
with four and us with three,they're all at different ages.
May need something else.
Versus, I had gotten some freesamples of I don't even remember
what food it was at CatCon thatwas for older cats.
And my Frenchie, who is 12,loves it.
(26:14):
So does pumpkin, but pumpkin'sonly three.
And I'm like, girl, this is moreexpensive, and Frenchie needs
it, but you can't keep her fromnot eating it.
I think it sounds so much likewhat you guys offer, gives
people the ability to do thatand to cater to the needs of
each individual pet.
And I know one of the things Ihad talked to you about was my
(26:34):
both of my girls, Frenchie andPumpkin, are very itchy,
especially right now going intothe fall.
And so we had talked about youhad send me a sample of some of
the oil to start using, and I'vestarted kind of slowly putting
that in.
So, what are some of the otherproducts that you offer that
help with issues like that, likeallergies, skin issues, things
like that?
SPEAKER_00 (26:54):
Yeah, great question.
Yeah, cats.
I know why is it alwayslong-haired ones that need to
get brushed and they're justlike, no, don't brush me.
I'm like, you come over here.
I feel your pain.
So we have skin allergies, itwas a big one, especially for
dogs.
Man, when I did the farmer'smarket, there'd always be people
coming up, like my dog.
(27:15):
One of my market friends, herdog had gotten into something,
his skin freaked out.
And so we had her try the omega,one of the omega-3 oils because
that definitely helps.
Omega-3 oil is veryanti-inflammatory, so it can
kind of help take down thatinflammation.
But then also we have thepostbiotic.
So our postbiotic helps with anumber of different issues.
It's a it works a littledifferently.
(27:36):
My husband hates it when I saythis.
But this is how it comes in myhead because he's a scientist,
so he knows explicitly like howit works.
SPEAKER_01 (27:44):
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (27:45):
But with a postbiotic, it does, it has kind
of a different purpose than aprobiotic.
So a probiotic, you're trying tointroduce the bacteria into the
system.
With a postbiotic, that littlesucker is going in there and it
is basically helping to createan environment in the gut for
the body to produce its own mostbeneficial bacteria.
(28:05):
So instead of trying tointroduce things that can get
killed off by the gut as it goesthrough and stuff, you're
actually putting, you know, thisis going in there and kind of
helping to clear out the badstuff and create a really good
environment.
And so this helps withinflammation, it helps with
their skin issues.
So we paired, I should knock itoff on the tangent for skin
issues, it helps with gutissues, it helps with
(28:27):
inflammation because there's ahuge amount of immunity stems
from the gut.
And so helping to reallystrengthen the gut and get it as
as you know as good as possibleis gonna help their brain
health, it's gonna help theirskin health, it's gonna help the
whole animal, the whole humanbeing as well.
SPEAKER_01 (28:45):
And I was gonna say a lot of what you're saying
makes sense because I takeomega-3s for myself, and
autoimmune issues, and it helpswith inflammation, and so it
makes sense.
And we've used different CBEproducts with myself and our
pets before for the same reasonthe inflammation, especially as
they get older.
So it sounds like your omega-3oils really help with a lot of
(29:06):
those things and for dogs aswell.
SPEAKER_00 (29:08):
Yes, yeah, yeah.
So we have most of our productsare can be used for both cats
and dogs.
Our only cat-specific product isour homemade cat food mix, our
formula.
So that's our only verycat-specific product, just
because dogs, again, like youmentioned before, they have
different needs, but we havesome aspirations of coming out
with a dog mix, and I'm gonnapush my husband to do that next
(29:32):
year.
But then now that we've goteverything pretty much good to
go with the cats and the catproducts, but customers have
been asking for that too, forone for the dogs.
But yeah, so that's our only catspecific product.
But yes, we are postbiotic is anexcellent product, it's human
grade and it's concentrated.
One of my husband's biggestfrustrations is a lot of the pet
(29:53):
probiotics you find on themarket are diluted and they
don't work as well as you wantthem to, but even Kona, like I
have to mix this with churu, andhe's the one that needs it the
most because of his hairballs.
That's another thing it helpswith, but also helps with hair
balls.
Our short-haired cats rarelyever get hair balls, and we
really attribute it to the homiecat food and the postbiotic.
(30:13):
Our long-haired cats dosometimes get hair balls, even
though I try to brush them asmuch as possible, but it
definitely helps cut downbecause with strengthening up
the gut's kind of able toprocess the hair a little bit
better.
So the postbiotic really that'sone of the other products that
we're super passionate about,just because of all the benefits
that could come from it.
(30:34):
And it can also be usedconcurrently with a probiotic.
So people have probiotics andthey want to continue using them
with their cat, it actuallyhelps to increase the
effectiveness of the probioticbecause it's creating that
environment in the gut for thebacteria to thrive.
So that way when the cats aretaking the probiotic, the
postbiotic is helping createthat environment for them to
(30:56):
take the most effect in thebody, which is that.
Yeah, that's great.
Yeah, and I forgot to mentionthe friend that had tried that
combination out.
She also did that her vet had toadjust a bland diet.
So she had him on, you know, ornot, I guess we'd call it a
bland diet.
It was like boiled chicken orsomething.
Just to make sure that she wascutting out whatever that could
(31:17):
have inflamed him.
But within, I think it was likea month, within like a month to
two months, he was back tonormal.
Like his fur because he wasstarting to lose fur in areas,
his fur was coming back in, likehe was doing amazing.
And so we're like, oh, that'sawesome.
And she's like just yourproducts and the chicken.
I'm like, wait, then we knowthat it works.
Um that was a really good testto see like how it, how those
(31:39):
products could work in you know,a dog or that that skin issue
that he was having theinflammation.
SPEAKER_01 (31:45):
Love that.
So anyone listening that's okay,I need to check this out.
I want to try the food, I wantto try this or that.
Superior Feline is an affiliatepartner of the podcast now,
which I love to share.
And I was just confirming in myhead, so I didn't get it wrong.
If you use code STORYOFMYPET,you will get 15% off your entire
(32:06):
purchase.
And of course, the link is inthe show notes or wherever
you're listening or watchingthis episode, or you can just go
to superiorfeeline.com and checkout their products.
And Holly said, there are somelike sample tester product
smaller ones you can get to tryit out and see how your pets
like it.
And if you have a pet that hassome unique issue and you're not
(32:29):
sure what the right thing is,reach out to Holly and ask her.
Obviously, she is a wealth ofknowledge between her and her
husband.
She'll give you some ideas ofwhat to try, and then you know,
you can see what works for yourpets and hopefully get some help
for whatever issues they'refacing.
SPEAKER_00 (32:46):
Totally.
Yeah, we definitely welcomeemails or contacting us to ask
questions before ordering, andthen we can definitely help
people pinpoint like what kindof products they're looking for.
SPEAKER_01 (32:58):
Yes, yeah, because sometimes I know for me, I'm
like, I don't even know where tostart.
There's so many of our vitaminsand supplements.
I'm like, somebody should tellme what to do.
SPEAKER_00 (33:06):
Exactly, exactly.
SPEAKER_01 (33:08):
I'm like, if we're dealing with it for ourselves,
we don't want to have to do allthe research again for our pets.
You guys are doing the researchfor us and providing us options
depending on what the needs areof our pets.
So go to Superior Feline, usestory of my pet to get 15% off
your purchase.
And I have a feeling that yourdogs and cats will love you for
(33:30):
it.
Maybe if we have some topicscome up that you guys really
want some more info on, Hollycan come back and we can answer
some of those questions.
So feel free to reach out andlet us.
Holly, thank you so much forbeing here.
Oh my gosh.
Thank you, Jerry.
You're for family, and tellingus a little bit about that and
also the journey with superiorfeline.
(33:50):
It sounds like it really is, youknow, making a big difference
for some pet parents out there.
And I'm happy to be able topromote it and share it with
more so that we can get and keepour pets healthy and also make
them happy with what they'reeating.
Ugly.
SPEAKER_00 (34:07):
Oh my gosh, thank you.
I appreciate you, Julie.
Thank you so much.
SPEAKER_01 (34:11):
Thank you.
Okay, guys, remember check outthe link in bio to learn more
about superior feline and shopand support.
Thank you so much for listeningto this episode of the Story of
(34:32):
My Pet Podcast.
I appreciate you listening andsupporting the podcast.
And if you haven't already,wherever you are listening to
this episode, make sure you hitfollow or subscribe and leave us
a rating or review.
All of that helps the podcastgrow and get to even more
listeners and help us educateand advocate for animals in need
(34:57):
around the world.
If you haven't done so already,make sure to check out our brand
new YouTube channel, Story of MyPet Podcast.
Again, hit the subscribe button.
Give us some likes and commentson our videos, and that will
help the podcast grow on its newhome on YouTube.
(35:18):
Thank you so much for beinghere, and much love to you and
your pet.
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