The first time Inna Shekhtman and her product developer at Red Dog Blue Kat pet food manufacturer in Port Coquitlam fed pet food containing insect protein to one of their dogs, it rolled in it.
That meant it liked the smell, but couldn’t quite make sense of the taste, said Shekhtman, Red Dog Blue Kat’s owner and CEO.
Several refinements later and the company is rolling out its new ECO Recipe line of food for dogs and cats that contains 20% insect protein. They’re also the first pet food manufacturer in Canada to go where most humans have so far feared to tread.
Shekhtman said overcoming human squeamishness about bugs as a food source is one of the company’s biggest hurdles. But the dogs, and especially the cats, seem to love it.
The latter, Shekhtman admitted, came as a bit of a surprise.
“Cats are so picky,” she said.
Red Dog Blue Kat’s quest for alternate protein sources was sparked by the ever-rising prices for the 11 types of meat it uses in its raw pet foods, from beef to herring to turkey to kangaroo as well as a desire to create products that are more sustainable and nutritious.
“Insects offer a powerful source of protein and can be grown for a fraction of the environmental footprint of traditional livestock,” Shekhtman said.
The company considered commercially raised crickets and mealworms but chose the larvae of black soldier flies because they’re abundant in protein and minerals like calcium and manganese, as well as omega-3 fatty acids that are an invaluable anti-inflammatory. They also feed on waste, essentially converting it into food.
Red Dog Blue Kat sources the larvae from Enterra Feed, a Langley-based company that only received new approvals to sell its insect-based ingredients for animal feeds last February. The larvae are raised at a special farm in Langley and shipped dehydrated so they don’t escape or allow stray eggs to spread.
The larvae are then partially rehydrated before being mixed in with the meats and vegetables like lettuce, kale, zucchini, celery and yams that comprise the ingredients for Reg Dog Blue Kat’s pet foods.
“As an ingredient, it’s really easy to work with,” Shekhtman said.
How it tastes is uncertain, she said. Because the only way to tell if animals like a food is whether they actually eat it or scorn it.
One way to get a reluctant pet to become an ardent devourer is to play to its heightened sense of smell by lightly blanching a new food to bring out its odours, Shekhtman suggested. So if Fido decides to chow down after going for a roll, you know you’ve served up a winner.
For more information about Red Dog Blue Kat’s pet foods, go to www.reddogbluekat.com.
