At Tom&Sawyer VetChef, we've designed our offerings to be flexible and tailored to your preferences. You can use our meals and wellness boosters together or separately. Our vet-formulated meals (Step 1) are complete and balanced, and provide your pup with a delicious and nourishing meal.

Our Wellness Boosters (Step 2) are designed to complement any meal, not just Tom&Sawyer VetChef offerings. They're versatile and can be poured over your pet's existing meals to enhance their nutritional content and overall well-being.

If you prefer a comprehensive approach, you can combine Step 1 and Step 2. Our meals and boosters are formulated to work together to support your dog's optimal health.

At Tom&Sawyer VetChef, we understand that every pet and pet owner is unique, which is why we offer these options. Whether you choose to use Step 1, Step 2, or both, you're providing your pet with science-backed nutrition in every bite.

How much your dog eats is determined by weight and weight goals, activity level. See the feeding chart on the back of your meal package, or download our feeding guide.

Unlike our other meals, our Digestive Rescue recipe is NOT complete and balanced. Digestive Rescue was created to help calm an upset stomach or use as a fun and delicious topper. It is not meant for long-term feeding.

Unlike raw food, Tom&Sawyer VetChef's team gently cooks our fresh, human-grade ingredients to their optimal internal temperatures to reduce risk of bacteria contamination without compromising on nutrition (the same as used in human food preparation). And alternatively to kibble, our gently cooked food does not use extremely high temperatures that cook the nutrients right out of the ingredients. This ensures the highest nutrient quality for your pets.

Our meals are not raw food. We are a fresh, gently-cooked pet food. Our team cooks all of our food ingredients individually to their optimal internal temperatures, which ensures the highest nutrient quality for your pets and helps to keep them safe from contamination and bacteria.

AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials) has requirements to be able to apply the term “human grade” to pet food. AAFCO has defined Human-Grade to specifically require pet food to be made in a federally-inspected human food production facility. We have ensured that we meet every aspect of AAFCO’s definition of claim Human-Grade on pet food labels and for marketing and advertising of our pet foods. We believe that, regardless of Canada not requiring these same standards, it is the right thing to do for the trust of pet parents.

We suggest that every pet who is new to Tom&Sawyer VetChef should follow our 7-day transition guide*:

Days 1 & 2: Feed 25% Tom&Sawyer VetChef, and 75% old pet food

Days 3 & 4: Feed 50% Tom&Sawyer VetChef, and 50% old pet food

Days 5 & 6: Feed 75% Tom&Sawyer VetChef, and 25% old pet food

Days 7+: Feed 100% Tom&Sawyer VetChef if you are feeding a full diet

*If your pet has any trouble transitioning during days 1-6, stay at the appropriate transition stage for a few more days before moving on.

When transitioning, it is important to feed Tom&Sawyer VetChef separately, and hours apart, from feeding any raw food. Once transitioned to Tom&Sawyer VetChef, your pet should be able to safely rotate between meals.

Yes, you can feed your pet Tom&Sawyer VetChef as a full diet, 50/50 diet, or as a fun topper. You can portion it on its own or mix with kibble! However, we do ask pet parents to always feed Tom&Sawyer VetChef separate from any raw diets for safe digestion (do not mix with raw and feed a few hours apart).

All our complete and balanced meals are suitable for adult maintenance (and senior dogs!), and our Pork Risotto and Turkey & Trimmings meals have been formulated for all life stages, giving our active puppies two delicious meal options that they can grow with.

We have a variety of options for dogs with specific dietary needs, for example:

Allergy-friendly: Pork Risotto and Kangaroo Casserole are novel proteins and suitable for dogs with common protein allergies

Low-fat: Kangaroo Casserole and Pasta Primavera

Grain-free: Turkey & Trimmings

Digestive Care: Chicken Pad Thai and Hearty Beef Stew

Our meals can be frozen for up to 18 months and used by the Best Best before date located on the package.

You can keep the thawed food in your fridge for up to four days.

You can store your Tom&Sawyer VetChef meals in the freezer for up to 18 months or until the Best Before date on the back of the package. Once thawed, you can refrigerate for up to 4 days.

Our meals are carefully formulated by veterinarian Dr. Joe Inglis and our animal nutrition R&D team to ensure that they are highly palatable and meet nutrient requirements according to both AAFCO and the NRC, using top-quality ingredients (human-grade), and supplements (food-grade or pharma-grade).

All our meals are made in a CFIA (Canadian Food Inspection Agency) inspected facility for human food and holds the prestigious global food production standard Safe Quality Food Institute's SQF certification.

At-home cooked pet food is usually deficient in more than one nutrient, ingredients from grocery stores are often more variable, food safety may not be followed, and cooking methods can be inconsistent – either under or over cooking which can reduce nutrient quality and bioavailability for our pets!

All our meals are complete and balanced (with the exception of the Digestive Rescue meal that is intended for short-term feeding only), meaning that you do not need to add supplements to your dog’s food.

If taking your meals straight from the freezer, we recommend running your unopened package under running water in your kitchen sink to help thaw the meal. Then, portion your meals and give it a mix (this applies to food coming from the fridge as well). If your pup is sensitive to the cold sensation of the food, you can place it in a microwave-safe container and microwave for up to 15 seconds.

Store the unused portion in the fridge for up to 4 days.

There are a few options for pets who do not seem to be eating their food. Always make sure you have given your pet enough transition time (see our FAQ on how to transition).

To encourage eating, try heating up their dinner (10-15 seconds in the microwave), moving their meals around the house, adding bone broth or liver dust to their meal, make sure your pet is getting lots of regular exercise, and try to cut back on treats throughout the day or reduce to one meal per day.

If issues continue to persist we recommend discussing with your pet’s veterinarian. There are a number of other causes that could be taking place such as digestive issues, food sensitivities or allergies, dental problems, or other issues.

While we do provide feeding guidelines, there are factors that should also be considered, including age, activity level, whether or not your pet is neutered, etc., that might affect the amount you need to feed your dog.

If your dog has gained weight after starting on Tom&Sawyer VetChef, we recommend reducing the amount your pet is currently consuming by 10%, and weighing the portions out in grams instead of eyeballing them.

For pets who are losing weight, we recommend increasing the amount of food your pet is consuming by no more than 10%. Monitor their body weight over the next few weeks.

We also recommend checking in with your veterinarian to rule out any potential health concerns.