FORMULATED BY PET NUTRITION EXPERTS
PATHOGEN-FREE THROUGH HPP
BACKED BY SCIENCE
INDUSTRY-LEADING SAFETY STANDARDS
Instinct's Veterinary Learning Portal
Created for veterinary professionals, this platform offers free CE courses, practical clinical tools, and a growing library of educational blogs.
Whether you're diving into the topic of safe commercial raw nutrition or looking for science-backed resources to support client care, everything you need is now in one easy-to-access place. Sign up today!
A Range of Raw Options
Team of Experts
We have a dedicated team of experts crafting and making our raw recipes, from food scientists to quality control specialists to our on staff Board Certified Veterinary Nutritionist® and vet techs. Together, they have decades of experience in pet food.
Jason Meents B.Sc
Vice President of Research & Development
Stephanie Striar Certified Veterinary Technician
Veterinary Education & Training Manager
Guiding your Recommendations
The World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) publishes guidelines to assist veterinarians like you in making the best dietary recommendations possible to pet owners. They focus on whether brands employ a PhD or DACVIM in Nutrition (we do!) and who formulates the diet (our staff has over 50 combined years of experience formulating products in the food industry). And that's just the start. Tap the button below to learn more about how Instinct meets and exceeds the rest of the WSAVA guidelines.
More than Just Nutritional Adequacy
- Formulators with over 50 years of combined experience in the food industry
- Products developed in collaboration with DVM, DACVIM (Nutrition), Dr. Susan Wynn
- Nutrient levels confirmed by a 3rd-party laboratory
- Supplier/co-packer audits and regular nutritional analyses on finished products
Featured Product: FreshRaw Meals
Our Pathogen Reduction Step: High Pressure Processing (HPP)
Not all raw diets are created equal. We use High Pressure Processing (HPP) to create extreme cold pressure, killing pathogens like E. coli, salmonella, and listeria. No heat, chemicals, or preservatives.
Instinct is SQF Certified in Both Safety and Quality
SQF is a rigorous and credible food safety and quality audit with worldwide recognition. SQF certification is NOT a requirement in the pet food industry, but Instinct went the extra mile to earn a dual certification.
Raw Safety
High Pressure Processing
Once blended, our raw recipes are sent to a reputable 3rd-party SQF-certified company, where they go through a pathogen reduction step using extreme cold pressure called High Pressure Processing (also known as HPP).
After High Pressure Processing, we PCR test each batch of product a minimum of 3 times for pathogens.
In addition to High Pressure Processing, Instinct has validated using probiotics as an antimicrobial kill step for our raw chicken recipes for an added layer of safety.
Testing
We monitor and microbiologically test our raw ingredients.
Our finished frozen and freeze-dried raw recipes go through pathogen testing to ensure we achieve Zero Tolerance for target pathogens prior to distribution to the customers.
We perform metal detection testing to prevent foreign material contamination.
When packing our raw frozen recipes, we check for correct weights, clumping, product shape, color, temperature and water activity (for freeze-dried).
Sanitation & Training
We check our facilities for cleanliness – both visually and using microbiological testing.
In our company-owned facilities, sanitation is performed every night and verified for efficacy. We maintain a culture of food safety with continuously updated and monitored GMPs, risk analysis with infrastructure and traffic design, and preventive controls from start to finish.
We have a training program in place to ensure employee competency.
The Science of Raw
Instinct is proud to have a multiyear research agreement with Dr. Anna Hielm-Björkman and the DogRisk independent research program at the University of Helsinki studying more than 16,000 dogs. Together, they are making groundbreaking discoveries to quantify the impact of raw pet food on dogs' health.
INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE (PUBLISHED)
ENVIRONMENTAL ALLERGIES (PUBLISHED)
CANCER
CHRONIC EAR INFECTIONS
HIP DYSPLASIA /MOBILITY ISSUES