Last Updated on June 17, 2024 by Indy the Cat
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History
Founded in 2018, Tu Meke Friend is a growing New Zealand based company focusing on quality home grown ingredients. Of course, this all sounds familiar. Despite New Zealand being such a small country, it has produced a number of the world’s leading premium pet food brands including Feline Natural and Ziwipeak.
Their product lines include freeze dried raw cat food, air dried cat food and treats and single protein wet foods. With a simple product line, Tu Meke focuses most of their attention to the quality of their ingredients and the way the foods are processed. All animal ingredients are free range and are carefully sourced from specific regions of the north and south island.
All Tu Meke Friend foods are high in protein, low in fat, grain-free, and nutritionally balanced for our fur babies. Their products are also MPI compliant (New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries), ensuring that safety and regulations for animal products are strictly followed.
Recalls
To date, Tu Meke Friend has not been recalled. In Australia, pet food recalls are only mandatory for brands that have decided to work within the Australian Standard for Manufacturing and Marketing of Pet Food (Standard AS5812:2017). All members of the Pet Food Industry Association of Australia comply with these standards and Tu Meke Friend is not a member of the Association at this time.
Product Line Commentary
There’s nothing better than giving your cats a treat they love. Even better are treats that are healthy!
Two things stand out when you first take a look at the treat. Firstly, venison is definitely considered a unique protein. Second, while we have reviewed air dried cat food such as Providore, Ziwi Peak and Absolute Holistic, there aren’t many popular air dried cat treats on the market. Today we’re taking a closer look at Tu Meke Friend’s Air Dried Gourmet Venison treat.
What to Look for in a Treat?
When it comes to cat treats, it’s not too different from selecting your daily cat food. We want to prioritize high-quality ingredients. Cats, as obligate carnivores, thrive on animal-based proteins, so look for named meat ingredients. Beware of excessively long ingredient lists. Keep it simple with minimal ingredients beyond meat, but essential nutrients such as taurine add-ons are fine.
Ideally, we prefer treats to be lower in calories whenever possible. The general guideline is to ensure treats constitute no more than 10% of a cat’s daily caloric intake. However, even 10% can be quite significant. Treats should be given occasionally as rewards for good behaviour or during special activities like training. Overfeeding treats, regardless of type, can lead to addiction and behavioural problems. Additionally, it increases caloric intake, which may result in unexpected weight gain. Remember, treats are treats for a reason!
Unique Ingredients, Unique Texture
With only 7 ingredients, and just 1 that isn’t a meat element, the simplicity and quality of the ingredients are clear strengths of the product. All the meat ingredients come from free-range animals raised on high-standard New Zealand farms, ensuring quality is no slouch either.
We are a big fan of the inclusion of multiple offals (heart, liver, and kidney) for their natural vitamins and nutrients, which are often replaced with lower-quality additives in other products. Additionally, they’ve included Green Lipped Mussels for omega-3 fatty acids, a compnent more commonly found in nutritionally complete cat foods. This makes for a nutrient-dense product, despite being a cat treat. These ingredients collectively promote healthy skin, a beautiful coat, and overall well-being for your cat.
Another noticeable feature is the shape and texture of the cat treat. It has a firm texture, and the size is larger than the air-dried food we have reviewed in the past. This larger size offers the added benefit of providing your cat with a satisfying chew, which also helps with dental health. Interestingly enough, Tu Meke does not provide information on the caloric count of the treat.
Guaranteed Analysis
Crude Protein (min) – 44.1%
Crude Fat (min) – 40.8%
Crude Fibre (max) – 0.4%
Moisture (max) – 7.43%
Ash (max) – 8.79%
Dry Matter Basis
Unfortunately, Tu Meke Friend does not provide additional nutritional information on their treats.
Where to Buy and Cost
Tu Meke cat treats can be found at a number of leading pet retailers. At the time of publishing, we can find the treats at leading retailers including Pet Circle and Habitat Pet Supplies.
The treats are usually priced around $15/packet (120g). Compared to other treats, they are considered expensively priced. However, as mentioned, they are nutritionally dense and the package size is substantially larger than most other treats. For that reason, these treats can last a long time and can still be considered reasonable for the budget conscious.
Ingredient List
Venison Meat, Beef, Beef Kidney, Beef Liver, Beef Heart, Green Lipped Mussel, Natural Antioxidant by (Plant Base)
Nutritional Information
Venison Meat – source of meat protein
Beef – source of meat protein
Beef Kidney – source of protein and as an offal, it offers a natural form of essential vitamins/nutrients
Beef Liver – source of protein and as an offal, it offers a natural form of essential vitamins/nutrients
Beef Heart – source of protein (considered as muscle meat in the raw diet)
Green Lipped Mussel – source of omega 3’s, anti-inflammatory benefits
Natural Antioxidant by (Plant Base) – antioxidant
Indy’s Review
So does Indy the cat like it?
Well, we all know Indy loves his treats! He enjoys this one with its crunchy texture and chunky size. Similar to the other air dried cat foods we have reviewed, it is high palatability and he had no issues with asking for more.
With such quality put into this product, Indy and I are both happy to recommend this treat.
The good
- 7 meat based ingredients out of a possible 8 ingredient list
- Very species appropriate treat with no additives or junk ingredients
- High quality ingredients sourced from New Zealand
- High palatability
The bad
- Expensive
- Less widely available compared to some other brands
Rating
- Species appropriate (weight 0.3) – 10 / 10
- Ingredients (weight 0.3) – 10 / 10
- Recall Track record (weight 0.2) – 10 / 10
- Price (weight 0.2) – 7 / 10
Average Score – 9.3 / 10
Weighted Score – 9.4 / 10
The Bottom Line: Unique ingredients, quality sourcing and a special texture makes this an easy recommendation for anybody looking for an air dried treat.
If you spot an error in this article, please do not hesitate to let us know!
