# Sojos



## MollyMuiMa (Oct 13, 2012)

I used Sojos but with the dehydrated chicken in it and Molly did not like it at the mix they recommended.......it was too 'soupy' So I started adding a 95% meat canned food to it to bulk it up and then she was fine with it. 
I no longer use it as we have now switched mainly to 'real' raw and she much prefers the crunch of a chicken leg!!! LOL!
I feed Molly a rotating diet of raw,canned,or dehydrated as a morning meal, and free feed her a measured amount of kibble (she self regulates well) in her bowl to graze on.


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## FireStorm (Nov 9, 2013)

I'm interested to see how the sojos works for you. I almost ordered some because Hans eats 1/2 raw grind I make myself and 1/2 kibble. 

One thing I'm not sure about is how much smelt you can feed on a daily basis. I know they are one of the fish that contains Thiaminase, but I'm not sure how much fish it takes to cause a Thaimine deficeincy.


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## nifty (Aug 2, 2013)

I have tried the Sojos base mix and also Sojos Wild (complete raw nutrition recipes) and here are my remarks:

What I loved about the Sojos is that they are Minneapolis based and all the ingredients are US sourced and also best quality. Further, it is the only freeze-dried raw which is truly raw. They don't steam it or very slightly cook it before freeze-drying. 

I wanted a freeze-dried raw alternative for when on long road trips with Dulcie - when providing good quality raw meats etc is much more difficult as no way to keep it safe and cold for long periods.

I also tried the base mix to compare it to the Honest Kitchen base mixes I have already been using.

So, here is the lowdown from my experience:

The base mixes are bulky as kmart said, and it takes at least 15 minutes to properly rehydrate them. On the package, there is a recommendation to let it sit overnight in a container in the fridge for even better optimum development of enzymes and nutrients etc. 

For me, this was kind of a deal breaker, since the reason I wanted the freeze-dried was to have a portable, quick way to feed Dulcie premium raw when not at home with my freezer handy.

The base mix (and the Wild recipes) do rehydrate pretty well after 15 minutes if mixed with hot water. However, they definitely are better if left for a half hour or more to rehydrate. 

Another factor I considered was that Sojos base mix (and the Wild) do not contain chelated minerals. This means that the nutrients are not quite as easily absorbed as food formulas which do contain chelated minerals. HK includes chelated minerals and from that stand0point is probably a better base mix to use. 

Bottom line: I found the Sojos Wild to be a satisfactory freeze-dried raw complete food to feed when away from home (and I now send it with her if I have to leave Dulcie in care overnight, as I need to do once each month when I travel to visit an elderly relative and cannot bring her with me). IT is highly portable, excellent quality and she seems to like it all right (though not as much as fresh raw). I rotate the flavors - venison, salmon and wild boar - frequently (I usually have two bags going at once and feed different ones on alternate days).

I have given up on the SOjos base mix, however. It just doesn't measure up as well as the Honest Kitchen base mixes, both for nutritional accessibility (the chelated minerals) and convenience. HK only needs about 5 minutes to rehydrate satisfactorily (although I find that a few more minutes tends to be even better) while the SOjos seems to need much longer than the package directed 15 minutes and still seems to stay a bit watery.

Over all, though, I think Sojos is a great food and if I don't have any HK, I will gladly use Sojos and still think Dulcie is getting a premium food.


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## kmart (Apr 28, 2015)

FireStorm said:


> I'm interested to see how the sojos works for you. I almost ordered some because Hans eats 1/2 raw grind I make myself and 1/2 kibble.
> 
> One thing I'm not sure about is how much smelt you can feed on a daily basis. I know they are one of the fish that contains Thiaminase, but I'm not sure how much fish it takes to cause a Thaimine deficeincy.


Thank you for mentioning that. I used about 1/2 cup of ground smelt for 8 servings. I just happened upon a huge bag of them so I threw a couple in there. 

I know that in snakes, they have to be eating pretty much exclusively fish for them to have a deficiency. I also read this blog post by "Oz the Terrier" that seemed to line up with other veterinary pages about the subject. 

I made a batch yesterday and let it sit in the fridge overnight. Kallie had it for dinner tonight and gobbled it all up. I was surprised at the amount I fed her, since I'm used to just feeding the detailed Answers raw grind as a meal, but then I remembered that she used to eat at least twice that volume of kibble every day (and stayed very lean).


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## kmart (Apr 28, 2015)

Well, Kallie is not loving it. She's barely been picking at it lately. I gave in this evening and gave her a bowl of venison grind and an egg. She was so happy! I think I may supplement every few days with the Sojos, mostly because her stool is a lot more bulky when she eats it, but I don't think she'll have it much more often than that. It's definitely a great addition to my raw feeding toolkit, but not a staple.


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