{"title":"Rafa Superfoods","description":"\u003ch2\u003eRafa Superfoods freeze-dried treats for dogs and cats\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRafa Superfoods is an Australian-owned brand that freeze-dries its own meat at a facility in Emu Heights, in western Sydney. Every product in the range is a single ingredient — the named protein and nothing else. No fillers, no additives, no preservatives, and no second ingredient hiding at the bottom of the panel.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe range splits three ways. \u003cstrong\u003eEveryday Delish\u003c\/strong\u003e covers the familiar proteins: beef, lamb and chicken, in steak, heart, liver, tripe and neck. \u003cstrong\u003eSheer Water\u003c\/strong\u003e is the seafood — Tasmanian salmon, hoki, pink ling, whole sardines and green lipped mussels. \u003cstrong\u003eUntamed\u003c\/strong\u003e is the unusual end: crocodile, wallaby, kangaroo, venison, buffalo and emu.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eChoosing a protein\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eStart with what your pet already eats. If their daily food is chicken-based, a chicken treat adds nothing new and tells you nothing about how they tolerate it. Working across proteins — lamb food, beef treat — gives you more information and more variety.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAfter that it comes down to what the treat is for. \u003cstrong\u003eFor training\u003c\/strong\u003e, you want something with carrying smell: liver first, then heart and tripe. A dog that ignores a biscuit will usually turn around for beef or lamb liver. \u003cstrong\u003eFor everyday rewards\u003c\/strong\u003e, plain muscle meat — the steak cuts — is milder and can be repeated through a whole session without overloading a small animal. \u003cstrong\u003eFor a chew\u003c\/strong\u003e rather than a treat, the \u003ca href=\"\/products\/rafa-superfoods-human-grade-chicken-neck-raw-freeze-dried-treats\"\u003echicken neck\u003c\/a\u003e and \u003ca href=\"\/products\/rafa-superfoods-human-grade-emu-neck-raw-freeze-dried-treats\"\u003eemu neck\u003c\/a\u003e are whole necks that take real time to work through. Supervise those, and skip them for a dog that swallows food without chewing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFish is its own decision, and the deciding factor is usually the person rather than the pet. Sardine and salmon are oily and the smell fills a room; hoki and pink ling are mild white fish that most households can live with.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eSingle-ingredient treats and elimination diets\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA one-ingredient treat is genuinely useful when you are trying to work out what your pet reacts to, because there is nothing else in the bag to confuse the result. That is the case for the Untamed range: crocodile, wallaby, buffalo and venison are rare enough in Australian pet food that most pets have never encountered them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe honest caveat is that a novel-protein treat only proves something if the rest of the diet is novel too. Feeding \u003ca href=\"\/products\/rafa-superfoods-human-grade-crocodile-steak-raw-freeze-dried-treats\"\u003ecrocodile\u003c\/a\u003e alongside a chicken-based kibble isolates nothing. And kangaroo, while excellent lean meat, is now common enough in Australian pet food that it may no longer be novel to your particular animal — check the label on what they already eat before you build a trial around it. If you are running a proper elimination diet, do it with your vet.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWhy freeze-dried rather than cooked or dehydrated\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFreeze-drying freezes the meat and then draws the water off under vacuum at low temperature. Because nothing is heated to cooking temperature, the meat stays raw — the aroma, the texture and the nutrients of raw meat survive into something shelf-stable that sits in a treat pouch instead of the fridge. Dehydrating, by contrast, uses heat to drive moisture out, which changes the protein. Rafa run their pieces for 15 to 48 hours depending on the cut.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA practical side effect: freeze-dried meat rehydrates. A splash of warm water over crumbled pieces brings it most of the way back to raw, which helps with a pet that struggles with hard, dry textures — an older cat, or a dog recovering from dental work.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003ePortioning: cats and small dogs\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA 60g bag of freeze-dried meat is a lot more food than it looks, because the water is gone. Treats should stay a small share of what your pet eats in a day, and the same piece that is a reasonable reward for a 30kg dog is a substantial snack for a 4kg cat or a 3kg toy breed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor cats and small dogs, break pieces down rather than handing one over whole. \u003ca href=\"\/products\/rafa-superfoods-human-grade-chicken-heart-raw-freeze-dried-treats\"\u003eChicken hearts\u003c\/a\u003e are the exception — they come through whole and are already close to cat-sized. Organ meats, liver especially, are the richest thing in the range; introduce them over a few days rather than all at once, and expect a pet that overdoes it to tell you about it. Fresh water alongside, as always.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWhat Rafa does not publish\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRafa do not publish an analytical panel, a guaranteed analysis or a feeding guide for these treats, so we have not invented one. The ingredient list is the honest headline here: one named protein, nothing added. If you need specific nutritional figures for a pet on a managed diet, ask us and we will chase the supplier for them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"\/collections\/dog-treats\"\u003eAll dog treats\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"\/collections\/cat-treats\"\u003eAll cat treats\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"\/collections\/freeze-dried-dog-treats\"\u003eFreeze dried dog treats\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"\/collections\/freeze-dried-cat-treats\"\u003eFreeze dried cat treats\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","products":[],"url":"https:\/\/www.peekapaw.com.au\/collections\/rafa-superfoods.oembed","provider":"PeekAPaw Pet Supplies","version":"1.0","type":"link"}