What Does 'BeFree' Mean and
Benefits of adding your own egg Yolk

"Be Free" means "Cruelty Free"

Changes made to be Cruelty Free:

The Canadian founder of TCfeline Premix, Natasha Willie, an animal lover devoted to improving the lives and welfare of cats and all animals alike, could not continue to buy dried egg yolk powder for the premix because all that was available came from battery caged hens. She could no longer support such treatment or behavior towards chickens and now provides a product that will 'be free' of all animal cruelty.

Following the decision of the Canadian founder, the TCfeline USA manufacturer has decided it's time to 'be free' from all animal cruelty as well. Standing by his values of love and committed to improve the welfare of all animals, he is giving us the opportunity to provide a product that truly is cruelty free! This is a big step for any manufacturer and one not many are willing to make, to put values ahead of the bottom line. We, at The Total Cat Store applaud both manufacturers for making such a decision and allowing us the opportunity to offer a product that's free of animal cruelty and join them in the cause.

By choosing TCfeline Premix, you are supporting a cruelty free product! And can now decide where to purchase egg yolks from. You have the opportunity to be part of a global movement to ban battery caged hens for commercial laying through your choices as a consumer.

Learn more about the cause, CLICK HERE>>>

Learn what to look for to purchase eggs from battery free caged hens,
see below for more information or CLICK HERE>>>

For the complete story from the Manufacturer…
CLICK HERE >>>

Benefits of the adding your own Egg Yolk:

1. 1. MORE NUTRITIOUS:
   The option to add fresh and/or organic battery free egg yolk, which is more nutritious than dried egg yolk.

IMPORTANT: You are only adding the egg yolk, NOT egg whites. 
CLICK HERE for more info on feeding fresh egg yolks >>>
 

2. MORE FOR YOUR MONEY!
You can make more batches per pouch than with the older formula that contained dried egg yolk. The dry egg yolk equated to 1/3 the weight and 1/2 of the volume of the premix. So once removed, the amount of all other ingredients were increased to provide additional batches per pouch. Even though the pouches are slightly lighter, 17oz vs 21oz, the regular pouch will make 2 additional batches and the trial pouches 1 additional batch.

3. OPTION TO OMIT EGG YOLK COMPLETELY.
If its unwanted due to your cats health situation or otherwise. Egg yolk is a highly nutritious ingredient for cats and humans but not essential.

 

If you choose not to add egg yolk, the meal will lose some amino acids, some B and D vitamins. According to the manufacturers analysis, it still maintains minimum requirements for cats when made without egg yolk.

 

So without the addition of egg yolk, it's still a complete meal however the addition of fresh egg yolk makes the entire meal a more natural diet and less processed, making the final product even close to that of a mouse.
 

4. 4. LOWER PHOSPHORUS / CALCIUM RATIO.
   The overall premix is lower in Phosphorus for those looking for a lower phosphorus/calcium ratio meal for specific health issues like kidney disease, kidney insufficiency, Chronic Renal Failure or other.

5. 5. SUPPORT A CRUELTY FREE PRODUCT.
   When you decided to purchase TCfeline, you are showing your support. You can even take it to the next level by choosing to purchase eggs from battery free caged hens. Click here for more info >>>

Options on Adding Egg Yolk:

Remember, you are only adding the egg yolk, NOT egg whites.

1. ADD FRESH EGG YOLK.
The choices are unlimited, from the local farmers, farmers market, grocery store or possible your own chicken coop. My personal philosophy is "Fresh is Always Best" which means local produce. But either way, finding a source should be easy.

2. ADD DRIED EGG YOLK.
For those that sourcing fresh quality eggs is not easy, you can add dried egg yolk purchased from a store. Many whole foods or natural foods and/or supplements store will have quality dried egg yolk, some even organic.
 

An easy, quick and unique way to separate many egg yolks from the whites:

Important Facts on Feeding Fresh Raw Eggs:

IMPORTANT… NEVER FEED Egg Whites Raw!
Raw egg whites contain an enzyme called Avidin which can cause a Biotin deficiency in cats. Cooking the egg white neutralizes the enzyme making is safe to feed. Egg whites are made up mostly of water and protein, it does not offer the same nutritional potency as egg yolk, which is safe to feed raw.

Now Your Next Question is How Do I Know My Eggs are Cruelty Free:

You want to do the right thing but now a days, retailers, manufactures and tricky labeling do not make it easy to know how chickens are treated when buying your eggs. All the terms are confusing and lack of or too many regulations also contribute to the issues. So here's the basic info of what you want printed on the egg carton to assure you are buying eggs from battery free caged hens.

PRINTED ON THE CARTON:

"Animal Welfare Approved" AND one of the following additional approvals and or labels: Free Range/Free Roaming, Pastured Raised, or Certified Organic.

Its appears after reviewing the humane society's website and additional research that the following would be cruelty free with the exception of the practice of inhumanely killing the male chicks at the hatcheries. Unfortunately, there's no protocol for labeling the cartons for this horrid act and most hatcheries use this practice but hopefully that will change in the near future.

Helpful Links:

This link provides many facts to help determine what you are buying…

http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/confinement_farm/facts/guide_egg_labels.html?referrer=https://www.google.com/

In addition to the terms listed below in the chart, many will label their product with one of these terms as well. Eggs marked "Animal Welfare Approved"  has the highest standards, not allowing starvation for molting or beak-cutting. The above link covers each of these terms at the bottom of the Humane Society page. Direct links to each organization are provided below.

- Animal Welfare Approved   http://animalwelfareapproved.org/

- Certified Human   http://certifiedhumane.org/

- American Human Certified  http://www.americanhumane.org/animals/programs/farm-animal-welfare.html

- Alliance Certified   http://foodalliance.org/certification

- United Egg Producers Certified   http://www.uepcertified.com/