Paws Café, the area’s first pet food store to offer all-natural dog and cat food made fresh daily, will hold its grand opening Saturday and Sunday, August 16 and 17 from 10 a.m.-7 p.m.

The celebration will feature free, all-natural pet food samples, giveaways and drawings.

During the grand opening weekend there will be free consultations from Ahimsa Dog Training, Northwest School of Animal Massage, Canine Hydrotherapy and Massage, The Healing Place, and Lily-Rose Photography. In addition, Martha Norwalk from Animal World will be in the store on Sunday at 1 p.m.

Paws Café will donate five percent of every purchase to Reading with Rover, a community-based literacy program volunteering in schools, bookstores and libraries in the Puget Sound area.

Paws Café’s pet food recipes are rich in natural, whole food nutrients. All of the store’s freshly-made meals are formulated to meet the nutrient requirements recommended by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO). Unlike most of the frozen or raw pet foods available today, Paws Café uses a combination of ground muscle and organ meat from healthy, sustainably-raised animals, a nutrient-packed blend of organic fruits and vegetables and unrefined cold-pressed oils to create fresh balanced meals without the need for additional supplements or fillers.  

“Most of the commercial foods available today contain questionable meat and by-product sources—many of them from meat not suitable for human consumption,” said Paws Café owner Shelly Fuller. “They also contain cheap grain fillers, which are common allergens, as a means to bulk up their meals. Cheap filler ingredients introduce safety issues, such as the widely publicized melamine poisoning in 2007.  The effects of commercial foods on our cats and dogs is staggering.  The obesity rates are now said to be around 50 percent and with that comes a host of chronic health issues such as diabetes, cancer and heart disease.”

In addition to food, Paws Café also provides weekday doggie day care for non-aggressive, low intensity dogs, Saturday morning puppy socialization, puppy and basic manner dog training classes offered by Ahimsa Dog Training, on-site and off-site animal photography with Lily-Rose Photography, and on-site educational classes focused on the overall health and wellness of family canine companions by The Heavenly Spa and The Northwest School of Animal Massage.

Paws Café, at 16505 Redmond Way, Suite E, is open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m.