Your Healthy Pet —

A Social Club For All Your Furry Friends

By John Voket

Sure, they have everything from fresh ground refrigerated dog food and yummy beef bones; stacks of bags and cans of nutritious food; a wide line of training equipment; irresistible treats and toys; comfy bedding and furnishings; even custom birthday cakes — but do not go calling the Novak family’s new business venture a pet store.

Your Healthy Pet, Newtown’s only pet-exclusive retailer, opened its doors about a month ago just a stone’s throw north of the Sand Hill Plaza at 224 South Main Street. But the Novak family: Mary-Kay, Tom, Ryan, pound puppy Chandler and their two rescue cats, never set out to create a mere pet shop.

“We wanted to open a community center for everybody, where you could go to get food or supplies for your pets, come and learn about pet adoption services, or ways folks can volunteer to benefit animals,” Tom Novak said during a recent morning visit to the business.

While Tom, a former information technology specialist and MBA, along with son Ryan, a business management major at the Naugatuck Valley Community College handle the bulk of day-to-day work at the store, Mary-Kay lends a hand while holding down a full-time position with a local publishing firm.

Animal lovers, the Novak family never really thought of establishing a pet center until one of their own cats began experiencing health problems.

“It was a real education,” Tom Novak said. “We all got a crash course in animal nutrition.”

This led the family to realize that there are probably many loving pet owners who toss a tennis ball, and pop open a store bought can or bag of food a couple of times a day, never realizing the huge difference they could make in their pets’ lives by taking an extra few minutes, and in some cases paying just a few extra pennies for their furry friends’ food or toys.

“Remember, you can quickly make up any slight difference in cost by feeding your pet top quality food, because it’s not made with a bulk of fillers that pass right through,” said Mary-Kay Novak. “They actually start eating less, so the food lasts longer and it starts costing you less.”

Ryan Novak added that most of the protein that a healthy pet requires comes from meat, not soy grains or glutens.

“A lot of brands are mostly meat by-products, but we don’t carry any food with meat by-products. And a lot of our foods are even grain-free,” he added.

Tom Novak harkens back to the old butcher shop days, when many pets were probably a lot healthier thanks to the raw meat and bones that would come home with their masters from the market. That’s why Your Healthy Pet has devoted an entire corner of the shop to a huge refrigerator stocked full of butcher fresh food and bones.

“The raw bone is a beautiful thing,” said Tom Novak. “There’s probably nothing better for your pet’s dental health — they help prevent tartar. And due to the short digestive tract of dogs and cats, the maximum amount of nutrients can only be absorbed from fresh, raw food. Not a lot of nutrients can get absorbed from dry food or treats made mostly of fillers.”

Their top line of raw food comes right from Bravo in Vernon, Conn., so its freshness and nutritional quality is assured. They also carry convenient frozen raw pet food patties from Nature’s Variety in Nebraska.

The store also promotes a dizzying variety of canned and bagged pet foods.

“Some experts say you should treat your pets like you treat yourself, by varying your diet week to week. You do that by mixing fresh raw food with top quality dry or canned food,” Tom Novak said. “Imagine what its like to eat one brand of food for your entire life? Some people do that with their pets.”

Your Healthy Pet also stocks a line of celebratory pet birthday cakes and cookies for that special occasion. “But they look tasty enough for you or me to eat,” said Mary-Kay laughing.

While visiting, peruse the store’s selection of beds, pads, natural fiber and organic toys — even wild bird food and supplies for guinea pigs, gerbils, and ferrets. Or pick up the one of the most pet and environmentally-friendly shampoos, flea and tick treatments.

“We sell only all natural, alternative flea and tick control products,” Mary-Kay Novak said. “I always say you shouldn’t put any chemicals on your pet that you wouldn’t put on yourself.”

Tom and Mary-Kay have lived in Newtown for 11-plus years with Ryan, daughter Casey, their puppy Chandler Bing, and their cats Cosmo and Salem. On most days, visitors are warmly welcomed by Chandler, who has quickly become the store’s official “grrreeter!”

The shop is planning a huge grand opening event October 17, as well as distributing pet treats during Newtown’s annual Halloween celebration on Main Street October 31. Your Healthy Pet is conveniently located at 224 South Main Street just north of the Sand Hill/Stop & Shop Plaza at the corner of Route 25 and Bryan Lane.

The Novaks welcome Newtowners and their pets to visit, or any animal-related cause to call to discuss possible partnership opportunities. The shop opens at 10 am daily and closes at 7 pm, Monday through Friday, 5 pm on Saturday, and at 2 pm on Sunday. Reach the store by phone at 270-7387 (a website is in the works).