4 Health Dog Food: Review by a general practice veterinarian
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- Опубліковано 5 кві 2023
- 4health is a tractor supply brand dog food. Follow along as I walk you through a label analysis and determine if this one is the right choice for you.
UA-cam email: animaldocrea@gmail.com (please no medical advise questions)
None of my videos are sponsored in any way. I do not recieve any perks, free food, or "kick backs". The content provided is my own opinions based on my Veterinary Doctoral degree, continuing educations, and personal experiences in practice.
Helpful websites, often sited on this channel:
AAFCO: petfood.aafco.org/labeling-la...
American College of Veterinary Nutritionists: acvn.org/
World Small Veterinary Association Nutrition toolkit: wsava.org/wp-content/uploads/...
Small Animal Clinical Nutrition Text: www.markmorrisinstitute.org/s...
Free access to the Merk Manual: www.merckvetmanual.com
Please note that these videos are for educational purposes only. They are not intended for diagnosis or treatment of any animals. If you have questions regarding your pet's health or are having a pet related emergency, please contact your personal veterinarian. - Домашні улюбленці та дикі тварини
I really appreciate your videos! May I make a polite request that you either choose different music or eliminate it? It makes you harder to listen to. Thank you for your consideration.
Yes
My dad fed his dog this brand for the entire second half of her life. She lived to be 17! Although I think that’s probably more due to the fact that she got tons of exercise, rather than the food (She would even still break into a run sometimes at 17!). But still, the food clearly worked well for her.
That’s all that matters in the end really!
Our golden retriever does amazing on the salmon and potato. His coat is super shiny and he’s nice and healthy. He’s a very active dog. Our new puppy is doing awesome on the puppy formula. Nice hard stools for both dogs!😅
It’s all in the stool 🤪glad it’s working for you.
Thank you for your very informative video. Please keep these video's coming, I have an pure breed akita. Please please keep your video's coming.
Thank you! Will do!
We just got to Walker treehouse and we planning on putting her on the puppy food.
Your videos are helping me so much! I'm so relieved to have real information explained in a concise way. I would so appreciate it if you would analyse canned foods as well.
You are so welcome!
just put my dog on this food today he loves it not throwing it up he was on purnia one before throwing up within an hour
I appreciate this review as I thought this food was not a very good dog food when I originally looked at it in the store. I wonder if this food really belongs in the foods scoring 6 out of 10 playlist though. You said you might consider this for your dog if you needed to, and the most negative thing you found with the food was the feed chart. With your helpful videos, I’m learning to be more concerned with the nutrient values. As much as I would prefer a more “whole food” dog food, I would still consider this food as I can always add whole/fresh food to it & know that my dog is getting a good base product. Of course I would still consult with my vet to make sure there are no concerns with raising the values too high. I too live in an area where the calcium levels in the water are high and I loved the fact that you mentioned that in one of your reviews as something to take into consideration when looking at mineral values in food. Those types of tips I find invaluable!😊
Love your videos! As far as feeding guidelines go, I think they are generally based of actual energy requirements rather than RER, I know these vary but I think the recommended amount for a neutered adult is 1.6x RER, whereas straight RER is for pets who are not expending any extra energy at all and is recommended for weight loss. Even with this the feeding guidelines may be too much, but it might get them a bit closer 😅
Thanks! If you zoom into the blue chart you can see the multipliers. I find however if I tell people to feed the RER without the multiplier they do best because everyone gives treats ect they don’t tell me about 😜
Ahh you’re right, didn’t see them the first time! And I totally get that, I am also guilty of slipping my dog treats 🙈
Although I understand your thought behind “everyone gives treats” you are advising the company is overfeeding in their feeding guidelines. According to RER chart, 30 lb dog at complete REST needs 497k/cal and when multiplied by the maintenance baseline that the majority of adult dogs would be using (1.6) is 795.2 which is almost spot on to 794. Should people adjust this according to how they give treats or the dogs ability to maintain weight, yes! But the companies feeding guidelines are based off feeding just the food. Not unknown variables the consumer can choose to introduce. I do urge you to make an edit and correction as your video portrays the guidelines are feeding double what a 30lb dog needs when you failed to introduce/the multipliers to determine the DER (daily energy requirements) as I would estimate most dogs are not at rest the entirety of the day. Other than that I find your video quite educational and easy to watch!
I have a whole
Video on calculating the RER that explains just that, thank you for pointing it out.
Thank you Dr Rea for the helpful explanation and analysis on these foods.
You might consider mentioning what company makes the food and/or if it is made in the USA.
Yes, thanks for adding that
Would love a video all about feeding guidelines!
I really should do that as a good baseline for everyone.
My pit is 6 months old and have had her on the grain free puppy formula she has had solid stools and is very active so hope im making the right choice
Will you please do the assessment on Primal frozen patties and primal freeze dry pronto.
Never heard of those, I’ll see what I find
If you look at the chart for resting energy requirements it looks like to the left it says to times 1.6 to RER for average neutered adult. So that would be 795. Am I reading that correctly? Then it would be more for an active or growing dog.
So I go into this in several videos but there are multipliers but in my opinion since most household pets (especially cats) are obese prone, I prefer to stay at the RER without the multiplier as a starting point then adjust up as needed. It’s hard to go the other direction as they don’t take kindly to cutting back their food once they are used to a certain amount. I’m doing a whole video on RER soon and I have a Body condition score video already
How to Perform a Body Condition Score on Your Pet: A Step-by-Step Guide
ua-cam.com/video/ZTM_28ad2II/v-deo.html
@@AnimalDocRea Ah, cool, thank you. I'm guessing the company is assuming your pet if fairly active which they may not be.
Wich is odd because I think truly active pets are the exception not the rule
@@AnimalDocRea So true, kind of like the 2000 calorie generic rule for humans. That really only means only so much and is probably too much for many people but maybe not enough for very active people.
I fed my dogs this food for a year and a half. Wasn’t bad, but I noticed it was inconsistent, every few bags the food would look and smell slightly different. I had to switch cause it kept giving one of dogs super soft stool
That was actually a remark I read in the reviews several times. I think quality control and consistency is really what can set apart some of the more budget friendly companies from the more expensive ones. Thanks for commenting and letting us know.
I’ve heard a high pea content isn’t good for dogs and can cause DCM. Do you find that to be true even in grain inclusive foods? I’ve been considering feeding this to my pups, so I wanted to make sure it’s okay.
You are correct. High levels of legumes ( aka pulses) are in ongoing investigation for their role in DCM. It’s not the simple presence of them, but the excessive quantities used in grain free diets. Grain inclusive diets don’t have the excessive quantities of pulses and are therefore fine
What would you rank this based on your scoring system 1-10? 8 or 9 I'm assuming?
I’ll have to add it up, I wasn’t using the system at that time
@@AnimalDocRea Sounds good, thank you Doctor for your time and effort you put into these videos!
so much grain and carb in this food and you recommend this
I don’t make recommendations, I just point out marketing and nutrition content
Nice video. Do u think 4health is better then diamonds natural
I did a video comparing blue Buffalo and blue Diamond but not Diamond naturals. In general I do like the 4health.
Hi I’m new here!
I was thinking of switching over to this food but for the large puppy version (she’s 6 months), I’ve watched a couple of your videos and if you follow the criteria for protein, fat, calcium, phosphorus, the calories, if it’s following AAFCO but not WSAVA “certified” or “animal tested”, should it be okay? Would you recommend this food?
Thanks in advance!
Thanks for joining us! Yes I’ve been very happy with this brand and do recommend to my patients as a good option. As with everything, it ultimately does boil down to the individual so it may not work for everyone.
Have you done a video of Wholesomes Salmon large breed
Not yet
@@AnimalDocRea I saw it at tractor supply and was surprised the protein, fat , calcium and phosphorus levels are spot on and it doesn't appear to contain legumes.
I’ll look into it for sure
@AnimalDocRea do you recommend this to a great Dane puppy (3 months old) if not what do you recommend? Thanks
You need a large breed puppy
@@AnimalDocRea any specific brand/food?
In other videos you showed a chart that said normal calcium range was 0.5 to 1.0, and phosphorous 0.4 to 0.8. That would put this food (1.6 and 1.1 respectively) too high in each category. Are you aware of the differences in the charts you are using. So, I'm very confused as to which chart is right.
I always use the same charts so I’m not sure what you are specifically referring to. There are different charts for different life stages so you need to use the right one for the life stage you are feeding. Also make sure you are also selecting the right species. Also this video I show the broad AAFCO standards for comparison to SACN Wich is the ideal standards
@@AnimalDocRea Thank you for answering. My dog is a senior, but I'm having trouble finding the charts. So I'm going by the one you use most often in your videos, AAFCO (a large clear black and white chart). The one in your links I'm having trouble with as it goes to a site but no chart found. It might be that I don't see how to navigate these sites, but I can find no charts on my own for senior dogs.
@SilverGirl-925 use this one: Guidelines for senior dog food # shorts #petnutrition
ua-cam.com/users/shortsJJcTYMfdWOw?feature=share
@@AnimalDocRea Thank you so much!
@AnimalDocRea First of all thank you so much for these videos. But I have the same question. I had copied down the chart you used for adult dogs. Based on that the calcium and phosphorus looks really high for this food for an adult dog. I can't put a screenshot on here evidently But here's what your adult chart from other videos said:
"Adult Dog
protein
15-30 %
calcium 0.5-1.0 %
Phosphorus 0.4-0.8 %
sodium
0.2-0.4 %
Vitamin E >400
Vitamin C>100
fa
10-20 %
fiber
I switched my dog over to the chicken rice formula just over a month ago from PPP when I couldn't find it. My dog is not doing well on it, this last week he's been throwing up undigested food, and getting looser stools daily. I'm taking him off this now
Hopefully you transitioned your dog over to the new food slowly because just straight up switching his food will cause those stomach issues and loose stools.
How much should l feed 4 health
Beagle mix / 48lbs
German Shepherd 98 lbs
How much to feed your pet: A Step-by-Step Guide to RER
ua-cam.com/video/OU48SoSIbmM/v-deo.html
If I'm not mistaken I heard you announce yourself as being a veterinarian / dr. If that is correct why would you not pay attention to the ingredients. That's a red flag for me 🤔
Because as a veterinarian I know that the nutrient profile is more important than the individual ingredients and that due to marketing ingredients are not portrayed in a truthful or meaningful way to purposefully deceive consumers such as yourself. As a steward to animal health it’s my responsibility to impress their upon you, thus the creation of the Chanel.
Hi Dr Rae I have a German shepherd that is losing her hair and we have gone thru $2000 worth of testing and everything negative. We are changing from her beef 4 health food and we used beef fresh pet sprinkled on the food. Which food is better for allergies Lamb and rice or Salmon and potato and I realize this is your opinion but we are stuck and trying information from everyone
Food trial should be with a hydrolyzed diet, you are waiting time and money changing OTC brands, also recommend seeing boarded dermatologist if your GP is having a rough go at it.
Is 4 health ok?? Got that for my dog today
People are telling me to do farminia or fromm they are both exspensive just trying to do what i can ! My dog also has digestive issues
If you pet has a medical issue I’d refer to your vets recommendation on how to properly manage that with food
Same here! I got 4Health for mine a few days ago but I still feel guilty. I just can't afford those expensive foods.
I am confused. This dog food states it is - "*Not recognized as an essential nutrient by the AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profiles." How that better than a dog food stating this? "** company** is formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profiles for All Life Stages, including growth of large size dogs (70 lbs. or more as an adult)".
the nutrients indicated by the stars are not recognized as essential. All bags have that indication.
Is strive made by 4 health? Or is 4 health made by strive?
4health is a tractor supply brand
Has anyone ever heard of ol blue builder dog food ?
No
So I’m thinking about changing my dogs food to this she’s a 3 year old Australian shepherd her current food is beneful and she picks out the pieces she won’t eat or she won’t eat at all unless she’s super hungry but she has a reaction to chicken and I believe if I don’t my research right beneful changes the beef recipe now it has chicken meal in it and I know it’s not completely have chicken in it but it’s the by product of the chicken with very little meat but also I’ve been looking up the 4health and it says it has lead to heart disease is that true or not actually factual and if you could help me answer that question please
I’ve not heard anything about the grain inclusive 4 heath causing heart disease
@@AnimalDocRea I mean it has taurine in it so it should be fine but I’ve only seen what I did google some people saying it caused it but like I said I’m not sure if it’s true or not so I was wondering if you could look in to it maybe? Please
@@mysteriuspixie9684 there is no issue with for health causing heart disease. I have many patients on it .
@@AnimalDocRea that’s good I was kinda worried I know people ask me how I know she’s allergic to chicken because I figured it out when my parents watched her and fed her nothing but chicken wet food and her belly became super red also when she was a puppy she ended up with parvo and I had to nurse her to health and nothing was working for her itching until I stopped feeding her chicken and started purina pro plan sensitive skin and stomach limited ingredients food but of course when you live in a house hold with 7 other dogs you have to keep everyone on the same food but I’m gonna switch her when I move out but I know it has to be gradual since she’s been on the same food for a long time but with her being 40lbs do you think a cup of food would be good from that brand? She is active though but is kinda fat but not really bad like if I decreased her food intake she would get back to not having a I would say small belly lol because it’s not as bad as my uncles lab he feeds him 3 times a day and the dog is elderly and sleeps most of the day I feel bad for him
Tutorial: How much to feed your dog. Perform a Body Condition Score on Your Pet
ua-cam.com/video/ZTM_28ad2II/v-deo.html
Will make your pet shed a lot after a month eating 4Health.
Shedding is a natural and necessary turnover of the hair coat. Not shedding is actually the problem, means the hair follicles aren’t cycling properly. Common marketing myth/ trap…foods that alter shedding to shed less.