Opinions on 4Health??

[ebonue]

For context I have a senior chiweenie mix named Sadie.

I also have a 2 year old unspayed German shepherd (delayed spaying) named Juno.

I also have two cats. One is 1.5 years the other is 6 months.

I was thinking of getting 4Health for my GSD, a senior option for my weenie. Then adult cat food for my older cat and their kitten food for my younger cat.

I was feed my two dogs Acana. Sadie, began losing too much weight. Juno was a little underweight? I’m not sure if the food was too high in protein or missing something. However both are not HUGE eaters. Juno especially struggles to finish her proper serving. I add a little wet food and water to make the food more appetizing for them.

Anyways, I swapped them both to purina pro plan, she gained weight again and Juno did too. I was looking for something a little more affordable and saw 4Health. The ingredients didn’t look too bad but I was wondering what everyone else thought? Currently all my pets are are purina pro plan. While it’s great, my German Shepherd’s food is $99 alone but I do get a much larger bag than I did when she ate Acana. Sadie’s is about $60. Whisker’s is about $40. Migi is about $20.

That’s about $219 once a month??

If I swap it’s a total of $130 a month, plus the cat bags would be bigger.

 

[theonemelly]

@ebonue If your dogs don’t have any specific health concerns you can try purina one… same science backed ingredients and high quality food just not as many options for special food needs. For example the purina one has 1 type of sensitive skin and stomach where as pro plan has many options for different proteins, dog sizes etc.

That being said purina one does have small breed formula, large breed, standard, puppy, adult, senior etc just not as much variety. They also have kitty food.

You may also consider the purina pro plan sport for Juno. It definitely costs more than purina one would but it’s significantly more calories per cup than most dog foods which means you essentially get more bang for your buck.

I’d definitely look into those options before swapping your a non WSAVA compliant diet.

Also check with your vet on her weight, a large number of people think their dog is a good weight but are actually obese. That being said also keep in mind the portions suggested on bags are often very generous and not all dogs will need that much. My large breed girls eat about 1/2 what the bag suggests (and I switch their food quite a bit, pretty much every bag but always either purina one or purina pro plan).

I don’t have much advice for the little one as I have big breeds. If Juno truly is underweight you can talk to your vet about adding things like goat milk etc to up her calorie intake. My girls are very active but don’t have massive appetites so my vet recommended lamb milk replacer. To be clear though I’m in a rural area, and our vet mostly deals with super active working dogs so this may not be recommended by your vet and can definitely lead to obesity very quickly in dogs. My girls are weight checked monthly and their intake strictly monitored, they also get 5-8 hours of solid activity per day (dog park, trail walks with backpacks, hiking with backpacks, weight pulling, lure coursing, agility, swimming etc). This is absolutely not for the average pet, goats milk is less fat and calories. Our rural vets recommend the lamb formula for working dogs, lactating dogs and generally speaking extremely active dogs.

Edit to add: look into subscription services to save money on food. I’m in Canada where everything is more expensive and with subscription discounts I’m paying less than $100 with tax for the large bags of purina pro plan, much less if I get purina one. Look for offers as well, I just got 4 bags of the purina pro plan sport giant bags for $160 Canadian because PetSmart was running a sale, plus 35% off for first auto ship and I had an in app coupon. If you keep track of it you’ll be able to find sales quite often (this is an insane deal though best I’ve ever had which is why I got 4 bags lol)… I usually buy 1 bag extra so I always have a spare just in case but this was too good of a deal to pass up. In Canada you can save 5-15% with subscription services alone though plus there’s often additional coupons. For example amazon will be 5-15% depending on the flavour but save an extra 20% or $11 or whatever random discount on your first subscription. After a few months the discount comes back and you can cancel and restart the subscription.

 

[ebonue]

@theonemelly Yea I’ll look into it! Juno was and always has been very very lean. I thought she was fit but her trainer mentioned her being underweight due to her hip bones being slightly visible. She seems to be a 4 on the body condition. Her vets have never said anything about her being underweight but it has been a couple months since! She stays around 62lbs. She’s a very active dog. We are always we are going on hikes, playing fetch, walking. When I’m not playing with her, she is constantly chasing bugs, chasing squirrels/birds, pacing around our backyard, or playing with her toys. Even inside she loves to play with the cats. We live in a semi rural place. While we don’t live on a farm we do have a pretty decent sized backyard. want to get her into FASTCAT but that’s later down the road!

Sadie however is the TOTAL opposite. I see that dog asleep more than I see her awake. Which is why I was worried to see her lose so much weight so fast. Took her to the vet ran blood tests, everything just to find out nothing was wrong with her.

 

[theonemelly]

@ebonue Yeah my 2 year old is currently on a weight loss plan. Unfortunately she had a false pregnancy (we also are delaying spay she will get done as soon as I get her back to normal, her heat started 3 days before her scheduled spay) compounded by the loss of her older sister, who was a senior and Rolo had never known life without her. She spent several months suffering from major depression and was lethargic and wouldn’t even go for potty breaks unless forced to…. I had bloodwork and everything done it scared me so much. Thankfully the addition of the second dog snapped her right out of it (we did foster to adopt with the understanding if it made Rolo worse it would just be foster and within 5-6 hours it was clear it was exactly what she needed, she snuggled and let out a huge sigh of relief and was back to her normal happy self within a couple of days, but weight loss needs to be done at a steady pace and she’s got about 8lbs total to lose, to get her back to her lean 62lbs which puts her between a 4 and 5 on the scale).

Also keep in mind she may still be filling out, she’s young and may just be having a lanky phase.

 

[kaleandcoffee]

@ebonue Keep them on purina.

 

[tdselector]

@ebonue Stick with Purina pro plan. Vets recommend it and they don't tend to recommend 4Health. You are not a vet nutritionist and don't have the capacity to know if the ingredients list looks good or bad. This is an area where you should be trusting and deferring to vet professionals over your own layman instincts.

Keep the Purina. That, or talk to your vet for a different recommendation.

 

[ebonue]

@tdselector I’m just iffy because vets also recommend Hills Science and the amount of corn in Hills is alarming to me.

 

[tdselector]

@ebonue Why is this? Vets aren't alarmed, so why are you? Again, you don't have the educational background needed to rely on your instincts, on this particular subject. You aren't "alarmed" by corn because you're an expert in this field, with relevant data to back it up. You're "alarmed" by corn because certain dog food companies decide to spend their big bucks on marketing campaigns rather than on peer reviewed research and hiring board certified vet nutritionists.

Hills Science Diet is a phenomenal, well-researched food brand and one of the top brands in the world - frequently recommended by vets. Hills is actively and significantly involved in the ongoing science of pet nutrition. If you have been made to feel "iffy" about Hills of all things, then your judgment has unfortunately been misled.

 

[blackeyedghost]

@ebonue My vet did recommend 4Health for my animals.