***1st I want to state the company has not asked me to do this, nor have they paid me to do this - I am doing this on my own, from my own research and use of the brand of food! ****
I have researched 4Health food for several months, I started the research when my 4 year old beagle ended up with skin problems, but it was nothing medical, seasonal, or the like, I had it narrowed down to something in the dog food , but since I changed the brand every time I bought her new food (so she wouldn't get burnt out on it) it was impossible to figure out exactly what in the food was causing her problems. But the more I researched, the more possible culprits I found, and it was very hard to find food that didn't have any or at least some of these bad items such as: Wheat, Corn, Meat By Products, and Grains. all of which are bad to feed our pets. Even canned food had at least Meat by products and corn and some even had wheat, and rather it was dry or canned these items were always at the top of the ingredients list, which means they had a lot of this stuff in the food. Before I got to try this brand on her, she had passed away due to complications of a accident she was in 3 years ago.
We got our 1st kitten September 2012 the second one Oct 2012, for the 1st year I fed them Special Kitty brand from walmart, Our 2nd kitten our male named Simba was abused and starved when we got him, you could feel all his bones down his back, hips, and just by looking at him tell he was ''sickly'', Our 1st kitten named Nala, was well nourished and healthy. after a few weeks Simba's poo was very stinky, the vet said it was normal, Nala's wasn't stinky but very wet, so since the vet said they were fine, we just assumed it was due to eating canned food, Nala would eat both canned and dry, Simba for the first 4 months wouldn't touch any dry food, unless it was Kitten Chow. these bathroom habits didn't change. then Nala got pregnant and had babies, and her bathroom habits got worse, she stunk to high heaven (literally making us leave the room!), and it sounded like some one was pouring a jug of water into the litter box, I did research and from what I found this is normal for nursing mother cats, so I didn't think anything of it, the babies grew up and weaned, and went to their new homes with the exception of the one we were keeping. He's always been healthy but like his parents, their fur just didn't seem the way it should, Both Simba and the baby who's named Tigger are short haired, Nala is more of a Medium hair, when we'd run our hand down Nala, or brush her we'd get a ton of hair off her, I ended up buying a cat comb that is normally used on long hair cats, when I used it on Nala, it looked like I was brushing her with a straight razor, I watched the fur just break off and slide down her back , her fur had a lot of damage. So not only was I seeing cats with terrible bathroom habits, Very wet stinky poo and going a lot, and cats that seemed to always be hungry, I was dealing with bad fur even on Simba who is a short hair, also Simba had gone back to looking for sickly and starved - even though he was eating like a horse, and wasn't being starved.
Fast forward a bit - This past August we got 2 beagle pups, we decided we would start them on canned food from 4Health, but keep their dry food to what their breeder fed them until they were done with the puppy stage, Well while we were at our local Tractor Supply, I saw they sold 4Health canned food for cats - this was not listed on their website, only the dry food - So we bought a couple cans while we were there to try it out, the dogs loved theirs . We got home, and gave the cats a can of the 4health canned cat food right away, and before the night was even over, their bathroom habits improved A LOT, Nala's wasn't so stinky and watery, Simba's wasn't as stinky, by the following day, their poo was NORMAL, they have been on 4Health canned food ever since - so for the last month and half, This month when they ran out of their Kitten Chow, I decided to get a small bag of dry 4Health - just a small bag to start, because Simba is very picky when it comes to dry food, it took me a few months to even get him to eat any dry food, They were eating Kitten chow and Kaboodle (mainly only Nala and Tigger ate this) So looking through the 4Health dry cat food we decided to go with "For All stages" because this covered both adults and kittens, and I couldn't see the size of the food from outside the bag, but was hoping it would be small pieces, got it home and it was, so I was hoping that would mean Simba would eat it, I poured some into their dry food dish, he sniffed it and went right to eating it - something he doesn't typically do when they get a new brand of food. he ate a little bit then went on about his day, as did Nala and Tigger, I thought it was a bad thing when I went in about a hour later and there was still half a dish of food - normally it would be empty! then I remembered during my research one of the pro's that I liked about this brand is they eat less of it because they actually get full, instead of just thinking they are full. This 5 pound bag has lasted over 2 weeks, a 5 pound of Kitten chow only lasts a week! and that's feeding 3 cats, 3xs a day!
We noticed earlier this week, while petting Simba that his fur looked and felt 100xs better and then I tracked down Nala, her fur looked healthy, and felt so soft, and I ran my hand down her and I didn't get the typical glob of fur coming off, just a few strands here and there- the typical amount , so I decided to use her comb on her and see how that went, if it still looked like I was brushing her with a straight razor!, much to my amazement, nothing happened that normally happens - I didn't get a big clump of when I brushed her, it didn't look like I was using a straight razor on her instead of a comb or brush. and the comb was not completely full of fur like it typically is.
My cats health and coat is 100% better, in this short amount of time I've been feeding them 4Health , their bathroom habits are back to normal, no more stinky, watery, poo . They no longer run us out of the room or house because they stunk so bad!, They don't eat no where near as much as they used to because they are actually full before they eat all the food.
Even the canned food has good ingredients and I compared it to 1 of the Special kitty canned food - special kitty 1st ingredient was by products , I have yet to find that in 4health food
4 Health food has no corn, no wheat, no soy, They have ones with out grains as well!
4Health has Omega fatty acids for skin and coat,
4Health is the way to go if you want to feed your pet a good , affordable feed
Yes it is a bit pricier than grocery store/pet shop food (like Pedigree) but do some research, then compare the list of ingredients you will be happy to pay a few extra bucks!
I have priced the other "high priced" supposed "Top brands" canned food - and I honestly about fell over! for a 5 oz can of Science diet it was about $1.19 The same size can in 4Heath is only 49 cents. That is for cat food, I didn't price the small cans in dog food as I don't use the small cans.
In both cat and dog the 13 oz cans are 99 cents. They do have 1 bigger size than 13oz in dog food that is a dollar something - I can't recall off the top of my head. The 5 pound bag of dry cat food I bought was 8 bucks, and when I switch the dogs to 4health dry food I'm looking to spend roughly $20 for an 18 pound bag or around 32 for a 35 pound bag. compared to the approximately $13.00 I'd spend on a 18.5 pound bag of dog chow- But remember the brand may be a "top" brand name, but the ingredients is what matters and they are not on the top of that list - 4health is!
I recommend 4Health to any one who needs dog or cat food, rather its the dry version or the canned or both! you won't go wrong stopping in at your local Tractor Supply to get some!
It is only sold at Tractor Supply - as they are the manufacture of this brand!
Check them out, Make the switch, Your pet will love you for it!
http://www.tractorsupply.com/content_landing-page_4health
*** Again I was not paid to do this review, I did it all on my own, I bought the products with my own money, and am not getting any type of reimbursement, discount etc. for this review! ***
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October 28, 2013 - Update
Still loving this food! at the end of September I went and bought an 18 pound bag of the dry cat food, since the 5 pound bag went over well with the cats!. I will need to pick up another bag in the next day or two, but that is 1 large bag of cat food for an entire month! with 3 cats that are "free" fed (meaning they have dry food in their dishes 24/7! On the other cheaper food I was buying the same sized bag sometimes bigger and would be buying at least 2 bags a month!
Since they've been eating 4Health, I have noticed numerous differences all for the good.
They do not go through as much food - this is because they are actually FULL so they don't need to eat as much. other food has so much fillers and other bad stuff they don't need, that makes them only feel like they are full then less then 30 minutes later they would be in eating again. I used to fill their bowls at least 5 times a day, now the bowls get filled 3 times a day, and there is always still food in them when I refill them I just more or less "top them off" where as before there was not even a crumb left in a bowl
Their fur - OMG it's to die for! every time I pet them I tell them I want a blanket that feels just like their fur! they went from having rough fur that wasn't very pleasant to touch, to having soft, plush, silky fur that we honestly can't stop touching! This even includes the "baby" of the group his fur was starting to get rough, with a lot of breakage, now he has no problems at all. His mama when we'd brush her or even just run our hand down her back, there was a huge pile of fur in your brush or hand! it was not appealing at all, she wasn't soft like cats are supposed to be, and when I'd use the comb type brush to brush her instead of the soft bristled one, it looked more like I was taking a razor blade to her fur, it would just come off as I was brushing like I was ''shaving'' it off - her fur no longer does that, now when you brush or pet her you only get a few strands of fur- like you should!
I will say Daddy has the BEST overall changes not only to his fur but his overall body he came to us very sickly, scrawny, he had been starved (and probably abused) You would run your hand down his back and you could feel all his bones, his spine, his ribs, his shoulders and his hips. he just looked awful! - he now looks like a nice young man - he has filled out, when you pick him up he feels like he weighs way too much but to look at him he is not ''fat'', ''over weight'' etc. he looks like he should, you can tell he has put weight on, but it is because he now looks like a great healthy cat. you can't feel his bones any more!
The bathroom habits - No one wants to talk about or hear about cats using the bathroom - I'm aware - but this can't be left out! Simba and Nala has always stunk us out of the house, I've had to use the top brand expensive cat litter, and even after about 2 months of using the exact same brand/style It would stop working! and they'd be stinking us out again - this is with cleaning a litter box 2-4 times a day! they used the littler box more than any cat I've ever known! When Nala was pregnant towards the end her poo got to be even more stinker (we didn't think it was possible) and she had diarrhea all the time, it was terrible , and after the babies were born it was still the same, even during weaning, When I looked it up - it was ''normal'' for mother cats to be like this, so I didn't worry too much about it, however, I felt bad for her it just seemed like having those bathroom habits would make one feel miserable!
Well when the babies were weaned and all but the one we were keeping were gone to their new homes her bathroom habits didn't change. And then I began to worry, so as I stated above in my original post, that is the main thing that made me switch their can food. I kid you not in under 24 hours her bathroom habits changed drastically! I would say within the first 5 hours of eating some of the 4Health can food she was a normal cat using a litter box, no more smell, no more sounding like some one was pouring a pitcher of water into the litter box! she wasn't even using the box as much any more, and no more accidents on the floor because she shouldn't get to the box in time, Same with Simba no more stench and he wasn't using it as much any more either.
This month we got to start saving money again on litter- and got to go to a less expensive brand! Seriously the litter is $5.00 for 25 pounds (also at Tractor Supply!) we can now have non scented, non expensive litter and our house does not stink! and we only have to clean it twice a day (because there are 3 cats and 3 litter boxes 2 of the boxes do get used more so than the 3rd) We don't even have to do a complete empty, and wash of the box and refill as often. With the more expensive litter we were doing a complete dump out, and washing of the box, and a refill every other week, We have only had to do a that so far to 1 of the 3 boxes since we filled them at the beginning of this month, and that is from the box they use the most, it will need done again today so it will be 2 times in a month compared to 4 or more times a month.
At the start of this month I gave half of a gallon sized baggie of this food to my boyfriends sister, for her cat. He sheds a lot and has had a lot of problems with fur balls, she was unsure if he'd eat it because he's kind of picky - he will only eat food with greens in it (as in veggies) she was unsure if he had to actually see the greens or not , because her normal food you could see it, and she was leary of changing his food. But she gave it a shot!, when my boyfriend went over about a week and half later to visit she was ecstatic and the change already that they saw in their cat, he wasn't shedding as bad - it was a typical shed - and he never once coughed due to fur balls. and she loved how soft he was! her cat is an older cat and it helped him in that same short time it helped my younger cats! she said she was going to buy him 4Health food for now on! She said yes it cost more than her normal food, but it's for 1 cat and it will last longer, because she also noticed in that short time she was feeding him the food I gave her, he was not eating no where near the amount of food that he was eating prior to the switch.
In conclusion, I recommend this cat food to any one who needs a good healthy cat food, at a lower price than most "top brands" it is 100% better than those brands, if you really stop and read those ''top brand'' ingredients you may just kick your self for ever allowing your pet to eat it (dogs and cats alike!) those foods have so much nasty stuff in it that actually do harm to our pets long term!, you will find they are all filled with "BY PRODUCTS" and other gross stuff, When reading the list, the items at the top of the list have the MOST of that item in the food.
You will love the changes you see in your cats, they have a few varieties in dry food, I use the Indoor All stage style - because it is for cats and kittens and Tigger is only 6 months old, and Simba will only eat kitten sized food .
