Square Pet Dog and Cat Food Review

[@SS-zr9tz]

Thank you for this review! Would love to see a review on Nom Nom!

[@gracemclagan1721]

Hi Dr. Rea! Was excited to see your video on squarepet. Over a year ago I started a food trial with my vet using hills z/d diet for my shepard mix. He had both skin and digestion issues. The hills diet mostly cleared things up. We tried some non-hydrolyzed foods after about 4 months and I wasnt able to find something that worked. Discouraged, i googled hydrolyzed diets and found square pet. The food is in fact not prescription and costs me 30 dollars less than the prescription diets for the same amount if food. With an 85 pound (healthy slim) weight dog i was thrilled for the savings! I actually used your rating system before getting the food too 😊 I have to say, he has better poops than he did on prescription and he doesnt have flakey skin anymore which he did on hills z/d. Based on my non-vet experience my dog and I have been happy with the diet and I was happy to hear you give it a 9! Also, vegetarians consume milk, eggs, and honey because an animal doesn't die to aquire these foods. Vegans will not eat animals or animal products 😊 I love your conent! Side note, this food doesnt have any gluten containing ingredients. I dont care about this for my dog but i am celiac and cross contamination is a big issue for me (migraines, achy joints). I think this is true for other celiac pet owners as well-maybe a video reviewing non-gluten containing pet foods (including cat!) would be awesome!

[@kevinbradley9601]

"the minerals seem to be the hardest to get right". That's an understatement Dr Rea. I was bored last night so I went out looking at various ADULT dog food brands to see which foods fall into the .5 - 1.0 for calcium and .4 - .8 for phosphorus. It's pretty much none. Purina foods seem to be consistently the closest at 1.0 - .8 min for many of their foods but those are minimums so really they may not be in the good range. But overall there just are almost zero adult foods that are optimal. In fairness I need to hit Pet Supplies plus tonight to see some additional brands.

[@AnimalDocRea]

Keep me posted on the search!

[@AshleyKarys]

There are very few cat foods that meet Dr. Rea’s scoring system for senior cats. Facts are her chart is top notch! Most cat foods do not fit her parameters.

[@AnimalDocRea]

@AshleyKarys well they aren’t mine, they come from the text book!

[@AshleyKarys]

@Dr. Rea Yes but I call them your charts cause they’re on your videos. Sorry about that. I know they’re backed by ‘Small Animal Clinical Nutrition’.

[@AnimalDocRea]

@AshleyKarys 😄

[@peteriwanec3472]

Thank you for that Lotus link. Please review Ketona, keto for dogs brand..lol. Yes, please do an episode on carbohydrates. One thing you mentioned when you reviewed the senior recipe is the high protein content. New research shows that senior dogs actually need more protein just like humans because of the loss of muscle mass.

[@AnimalDocRea]

They need more specific amino acids….not necessarily “protein”. There are diets out there that supplement pure amino acids but avoid excessive “protein”. It’s not new research. We know they need to maintain muscle mass, just not at the expense of the kidneys, especially when most owners do not invest in the maintenance labs to make sure they are doing the “high protein” diets correctly. The diets that target specific amino acids are working smarter, not harder.

[@peteriwanec3472]

​@AnimalDocRea just like Scrooge McDuck. Same philosophy, work smarter not harder...lol

[@ZaryaTheLaika]

9:09 - Rebecca Watson recently releaseda video about how Trump relaxed the meatpacking industry's strict gudelines and we know a lot of pet food companies get their ingredients directly from them

[@AnimalDocRea]

We will see

[@ZaryaTheLaika]

​@AnimalDocRea Yeah, just frustrate me when pet food influencers promote the latest and newest kibbles but they all use the same outsourcing companies or contractors

[@rebeccah11108]

I think I’ll be looking a bit further into the 9/10 food. But I always think it is interesting (frustrating?) when a company has one that hits so many marks, and then doesn’t for the rest.

[@AnimalDocRea]

Can’t all be winners

[@edschulhof6303]

Square Pet cat food is expensive, all life stages and high in calcium and phosphorus. The feeding instructions say to feed a kitten twice the amount for an adult cat. And both recipes have potatoes. Happy Purrsday!

[@scottishgirl1100]

My dog is on the square pet low fat. I have a schnauzer and it’s been amazing for him. We need a low fat. We were on Rayne low fat but it was way too expensive

[@AnimalDocRea]

Nice! Thanks for sharing.

[@SenateKT-uc2id]

Could you do a review on "wildology" brand dog food.

[@KenGeorge-x4y]

Could you do another review of the nutrient content for Farmers dog. I’m having trouble figuring out the numbers they gave me. I can’t get the dry matter basis. Thanks so much

[@AnimalDocRea]

I actually just emailed them for dry matter basis and they told me it will “be available in 2025”, and I told them I was a vet and signed into their vet portal. So unfortunately no I can’t and to be quite honest, any company that I get that response from, is automatically disqualified.

[@KenGeorge-x4y]

I get that! Thank you

[@Jaynewood123]

Can I get your thoughts on purina one + special large breed vs regular? Chicken on both to compare

[@AnimalDocRea]

Yes. I’ll add it to my list

[@nz4fun]

Hmmm, this might be a good option for my very itchy Golden. I’m still struggling getting my Farmina food on time and his itching has gotten worse since we switched to Farmina. Anyway, would you say this food is also safe to feed a dog who does not have skin or digestive issues? I always prefer to feed my dogs the same food so there are no jealousy issues during feeding lol

[@AnimalDocRea]

I’d think it would be fine

[@nz4fun]

@ Thank you 😊

[@cristinitaandco]

Have you ever tried Dr. Harvey’s I used Raw vibrance and miracle one they are dehydrated and you cook your protein. I used chiken and beef freeze it by portions and add it when feeding . Effective and yummy.

[@AnimalDocRea]

I don’t care much for the “choose your own adventure” diets. How can you know the final nutritional composition of the food? It’s too variable and inconsistent and is just as unpredictable as a regular home cooked diet. Gives people a false sense of security I don’t think is there.

[@frankf2915]

Can you review nutrilife

[@ngarci8040]

👍

[@Katndhat]

Meat meals? I thought that was a hard pass?

[@AnimalDocRea]

No, it’s just a concentrated meat form. It’s just marketing that tells people it’s a hard pass. Meat meals can be very nutrient rich ingredients. Any company/ influencer that tells you all meals are a pass without actually looking at the nutrient levels they provide, is either uninformed,taking the easy way out and lumping all meals together, or purposefully trying to deceive you. It would be like saying, one time a person robbed a bank wearing red sneakers so everyone who wears red sneakers is bad….

[@edschulhof6303]

@@AnimalDocRea Children and women are the only ones who should wear red sneakers. Very few of them rob banks. LOL