Actr1um Holistic Dog Food Review (Walmart brand)
Actr1um Holistic has been a Walmart brand for many years now. More than the 14 years I’ve been reviewing dog foods. It’s made by Elmira Pet Products who are Canada’s largest private label pet food manufacturers and makers of Nutram.
As a Walmart brand it’s good value for money, but is it good for your dog? Let’s take a look in our Actr1um Holistic dog food review…
Actr1um Holistic review
What the marketing says
The bag says #1 First Ingredient Real Chicken, but I’ll tell you why that’s misleading in a bit. They say there’s no added corn, wheat, or fillers which is good to see, but it depends what they class as fillers.
Probiotics are added which is always a plus point, and omega 3 and 6 for healthy skin and coat is standard these days.
There aren’t many other claims on the packaging, and you can ignore the picture of fresh blueberries and other glamorous ingredients – that’s just fancy marketing.
What the ingredients really say
We’ll take a look specifically at the Actr1um Holistic Chicken & Barley recipe for dogs, but they’re all similar and there’s an option for puppies.
I said I’d tell you why “First Ingredient Real Chicken” is misleading, and that’s because the first 6 ingredients are likely in the same portion size. Just say you had two main ingredients – chicken & barley – that would mean the chicken is not only the first ingredient, but the main ingredient. What we have here is 2 chicken ingredients (chicken and chicken meal), three grains, and peas. That means the grain and peas can outweigh the meat 2 to 1.
Protein of 24% is pretty good, and 14% fat is okay as well, but this further clarifies the amount of grain in Actr1um. I estimate carbohydrates to be 44%, so nearly twice as many carbs as protein.
Right then, that all sounds bad, but Actr1um Holistic is actually a decent dog food in many ways.
The main grains are barley, brown rice, and oatmeal. These are three of the best grain inclusions in a dog food and will offer your dog slow burning energy plus a range of nutrients.
Peas aren’t bad either when in moderation. I’ve seen some dog foods trick you into believing they’re mostly meat when the reality is they’re almost all peas, and that’s not good for your dog in the long run. In this food peas as the 4th ingredient will be a beneficial source of protein and fibre.
We also find rye and millet which further ramp up the grains. This is somewhat sad to see, but it’s also the reason Actr1um Holistic is affordable. They could make it better for a dog by increasing meat, but that would also increase cost and deter people from buying. Walmart know most consumers are on a budget, so a better brand with more meat won’t work for them.
You find natural flavor as an ingredient – what’s that you may ask, but a better question is why don’t they want you to know? AAFCO who specify pet food regulations say natural flavor can be “materials treated with heat, enzymes and/or acids” from an organic source (plant or animal).
Odds are the natural flavor is animal digest, a gruesome by-product of meat rendering (cooking up animal bits in a big vat). It’s common in pet foods to entice your pet to eat the food, especially as dogs aren’t overly enthusiastic about grains. Call it a sweetener.
If you shop in Walmart and this is what you can afford, then it’s much better than other rubbish made from wheat and by-products. I know this review has sounded negative in parts, but Actr1um Holistic is a decent affordable brand.
You could always bulk up the meat in your dogs diet by feeding some meat, organs, and other fresh ingredients to round off the diet.
Where to buy?
Ingredients
Ingredients of Actr1um dog food (Chicken & Barley with Ancient Grains Recipe):
Chicken, Chicken Meal, Barley, Peas, Brown Rice, Oatmeal, Chicken Fat (Preserved with mixed tocopherols), Rye, Millet, Natural Flavour, Flaxseed, Dried Beet Pulp, Salt, Potassium Chloride, Salmon Meal, Whole Dried Egg, Apples, Sweet Potatoes, Carrots, Dried Kelp, Vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, L-Ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate, Niacin Supplement, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin A Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin Supplement, Beta Carotene, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Biotin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid), Minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Proteinate, Iron Proteinate, Selenium Yeast, Zinc Oxide, Calcium Carbonate, Copper Sulfate, Manganese Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Iodate), Cranberries, Chicory Root, Choline Chloride, Alfalfa, Yucca Schidigera, Dried Lactobacillus Acidophilus fermentation product, Dried Lactobacillus Casei fermentation product, Dried Enterococcus Faecium fermentation product, Dried Bifidobacterium Thermophilum fermentation product, Spinach, Broccoli, Blueberries, Pears, Bananas, Cinnamon, Turmeric, Capsicum, Paprika, Garlic, Chamomile, Dandelion, Dried Rosemary.
Guaranteed Analysis
Guaranteed analysis of Actr1um dog food (Chicken & Barley with Ancient Grains Recipe):
| Protein | (min) 24% |
| Fat | (min) 14% |
| Crude Fibre | (max) 3% |
| Carbohydrates * | Estimated 44% |
My 2- 9 pound chihuahua’s love carrots. They get then once a day for treats, like going outside to do their job. But I cook them in the microwave till they are soft, then keep them in the fridge. Raw carrots are not good , at least for small dogs. Just cook the darn things!!! Nov/2019
PELESE people, stop writing that Blue Buffalo and Royal Canine are high end. It’s NOT.
High end are Orijen, Open farm, Stella & Chewy’s, Earth Born Holistic Venture, Zignature , Wysong starch free.
That’s who you have to compare to.
All that said, this food is not awful.
The best kibbles are grain free (grain cause allergies), potato free (potato cause yeast overgrowth which is often diagnosed as allergies). Veggies should be low glycemic.
Lastly, all experts in holistic, natural pet nutrition recommend switching kibbles yearly to avoid intolerance to certain ingredients.
P.S. my review was not solicited or paid for like some others here.
I have 6 dogs been using the dog food for about 3 years. We are strick with our dogs as they don’t eat people food unless it’s fruit or carrots. But for the last month our dogs have been getting sick. We had one in the vet for 5 days and almost died. This came out of nowhere. The vet said he couldn’t find anything wrong with her. Thought she had a blood disease but she didn’t. Now as I see this posioning in the food I was just thinking to myself let me check this food out. And today we have another dog threw up. And another big dog constant . I’m going to find out more about this product before ever giving them another kibble.
my minnie dashound has alergie problems tryed many brands but actrium is the best ….minimizing his alergy problems…i give 4 star for this product..thay also have treats…but my dog won.t eat any
Ever since we adopted our German Shepherd cross at 9 months, he had skin and ear issues, as well as straw like fur. We tried every high end brand out there, spent HUNDREDS on various types of food, and nothing seemed to be working. He was developing scabs from scraching so much, poor guy. We decided to give Actr1um Duck and Sweet Potatoes a try. It’s only been a month so far, and we see a major improvement. He doesn’t scratch as much and his coat is finally returning soft and shiny. I would totally recommend this product!
These kinds of comments always concern me as it seems highly unlikely that a higher quality/better quality ingredient food would be less beneficial than a low cost low-to-mid grade food. “Health” just doesn’t work that way.
If I hadn’t seen it work I’d think the same. But I’ve now seen it help with skin issues in 3 different dogs..a poodle, a maltiepoo and a border collie. It’s one of the only foods my dog has eaten that doesn’t give him hot spots…and he likes it. I do suppliment with additional protein but my sister doesn’t with her dogs and thry are both doing so good on it. Both are older and have struggled with skin problems and switching to this food has helped a lot.
I had similar issues with my lab/greyhound cross. Once I switched to this brand, she has been health and no further skin issues. Because of her allergies and the fact that sometimes my furry ones like to share food, all 5 are on Actrium, just the different varieties of large dog, senior/ weight management, regular and now puppy. We wont go back to anything else. I’ve been using this now for 7 of her 11 years.
My dog had some skin problems so for a long time I tried to buy the best food I could for him. Yet there was no change. I had almost memorized the “guidelines” for a good kibble when I came across actrium at walmart.After all the reviews from “experts” I had read I feel I was almost “snobbish” about buying my dog’s food at walmart but reading the ingredient list, it seemed no worse than many of the more expensive brands so I decided to give it a try. I”m glad I did, he is doing great on this food for the past 6 or 7 years . I’m glad I was able to find a decent food at a very decent price .
My 2 month Irish Wolfhound was on Actr1um Holistic Puppy at the Breeder and I decided to go with my older brand. After 5 or 6 upgrades and $150+ per bag I was extremely frustrated as he had the runs constantly. I had him on probiotic powder at $1 a pack and even that wasn’t so great.
I finally bit the bullet after about a month and slowly re-introduced Actr1um puppy. It has been some 4 months now and he has been doing great at 7 months old and 110 lbs.
I have 2 issues though. I can only get this Holistic Puppy in a 7 kg bag and that lasts a week (give or take). I would like it if the company could verify whether this is actually Large Breed Puppy Food and why they don’t make it in a larger size? I will be feeding him until he is 18 months and he will probably be upwards to around 200 lbs. I just can see myself stocking 4-5 bags just so I don’t run out!!! Otherwise the price is right on and the ingredients are stellar.
Hi there,
They make a few variations including adult and large breed variations. These do come in larger bag 3.2kg, 7kg, and 16kg at Walmart.
I feed my 3 Shiba Inus this food. Switched over from a higher priced brand. I thought I would try this one as it had a lower Crude Fat content. My boy had pancreatitus and needed to be put on a food with less than 10 % Crude Fat. Also, my eldest has a lot of allergy, so I had to find a dog food that she can eat . I wouldn’t normally think of getting my furkids dog food from Walmart, but I’m glad I did. So far ,( we are on our second bag) they are doing great. They also like the dog biscuits of the same flavour… Baked Chicken.
I have been using Actr1um Adult large kibble then Senior Kibble since moving to Canada from the UK in 2010 for my Labrador. She had all sorts of Allergies , skin problems, ear problems, feet problems. She is good on this food and a lot of her skin issues have resolved over time. I add Coconut oil to my dogs food and other than denta stix, she has apples and carrots for treats. I would recommend this food for any dog with issues of a similar nature.
We feed our 3 rescue dogs (boxer, boxerXblacklab, dobieXGSD) the big bag of adult dog food, and they are thriving. While I tried to feed them the high end stuff when I adopted my first, I just couldn’t afford it when I got our big boxerXlab, so started to look for other options and found Actr1um. Our boxers don’t get stinkly ‘fritos feet’ as they had when we first adopted them, and their coats are really soft and shiny. Our dobieXGSD had major stinky dandruff, skin irritation and brittle hair when adopted, and when we switched him over to Actr1um we saw a 180 change in his skin and coat: thick, soft and fluffy! I’ve been feeding this to our boxers for 5+ years, and our dobieXGSD for going on 3+ years, and have never had a problem. WONDERFUL food for our big guys, I’d hate to think what our monthly food expense for them if they were still on Acana or Blue Buffalo.
I have fed my 13 yr old Jack Russell this for the past 8 yrs and have never, ever had a problem. And we ALL know how High Energy a Jack Russell is. He has been fed a Raw food kibble form since 7 weeks old. Started out with EVO brand but later on switched to Actrium due to financial status. Like I said, he is very healthy. Teeth are very good. I also only give him Denta-Stix. But he does love his bits of carrots, broccoli, cauliflower and practically any other veggies I prep. He hasn’t been to a Vet since he was 2 yrs old and I have never had any health problems with my dog. He is still a teenager (1 yr old) trapped in a 13 yr old body. I don’t have never seen any allerigic reaction with my dog regarding the Dicalcium Phosphate ingredient. He is fed 1/2 cup 3X a day. And his weight has always been consistently around 20 lbs most of his life. He is the Taller breed of Jack also.
i have a 130 lb. ambl neo mastiff , 2 1/2 yrs. using actrium for past yr. also give him raw chicken or beef with the kibble and he is very healthy and active as he lives in a 175 x 150 fenced in compound with a heated 50 x 35 building as his house , i would recommend it and the price is right on. others are a rip off !
Are you using the large breed formula
I have been using this brand for my two cats for over a year. My long haired cat developed some skin issues and began to have scabs along his back that wouldn’t heal and was losing some hair in the scanned areas. He Had very dry skin and was vomiting and coughing up hair balls much more Frequently. We ruled out everything and began to think he had developed an intorance or an allergy to his food or something in his food. I switched his food to a much better brand from a local pet food store, and within two days my cats scabs had gone away and his hair was growing back. I will never put him back on Actrium.
I have been feeding my 4 years old lab/rottie the adult large breed for almost 2 years now since we rescued her.
She is happy and healthy. We haven’t had any issues with feeding her this food at all.
I was concerned a little at first because not even the vets have heard of it but it’s working great for our dog and our wallet.
I have 2 small dogs and have had them on the Actrium small breed for about 8 mths now. My Yorkie mix who was often vomiting has hardly ever done that since we switched him and he was fussy before but seems to enjoy it more then any of the other brands I tried. My Chihuahua mix was constantly chewing her legs on the other foods. She still chews but not nearly as much as before so we’ll see hos she does on it for a while longer. I’m pleased so far but I too worry about the DCP. We’ll see.
After doing a LOT of research on dog foods (we are getting a puppy next weekend), I read all kinds of nightmares about different brands, even Blue Buffalo and Royal Canin. Then I researched Actr1um and found no bad reviews or controversial ingredients. So I decided that this will be the food we go with. I also decided to switch my cats over. They don’t love their current food. They eat because the have to. So they don’t starve. Kinda broke my heart since it is a simple joy, to love your food. So I tried them with Actr1um cat food also. They both wolfed it down! So, so far, I am impressed. It is just the beginning. We’ll see how it goes. The price is stellar, also!
i fed my 2 dogs this dog food for about 3 years until recently because everytime they eat now they get sick and diarrhea not if they’ve added something to ingredients or maybe usually lower quality stuff in it
I had my 4 year old English Bulldog/boxer mix on the Kirkland brand and she was doing well, but I found she started to throw up here and there, I switched her to Actrium and she hasn’t been throwing up her coat is so soft, her teeth are great, her poop is less, and she is VERY healthy. Very happy with the change, I did A LOT of research on all sorts of dog food, and found out some of the most expensive suppose to be the best for your dog is not. In fact I came to find out that a lot of the pricey dog food companies have been lying about what really is in their dog food, which is scary.
I have been feeding my two cats the Actr1um grain free dry fish food. They seem to be doing fine on it. One has tummy issues the other has grain and chicken allergies. The ingredients listed are good ones. The change of food just happened recently so they are still adjusting. I fed it to them before and they did well. Now I will just stick with this food. It is also reasonably priced too with healthy ingredients and I like that it is baked. Like with all foods cats take time to adjust to the change. I don’t only feed them the dry food I also feed them wet cat can food once a day. too.
I have used Actr1un for years with my older dog & started my new puppy on the Actr1um puppy food but have noticed that the recipe has changed to include garlic as an ingredient. It is the last ingredient listed but still worries me as garlic isn’t good for dogs. I noticed the adult recipe doesn’t have garlic listed
Hi Alison, garlic is absolutely fine in small doses so I wouldn’t be overly concerned with this.
My chocolate lab/shar pei Jersey was on Beneful. She seemed happy but issues such as itchy skin, hair loss Ect. Lots of research in dog food. I decided to try Actruim Duck n Sweet Potato. Jersey LOVES it. Reasonably priced. She is happy, coat looks great, no hair loss. Jersey has been on this for approx a month 🙂
I’ve just bought my first bag. Purina was always my brand. I mixed 1/2 puppy chow 1/2 Actr1um. And my dogs love it. They picked out the puppy chow and ate the Acru1um right up.
I have been using the puppy and large breed dog food (mixed) for Titan who is a Newfoundland/Cane Corso mix (now 8 months) all his life and he loves it….although the kibble for the puppy food is a bit small and difficult for him to chew.
My 15 year old Rottie/Lab mix also loves it. She had been experiencing hair loss, stiffness and dandruff before she started eating Actr1um and now she looks completely different! Her hair has grown back, her dandruff is pretty much gone and her legs don’t seem as stiff when she walks 🙂 Love the price of the food and the fact a large bag will last both dogs almost a full month:D
You should do more research. To anyone with food science knowlege or access to google. Dicalcium phosphate is a chemical that is used as a food additive for dogs. Its a calcium supplement. With most chemicals too much can be lethal even H2O.
almost every dog food will have some ingredient that is “toxic” and a lot of the high priced companies like blue are in trouble for lying to their customers about the ingredients that they claim are in their dog food.
My almost 2 year old lab came to us on actr1ym puppy food. her coat was by far the best coat I had seen on my dogs. When it was time to transition her to adult food. I went to put her on the Kirkland food my other dogs were eating. Within weeks her coat started to turn dry and rough. I put her back on the adult actr1um and within weeks it returned to its smooth and shiny like satin coat. I now feed this to all 3 of my dogs.
I have been using Actrium Holistic for my long haired cat, since I switched to this, my cat has huge massive hair mats, I am not happy with this cat food. I cannot research it and keep coming up with nothing. Is it really true what is in this food? I don’t believe it. My cat was healthy and happy with a lovely coat with the wet food I was feeding her, now she is a mess. I am permanently discontinuing this food. Her coat is dry and matted and she now needs a groomer.
I have been feeding my 2 cats this food for over 5 years they love it and are extremely healthy, Now I also have a Great Dane she has been eating this food since she was 10 weeks and is now 1 1/2 yrs. she as well has been very healthy.love this product!!
Since switching my girl to Actrium I’ve had nothing but problems.. She vomits quite often, She eats everything now (paper, dog poop, rocks, everything she’s not supposed to eat), she seems really sad and the noises her stomach makes are unreal! We didn’t even have these issues when she was small. We had her on Kirkland puppy food up until she hit a year then gradually switched her to Actrium large breed. I saw all these great reviews for this brand and liked that it is holistic but.. I’m not happy with it at all. I will be switching her back to Kirkland dog food.
Have you had her checked for EPI?
Both of my dog have also become very ill and I suspect it is this food. What is epi?
Be very careful with this food. I used the salmon version of the dog food for years and now my dogs are having troubles with crystals. I have removed them off this food it is full of phosphate which causes crystals. I have no other complaints about this food but over time it can cause bladder issues so beware.
Good to know about the crystals forming. My older cat had issue with throwing up her food. I decided to look for an holistic version more easily digested and found the Actr1um. No more upset tummy!
I have a 4 yr old boxer who is allergic to just about everything in a normal food (corn, wheat, etc…) and to top it off she has had a serious bout of pancreatitis, so she can only tolerate very low fat. I had her on Wellness Healthy weight at $90+ per bag because of the low fat content and the lack of food irritants, but she always acts like she is starving and would even occasionally attack our lab if he came anywhere near her food dish – full or empty. She is very high energy and runs around our 6 acres at full speed constantly. She weighs 55 lbs and I was feeding her 4 1/2+ cups a day just to try to fill her up and keep her from loosing anymore weight. It was costing a fortune!! I recently switched her to the duck and sweet potato version of this food and she loves it! She is gaining some weight (which is good) and she hasn’t had any of her normal allergic reactions, which is awesome. She also isn’t guarding her dish like she use to. She looks good and isn’t acting like she is starving anymore, so I’m a huge fan of this food. Half the cost and meets her needs better than the high priced brands (believe me I have researched them all!). I was hesitant to try a Walmart brand, but I’m so glad I did!
Hi!
We’ve been feeding our bernie with this food ( the regular large breed variety)for four years, after trying a few others. First I can’t find DCP in the ingredients of this variety. For 35 CAD per month, I find it a good value for the price. It contains chicken cartilage, witch is a very good source of glucosamine, an ingredient owners of large breeds like to see in the list. Boubou is happy, energetic ,has a good digestion and a nice coat , and most of all: he loves it!
We have been feeding our golden retriever puppy this food since this is what the breeder was using (he is now 4 months) and he he is doing very well with this food. Does anyone know how I can find out what the correct feeding amount is. According to the bag, he should have 5 cups a day but the vet says for his weight 2 cups a day (maybe a tiny bit more). I am confused about this as obviously this is a huge difference and I don’t want to be underfeeding him.
We have just adopted a 5 month old rescue puppy. She is a Labrador with high energy. Our 7 year old Chocolate Lab eats Actrium and is doing very well so we switched Holly to the puppy blend. Like you, I was confused as to how much we should be feeding her. The bag says anywhere between 4 cups and 6 3/4 cups for her breed, age and eventual weight. We have found that 5-5 1/2 cups a day seems to be what she needs to replenish all of the calories she burns off with her high energy levels.
We had our dog on Beneful forever (because that’s what he was fed by the people we bought him from us a puppy) At about a year he was so itchy and his stomach was so upset. We put him on the Actrium duck and sweet potato. His skin cleared up, no more upset stomach. He is now on their large breed mix (he’s lab/husky/German Shepard) We’ve been using it for 2 years now and we love it. Sometimes we get the canned wet food as a treat and mix it in with his food. The 21$ bag lasts about 2 weeks. It was more economical for us. We don’t have the $150+ a month for the other kinds of food, but we’re happy with it!
I use Actr1um for both my dogs and my cat and they love it. I love the price, the wholesomeness and the ability to purchase it at a regular store (no specialty stores). I have checked out all the ingredients and it is pretty close to perfect. I would recommend this product to all.
Riddle me this but what other food contains the same quality ingredients for the price?
I have switched between various foods for my two dogs (GSD and a HuskyX) and after paying an arm and a leg for brands like Blue Buffulo or Royal Canin I see the same results from Actr1um. Both my dogs are extremely high energy and this food seems to be keeping up with their needs. Tesla, my GSD, eats 6+ cups a day, and is a lean 100lbs dog. Panda, the HuskyX, runs with me 6+miles and walks even more and is still going strong.
They must be doing something right!
Be VERY careful and diligent in checking the EXPIRY DATE on the cans of wet cat food. Almost EVERY time I buy it at Wal-Mart there are fresh cans at the front of the shelf, but as you take from toward the back, most of the cans have already expired. I have taken the time on more than one occasion to bring a few asmples of the expired cans to Customer Service where they routinely tell me they will remove them from the shelves, but they DO NOT. I imagine it could be quite detrimental to a cats health to feed them canned food that expired more than a year ago.
I have been using Actr1um dog and cat dry and soft products. Happy they are made in Canada. And my dog Dadiy-Bear who was picky for yeats now eats it no problem. Plus I have a cat with a chicken allergy so the fish based cat food is perfect! The wet food looks like something we would make for ourselves! Real food 🙂
I have two large breed dogs but I feed them the regular adult blend because they are very high energy dogs. I am in love with it! Their tummies are happy and so is my wallet. Great quality for the price. I also like that it is made in canada.
I’ve also used the puppy blend for my dam while she’s pregnant and breastfeeding. We recently had a litter of eleven who were all feed actrium as soon as they could eat it. All pups are in perfect health. I have to say I’m very pleased with it!
I’ve been using this brand for both my cat and dog for about 6 months. I switched from Blue Buffalo because of financial reasons and found that both pets liked it much better. My dog was no longer experiencing terrible gas; a major plus. My cat loves the fish blend, however its very smelly. They’re both thriving well. They’re happy, I’m happy, my wallet’s happy.
I have been using this food for some time, having traded it for the Royal Canin food we had been feeding our four cats for purely economic reasons and I am really happy with it. Coats are healthy, eyes are bright, and there’s been no allergy problems which we’ve encountered with a few other brands including Science Diet. I’m glad we found it.