[Jade]

I just thought I'd see if anyone else uses this food. It's new from Nutro and all natural - my pup's tolerating it really well. I spent 35 minutes in the dog food aisles and this seemed to be the best choice they had. His previous owners were feeding some sort of Eukanuba but didn't tell us what kind so we kind of had to switch him cold turkey. I'm mixing a bland diet from work (i/d) in with it because that's what they fed him in the hospital, but he's really liking the food and hasn't had an upset tummy at all. I'm also sprinkling a little acidophilus on the food to help things along.

Here are the ingredients:
Chicken Meal, Brown Rice, Rice Bran, Lamb Meal, Poultry Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols, natural source of Linoleic Acid), Ground Rice, Sunflower Oil (preserved with mixed tocopherols, natural source of Linoleic Acid), Flaxseed (natural source of Alpha-Linolenic Acid), Natural Flavors, Beet Pulp, Alfalfa (natural source of Chlorophyll), Salmon Meal (natural source of DHA), Oatmeal, Tomato Pomace (natural source of Lycopene), Fish Oil (preserved with mixed tocopherols, natural source of DHA), Cranberry, Dried Egg Product, Kelp (natural source of Iodine), Taurine, Bacillus Lichenformis Fermentation Extract, Bacillus Subtilis Fermentation Extract, L-Carnitine, Glucosamine Hydrochloride, Chondroitin Sulfate, Garlic (natural source of Selenium), Marigold Extract (natural source of Lutein), Lycopene.

Natural Choice Ultra Vitamins & Minerals
Potassium Chloride, Vitamin E Supplement, Zinc Sulfate, Zinc Proteinate, Choline Chloride, Ferrous Sulfate, Ascorbic Acid (source of Vitamin C), Biotin, Manganese Proteinate, Manganous Oxide, Niacin, Calcium Iodate, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin B-12 Supplement, Riboflaven Supplement (source of Vitamin B-2), Vitamin A Supplement, Copper Sulfate, Pyridoxene Hydrochloride (source of Vitamin B6), Copper Proteinate, Sodium Selenite, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Beta-Carotene, Menadione Sodium Complex (source of Vitamin K activitiy), Folic Acid.
Nutro supports the safe, ethical and humane treatment of all animals, including those used by our suppliers who provide our ingredients.

Guaranteed Analysis
Crude Protein (min) 30.00%
Crude Fat (min) 15.00%
Crude Fiber (max) 4.00%
Moisture (max) 10.00%
Linoleic Acid (min) 4.00%
Zinc (min) 250 mg/kg
Vitamin E (min) 160 IU/kg
Ascorbic Acid* (min) 35 mg/kg
Docosahexanoic Acid* (DHA)(min) 0.03 mg/kg
Alpha-Linolenic Acid (min)* 0.65%
L-Carnitine* (min) 75.00 mg/kg
Lutein(min)* 10.00 mg/kg
Beta-Carotene (min) 0.50 mg/kg
Lycopene (min) 0.25 mg/kg
Taurine (min) 1000 mg/kg
Selenium (min) 0.30 mg/kg
Chondroitin Sulfate* (min) 150 mg/kg
Glucosamine (min)* 190 mg/kg
*Animal feeding tests using the *AAFCO procedures substantiate that Natural Choice Ultra Puppy provides complete and balanced nutrition for growth and maintenance.

http://www.nutroproducts.com/ncup.asp

 

[RSbunny]

I think that's what Jackie uses for her dogs Steph and if it is she swears by it.

 

[Scarlette]

I'm feeding Nutro Max Puppy and Riley loves it. Plus she seems to have less poops than when I gave my other puppies Science Diet. :shrug:

 

[Chrisanne]

My dogs are eating Canidae, but that sounds great Steph

 

[Jodi]

It sounds pretty good Steph, I just like my dogs to have something that doesn't have "meal" as the first ingredient. Like real beef or real chicken or real lamb.

 

[andreaS15]

My dog eat's Nutros' Lamb & Rice. Her coat is so soft, bright and shiney. So far I like this choice because it's a real reasonable price for a very decent food. I was feeding a excellent local food, but the price was just way to out of my range.

I was given this link (can't remember by who) about what goes into cat food, really it can be translated into 'dog' food ingredients. But I found it very interesting, with alot of information. Anyways if you are interested in the terms and history of pet food ingredients i recomend this read - Cat Food Uncovered

 

[Jade]

It sounds pretty good Steph, I just like my dogs to have something that doesn't have "meal" as the first ingredient. Like real beef or real chicken or real lamb.

There really is no difference in 'meal' or just chicken when it comes to your pet food. Here's the official AAFCO definition for chicken meal:
Chicken Meal : chicken which has been ground or otherwise reduced in particle size.

And here's the one for Chicken itself:
Chicken : the clean combination of flesh and skin with or without accompanying bone, derived from the parts or whole carcasses of chicken or a combination thereof, exclusive of feathers, heads, feet and entrails.

http://www.nutroproducts.com/faqdogcat.asp#chicken

If it were simply 'meat meal' or 'poultry meal' I'd not even consider it as a food. Those can contain any one of different meats at different processing times, so it isn't reliable as a steady diet.

 

[kittygurl823]

I think that's what Jackie uses for her dogs Steph and if it is she swears by it.

Carmen, I think maybe it's Brandy who feeds Nutro to her doxies and they have really liked it? :scratch: I feed both Solid Gold and Wellness to my dogs, they love it!! But Nutro sounds like a very good food though, heard great things about it!!! :thumbsup: Sounds good Steph!

 

[Laurie]

I've been feeding my dog Nutro for over a year now and she loves it.

 

[Dena]

I use Nutro Natural Max for both of mine and my cats (they get natural choice, but same company) I saw the Nutro Ultra a few months ago but it only came in little bags but recently I found a pet store that sells it in the big bags. The only thing I don't like is that it contains fruit which changes into sugar and can increase weight. I really like the Paul Newmans organic line of dog food but am still doing some research on it. My dogs may need a serious diet. I had no idea they were getting so fat. They need to lose about 10 pounds at least so changing right now may not be a good idea.

 

[pihlaja]

The breeder we got Seamus from fed him Nutro for small and medium breed puppies and I wasn't that wild about it. Seamus wasn't gaining too much weight with it at the rate he should have been and the kibble pieces were so small that he swallowed the whole most of the time (and they were a PAIN to pick up off the floor, too). Not to mention his poos were a funky green-brown colour the WHOLE time he was on that food. When I switched him to Royal Canin for medium breed puppies, he filled out more and didn't look so skinny and his coat attained some luster that it didn't have before. But, that's regular Nutro. I don't know if the Natural is any good or not. :scratch2: You'll have to tell us how it works out.

 

[Chinchilla_Girl]

Kali and Orion both have been on Nutro Max puppy and Nutro Natural Max their whole lives...done extremely well...haven't tried that new stuff though

 

[pitbulliest]

Nutro is a pretty crappy brand to be honest with you. Alot of times its grouped with brands like IAMS and Pedigree amongst a few other shzt brands. I definately don't recommend it. This new "natural" Nutro seems like a bunch of pooh to me. Not to mention, all the main proteins are "Meals"..which is basically the leftover junk from the livestock...whatever it may be..fish..chicken..beef..

I would look into wellness, solid gold, or canidae..some other great and natural brands include wysong, and eagle pack. If you're gonna pay a bit more for dog food, might as well get the best quality you can find right? These brands have all natural human grade ingredients..meaning you could basically eat the kibble yourself if you really wanted to. Go ahead and smell the fish and sweet potatoe kibble by Wellness and you'll see what I mean.

Anyways. Hope you definately decide whats best for your dog. Diet plays a crucial part on their health and life span.

 

[Jade]

Solid gold doesn't look any better to me ... ?

Solid Gold's ingredients:
Hundchen Flocken Puppy (lamb)
Lamb Meal | Ground Millet | Ground Brown Rice | Canola Oil | Flaxseed Oil | Menhaden Fish Meal | Ground Barley | Rice Bran | Amaranth | Garlic | Blueberries | Yucca Schidigera Extract | Taurine | Carotene | Choline Chloride | Calcium Carbonate | Vitamin E Supplement | Iron Proteinate | Vitamin A Supplement | Zinc Proteinate | Niacin Supplement | Folic Acid | Thiamine | Pyridoxine Hydrochloride | Manganese Proteinate | Menadione Sodium Bisulfate Complex | Copper Proteinate | Ethylenediamine Dihydriodide |
http://www.solidgoldhealth.com/products/showcat.php?cat=0



Nor does Wysong - I don't want any corn or soybeans in my dog food because they're both known allergens.

*DRY DIET INGREDIENTS:
Chicken, Ground Corn, Ground Wheat, Ground Brown Rice, Ground Extruded Whole Soybeans, Poultry Fat, Corn Gluten Meal, Ground Oat Groats, Dried Whey, Salt.
http://wysong.net/Merchant2/merchan...Code=GROWTH&Category_Code=CD&Product_Count=12



Canidae uses meals too ...
Ingredients

Chicken Meal, Turkey Meal, Brown Rice, White Rice, Lamb Meal, Chicken Fat (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols, Citric Acid), Herring Meal, Flax Seed, Sun Cured Alfalfa Meal, Sunflower Oil, Chicken, Lecithin, Monocalcium Phosphate, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Linoleic Acid, Rosemary Extract, Sage Extract, Yeast Culture, Dried Enterococcus Faecium, Dried Lactobacillus Acidophilus Fermentation Product, Dried Aspergillus Oryzae Fermentation Extract, Dried Bacillus Subtilis Fermentation Extract, Inulin (from Chicory root), Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Fermentation Solubles, Yucca Schidigera Extract Mixed Tocopherols (source of Vitamin E), Zinc Amino Acid Chelate, Manganese Amino Acid Chelate, Iron Amino Acid Chelate, Copper Amino Acid Chelate, Cobalt Amino Acid Chelate, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Ascorbic Acid (source of Vitamin C), Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Riboflavin (source of B2), Beta Carotene, Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Calcium Iodate, Folic Acid, D-Biotin, Sodium Selenite, Dried Papaya, Vitamin B12 Supplement.
http://www.canidae.com/

My understanding of meals is they're just reduced particle size and removed moisture. By-products are the 'left over junk,' usually.

 

[Jodi]

Stephanie, have you checked any of the Proplan products?
Proplan.com

 

[Chrisanne]

Yep, Canidae uses meals too.

 

[Jade]

Stephanie, have you checked any of the Proplan products?
Proplan.com

Thanks for the link.

The by-products and corn will quickly make me turn that one down, though. As will the brewer's rice (Brewer's Rice : the dried extracted residue of rice resulting from the manufacture of wort (liquid portion of malted grain) or beer and may contain pulverized dried spent hops in an amount not to exceed 3 percent.) - it's so highly processed, there's little nutrition left.

Ingredients:
Chicken, brewers rice, poultry by-product meal, corn gluten meal, whole grain wheat, beef tallow preserved with mixed-tocopherols (source of Vitamin E), whole grain corn, corn bran, natural flavors, egg product, hydrolyzed sunflower oil, dicalcium phosphate, salt, potassium chloride, choline chloride, L-Lysine monohydrochloride, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, vitamin supplements (E, A, B-12, D-3), riboflavin supplement, niacin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, biotin, thiamine mononitrate, folic acid, copper sulfate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, garlic oil, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), calcium iodate, sodium selenite.

Ingredients:
Lamb, brewers rice, chicken meal, corn gluten meal, whole grain wheat, beef tallow preserved with mixed-tocopherols (source of Vitamin E), whole grain corn, corn bran, egg product, natural flavors, dicalcium phosphate, potassium chloride, calcium carbonate, salt, L-Lysine monohydrochloride, choline chloride, vitamin supplements (E, A, B-12, D-3), zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, riboflavin supplement, niacin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, biotin, thiamine mononitrate, folic acid, copper sulfate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, garlic oil, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), calcium iodate, sodium selenite

 

[Jodi]

Well, that's the problem with a lot of the dog foods. Brewers rice isn't all that great but IMO meals aren't all that great either. The lesser of 2 evils, eh?

 

[Jade]

:lol: You're totally right. There really can't be a 'best' diet out there - it's what works best for your dogs and what you're comfortable feeding. People will go 'round and 'round about it and there really is no one answer. I learned this quickly in the chin world.

Pugs are really prone to allergies, so I'm trying to avoid a problem by excluding corn and soy products. Not to mention all the nasty preservatives and by-products that are a given to avoid. I don't have a problem with meals myself - they're just (per http://www.aafco.org/COMPLETE_INSPECTORS_MANUAL.pdf) an ingredient that has been ground or otherwise reduced in particle size.

 

[Crazy Chin Lady]

Jade, here's another link for you.

http://www.royalcanin.us/

We feed our cats the Royal Canin line. I have to switch Doodles over to the slim line, because she's becoming overweight and we were hoping to keep her on the indoor formula by them.

Harley was on Sensible Choice chicken and rice, but the vet told us she had an allergy to it.

Now, she's on Eukanuba fish and potato. :yuck: