Nutro comparable to Iams?

Nutro is tons better than Iams. The Nutro Max would be the smallest step up, Nutro Natural Choice would be even better and Nutro Ultra is the best of the Nutro foods.

Some brands that are even better for comparable prices to Max and Natural Choice are Canidae and Chicken Soup. For what Ultra costs you can get most of the other brands mentioned here.

www.canidae.com
http://www.chickensoupforthepetloverssoul.com/products/dogs/dry_food

It really seems to vary from forum to forum. Some people compare it to Iams and consider it a poor choice, others keep it right up there with Innova and Merrick, but not quite up there with Timberwolf or raw.

I would say look at your dog, and what do YOU think? If you aren't sure, feed it for 3 months, and then try something new. If you like the newer food better, great, if you don't think there is any difference, then choose the food you and your dog like best.

It certainly isn't a poor quality food, so I wouldn't worry too much about it.

Thanks, that seems like solid advice. They're on Natural Choice right now; I'll see if I notice a difference in the GSP in three months. The Boxer (rescue) has Demodex and is so unhealthy, anything is a step up [:@] Thanks!

Although I would not say it is a huge step up from Iams and nothing about it jumps out at me that I would consider special,  I don't think Nutro is a bad food.  I have fed the Natural Choice to my cats, although my dachshund did have a bad experience with the Ultra formula. I know several people who feed the natural choice and their dogs looked healthy and their coats were nice.  I would much rather see people feeding Nutro than Pedigree, Ol Roy, Dog Chow etc...

Nutro Natural Choice is a good food.  Better than Iams and Pedigree.  If your dog does well on it, great.  It's a good food.

Wow.  I must be the only one that thinks Iams is better! 

My main reason:
Nutro Max and Natural choice formulas only have around 20% protein (which from looking at the list is most likely NOT primarily from meat).

However, if you are talking about Nutro Ultra...I think that is better.

ORIGINAL: papillon806

(which from looking at the list is most likely NOT primarily from meat

Where do you think the protein in Nutro comes from? Where do you think the protein in Iams come from? White rice (Nutro) is extremely low protein when compared to sorghum and corn (Iams).

ORIGINAL: sooner

ORIGINAL: papillon806

(which from looking at the list is most likely NOT primarily from meat

Where do you think the protein in Nutro comes from? Where do you think the protein in Iams come from? White rice (Nutro) is extremely low protein when compared to sorghum and corn (Iams).

 
That's what I was thinking.  It seems that has a lower crude protein%  because of the lack of corn gluten etc...

My mom's dog eats Nutro Ultra and is doing very well. For comparison, she has eaten Iams, Nutro Natural Choice, Purina ONE, and Authority  in the past - the Nutro Ultra is definitely giving the best results for her.

Animal protein sources highlighted.  Even though Iams uses some plant-protein sources, it still has more meat sources and has more digestible protein.  20% protein is not healthy for the average dog.

Nutro Natural Choice adult lamb & rice:

Lamb Meal, Ground Rice, Rice Flour, Rice Bran, Soybean Oil, Sunflower Oil (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of natural Vitamin E), Poultry Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of natural Vitamin E), Natural Flavors, Rice Gluten**, Dried Egg Product, Dried Beet Pulp, Potassium Chloride, L-Lysine, Dried Kelp (source of Iodine), Salt

Crude Protein (minimum) 21.00%

**and it does contain the gluten portion of a grain exclusively

Iams Adult:

Chicken, Corn Meal, Ground Whole Grain Sorghum, Chicken By-Product Meal, Chicken Fat (Preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Dried Beet Pulp (Sugar Removed), Natural Chicken Flavor, Fish Meal, Potassium Chloride, Dried Egg Product, Brewers Dried Yeast, Salt, Flax Meal

Crude Protein not less than 26.0%

Now lets compare apples to apples:

Nutro Natural Choice Lamb & Rice
Lamb Meal, Ground Rice, Rice Flour, Rice Bran, Soybean Oil, Sunflower Oil (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of natural Vitamin E), Poultry Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of natural Vitamin E),

Crude Protein (minimum) 21.00%

Iams Lamb & Rice
Lamb Meal, Brewers Rice, Corn Meal, Ground Whole Grain Sorghum, Corn Grits, Chicken By-Product Meal, Ground Whole Grain Barley, Chicken Fat (Preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E),

Crude Protein not less than 22.0%

The rice that follows the lamb meal in the Nutro is relatively low in protein, so I'm comfortable that the majority of protein in the food is meat based.

The 2 corns, sorghum and barley that follow the lamb in the Iams are relatively high in protein and even with the addition of those the protein of the food is low, so I don't believe that most of the protein in the food is meat based.

How about apples to apples again?  All lamb based foods are going to be lower in protein anyways (i didn't think Nutro had a chicken one, but now I see...so here):

Nutro Natural Choice CHICKEN formula:

Chicken Meal, Rice Flour, Ground Rice, Rice Bran, Poultry Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of natural Vitamin E), Oatmeal, Soybean Oil, Sunflower Oil (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of natural Vitamin E), Natural Flavor, Dried Beet Pulp, Potassium Chloride, Dried Egg Product, Dried Kelp (source of Iodine),

Crude Protein (minimum) 21.00%

Iams adult CHICKEN formula:

Chicken, Corn Meal, Ground Whole Grain Sorghum, Chicken By-Product Meal, Chicken Fat (Preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Dried Beet Pulp (Sugar Removed), Natural Chicken Flavor, Fish Meal, Potassium Chloride, Dried Egg Product, Brewers Dried Yeast, Salt, Flax Meal

Crude Protein not less than 26.0%

Also, if you notice in both the Nutro NC Lamb and Chicken formulas--they are followed by 3 or more different rice fractions, meaning there is more rice in the food than the ingredient listed first (chicken or lamb meal).....

Just my opinion though....

How about apples to apples again? All lamb based foods are going to be lower in protein anyways

 
  This is OT, but Sensible Choice lamb and Rice is 25% protein. Here's the ingredients;
 
     Lamb meal, brewers rice, brown rice, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), beet pulp, natural lamb flavor, rice hulls, brewers yeast, potassium chloride, salt, DL-methionine, monosodium phosphate, zinc proteinate, choline chloride, [size=1]L-[/size]lysine, vitamin E [size=1][/size]supplement, zinc oxide, iron sulfate, manganese proteinate, copper proteinate, copper sulfate, manganous oxide, rosemary extract, sodium selenite, ascorbic acid (source of vitamin C), vitamin A supplement, calcium pantothenate, biotin, niacin supplement, calcium iodate, riboflavin supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, thiamine mononitrate, vitamin B supplement, vitamin D supplement
 
 Can you tell by reading the ingredients if the protein is mainly from the lamb meal? If so, this is pretty good for a lamb based food isn't it?
 
 
 

But the rice in the chicken Nutro still contains very little protein, so the protein in the food comes mainly from chicken.

The 5% difference in protein could come from the by-product meal or the corn and sorghum, or both. Who knows?

ORIGINAL: papillon806

Also, if you notice in both the Nutro NC Lamb and Chicken formulas--they are followed by 3 or more different rice fractions, meaning there is more rice in the food than the ingredient listed first (chicken or lamb meal).....

The chicken that is listed first in the Iams includes water so corn is the main ingredient in that food.