Nutro

In 1990s, I used to feed Nutro.  At that time, Nutro was good (at that time).... used mostly known meat meal (like lamb meal) as the first ingredient, used sunflower oil as its only source of fat, I remember the high content of linoleic acid (over 4 %) because my black lab's coat used to shine like you would not believe and I got a lot of compliments. Here is the ingredient list of Natural Choice Lamb and Rice as of 2001 (I can't find older archived records then 2001):

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Slowly, (1) known meat meal (like chicken meal) is reduced and meat (like chicken) is added.  Pound for pound, I prefer chicken meal over chicken, as 1 pound of chicken meal contains more protein than 1 pound of chicken (once the water is removed). (2) sunflower oil is reduced and poultry fat is added, and (3) content linoleic acid is reduced.   Here is the ingredient list of Natural Choice Lamb and Rice as of 2005:

Lamb Meal, Ground Rice, Rice Flour, Rice Bran, 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, Choline Chloride, Zinc Sulfate, Vitamin E Supplement, Taurine, Ferrous Sulfate, Ascorbic Acid (source of Vitamin C), Biotin, Copper Proteinate, Niacin, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement (source of Vitamin B2), Vitamin A Supplement, Glucosamine Hydrochloride, Chondroitin Sulfate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (source of Vitamin B6), Thiamine Mononitrate (source of Vitamin B1), Vitamin D3 Supplement, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (source of Vitamin K activity), Calcium Iodate, Folic Acid.

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NOW, after acquisition by Mars (I believe it was in 2007), and latest changes made by Nutro (in 2008).... reduce known meal meal (see where lamb meal is now), add lamb (it is now #1 ingredient), add more grain (see brown rice), add grain/vegetable based proteins (potato protein, pea protein, and rice protein concentrate), add soybean oil (cheaper source of linoleic acid) further reduce sunflower oil..reduce egg product and etc.  Here is the ingredient list of Adult Natural Choice Lamb and Rice ( I just got it off Nutro's website) as of end of 2008:

Lamb, Ground Rice, Rice Flour, Rice Bran, Whole Brown Rice, Lamb Meal, Potato Protein, Poultry Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Rice Protein Concentrate, Natural Flavors, Pea Protein, Soybean Oil (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Sunflower Oil (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Potassium Choloride, Monocalcium Phosphate, L-Lysine, Salt, Choline Chloride, Egg Product, Dried Beet Pulp, Dried Kelp, Taurine, Vitamin E Supplement, Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate,(source of Vitamin C), Copper Proteinate, Biotin, Niacin Supplement, Garlic Flavor, Potassium Iodide, Manganous Oxide,Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement (source of Vitamin B2), Thiamine Mononitrate (source of Vitamin B1), Pyridozxine Hydrochloride (source of Vitamin B6), Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (source of Vitamin K activity), Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement.

I personally would not feed my current lab Nutro anymore.  It is not the Nutro that I used in 1990s.  I also do not want to pay premium prices for grain and vegetable proteins............when the advertising, in this case, is for lamb and rice or chicken and rice.

I was one of Nutro's biggest fan.  The last time I bought Nutro was 2001.  Now that I know better.

Take a look at this also....http://www.woodhavenlabs.com/nutro.html

Personally, Nutro isn't on top of my list or even close. However, you could do much worse. The best is their Nutro Ultra line, Nutro Natural Choice second and Nutro Max last. I think it's way overpriced for what you get. It's mainly fillers, little meat and very low protein/fat levels. I fed it to Penny for quite awhile before I got informed about higher quality foods. I saw a huge improvement with her coat when I switched her to Innova EVO. On Nutro, her coat was dry and dandruffy. However, with all this said, it would be a step up from Diamond, so I say go for it. I haven't bought Nutro is years, but I think that it may or may not be in the same price range as Canidae? You may want to check that out. Good luck.

PrincessPenny

 However, with all this said, it would be a step up from Diamond, so I say go for it.

I am not here to argue but I don't think not all Nutro products are better than Diamond.  Nutro Ultra might be but definitely not Nutro Natural Choice or Nutro Max.  If I had to pick between Nutro and Diamond, I think I would try Diamond Natural.  Again, that is my personal choice. 

I believe she's feeding the Diamond Maintenance, not Diamond Natural. Correct me if I'm wrong on that though, Meg. The DM has by-products as the first ingredient and corn ingredients, two things that Nutro atleast doesn't contain. -shrugs- I think that Nutro is atleast a wee bit better, but certainly not great.

Yea - Diamond Maintanance...which is still a step up from Kibbles N Bit or chunks or whatever. Seeing as this food isnt' as good as I was hoping - and Canidea is only sold by 2 places in my area, and I highly doubt that it will cost less then $30 for 20lbs.

What about

Natural Balance?? Price wise...very improtant, I'm *not* buying Sam's food, so, it has to be cost-friendly. I've heard good things about it on this forum(if I remember correctly)...

When I got Shadow, I knew nothing. Like you, I had, and at times, continue to have, a sheer vertical learning curve, reminiscent of El Capitan in California. It's pretty much a straight up face of rock. Anyway, a friend suggested Nutro when I got him 2004. At the time, the formula was far and away, to me, one of the better formulas and certainly better than what he had been fed. Nutro was also privately owned since it's inception in 1926. Shadow did great on it, better than he did on Innova, so if it works, leave it alone. Nutro didn't. This year, they quit making his formula, Large Breed Adult Lamb Meal and Rice. Now, they have changed the fomulas of what they do have. Meal is no longer the first ingredient. Meat is. And Meal has been moved to the back of the list, just ahead of the supplements. I'm not sure if it even meets the same as-fed profile. Anyway, these changes have taken place since the company was purchased by an investment group and then sold to Mars Co. I truly feel they are operating for the bottom dollar to requirements of suits in boardrooms. More power to them. It's a free market economy and they are free to go broke as I spend my money elsewhere. Unless they line up for a bail-out, too.

If your dog is doing okay on the food, so be it. But it's not the same food it used to be and that's not always a good thing. As for the expense of the food, as is often said elsewhere, you can feed a food and wind up with health issues that require vet visits. Or you can feed a food that works and have no visits other than vacc updates.

A food change can cause problems and similar as-fed profiles may or may not mean anything because they can't always predict what the changes will do.

Gosh, Nutro is the one subject that annoys me.  I am sorry.  You know how there were so much uproar when Canidae made changes.  Canidae ANNOUNCED the changes (at least on their website) and Canidae, at least, didn't reduce meat content.  Nutro, as far as I can remember, never really announced changes when they made them.  When Nutro was bought by Mars, soybean oil was added because it was cheaper (as the customer rep on the phone told me, "it was an inexpensive source of linoleic acid...";).  When they discontinued adult lamb and rice, Nutro was actually introducing new formulas reducing known meat meals with known meats, adding grain based proteins (rice, potato, pea).

I think Nutro is becoming a (meat flavored) vegetarian dog food company....lol.

I know that Canidae has changed formulas, but I was paying under $30 for a 40 lb bag.

If  you look at Nutro Ultra, it's the same price, or higher than a really good food like Blue and you feed LESS of the Blue.  Please remember that the recommended feeding amounts are rarely accurate.

During the big recall some idog dogs were sickened by Nutro.  Molly was my foster pup, born in my home, and had Mary not been right on it when she started "leaking" Molly could have died.  And I know that this past spring or summer they had another issue that they didn't own up to, but said they were changing their packaging to account for the empty shelves.  And please don't forget that Mars, the parent company JUST had another recall of their "lesser" brands due to salmenella in one of the plants.  This is yet another company I don't trust.

 I wouldn't touch Nutro with a 10 foot pole. 

Natural Balance would probably be over your budget, since it's about $40-50 for a 30lb bag (depending on what formula you get).   Are you unable to afford Diamond Naturals? It's REALLY cheap.   What about a Costco---do you have one in your area? 

It's not that we cant afford it. But the place we were at when I finaly got Mom to cave in and buy something better then KnB, all they had was Proformance, Maintanance, and Puppy. No Naturals. I'll go to a Pet Store and get Naturals next bag. I'm **trying** to get them on food better then that, but it is going to be a looooong sloooooow procese to get my parents to agree to feeding the more expensive foods.

Hi Meg!

I found the following locations where diamond is sold - probably what you would do is call ahead and see whether they have the Naturals line.  Most at least carry one of the brands - the Extreme Athlete is very popular - Sam doesn't need the level of energy that product provides but you can cut in lots of yummy veggies, lean meat, fruit, etc, if the EA is all you can find.

Southern Gin & Grain Co.
121 S. C Street
Fayetteville, North Carolina 28301
Phone: 910-483-5065
Distance: 1.0 miles

Family Farm Store
528 Person Street
Fayetteville, North Carolina 28301
Phone: 910-483-6309
Distance: 1.0 miles

Stuttgart East
500 E. Russell St.
Fayetteville, North Carolina 28301
Phone: 910-321-9550
Distance: 1.1 miles

Short Stop #63
1007 Arsenal Ave
Fayetteville, North Carolina 28305
Phone: 910-483-0020
Distance: 1.4 miles

All About Pets
3035 C Boone Trail Extension
Fayetteville, North Carolina 28304
Phone: 910-486-4636
Distance: 3.7 miles

Evans Hardware
4023 Sunnyside School Road
Fayetteville, North Carolina 28301
Phone: 910-323-1188
Distance: 4.9 miles

Furney Register
3398 Gabe Smith Rd
Wade, North Carolina 28395
Phone: 910-484-9606
Distance: 5.5 miles

Lake Rim Lawn & Garden
7604 Raeford Road
Fayetteville, North Carolina 28304
Phone: 910-867-1790
Distance: 9.4 miles

Tractor Supply #223
8000 Raeford Road
Fayetteville, North Carolina 28304
Phone: 910-868-6222

 

I *know* that All About Pets sell the Naturals. I'll call and ask around at the others. Thanks Becca!!

misstrouble

I'm **trying** to get them on food better then that, but it is going to be a looooong sloooooow procese to get my parents to agree to feeding the more expensive foods.

That's the entire problem, right there, isn't it? It's not that you don't know about the foods, it's that your parents are squawking about paying more for "just dog food." Only thing I can suggest is to point out that eating better foods means dogs don't get sick as often.