Dog Food would this be an acceptable alternative?

[Mona]

I went to the feed store today looking for "Nutro" and never found any. We are in a small town area only, no major pet stores for hours around, so I have to reply on products that I can find fairly local. This was an hour's drive(one way) for me. They had free samples, and I took one home for my dogs. Anyway, I was reading the labels on many of the foods, and most had the what in there, and this one was a little different, as far as ingredients went. Would this be a suitable, fairly healthy type dog food to feed, especially to one that may be allergic to regular dog food??

 

[Farmhand]

If that's all you can find, I would give it a try. Maybe you could ask your Vet about it and see what he/she says about it.

 

[Shari]

I have been very happy with Dr Foster & Smith brand of pet food. They are mail order and is really easy to order from them.

Their food has none of the junk in it the normal store pet food has.

Went to this food when my son's cat Heidi was having problems, made all the difference in the world.

 

[Marty]

I have to drive like a stupid hour for Amy's Nutro at Tractor Supply,. so when I go, I buy 2 40 pound bags of the stuff.

That label looks pretty good to me, don't see any corn which is what I stay away from. The only thing is that it's low in fat. I try to get one that has a higher fat content (18 or more) for my skinny growing crazy pup here. And it seems to be really high in all that good GAGS for joints too. What is it?

 

[Jill]

From what (little) I know, that looks like a good quality dog food to me

 

[mininik]

Honestly, this food has a lot of "Ingredients to Avoid." If you can do better next time, I would definitely suggest it. The problem with asking about dog food quality on a general forum is that the majority of owners don't look beyond labels to determine what's really in the bag. If finding quality food in your area is difficult, most companies will drop ship it to your door. You might also consider home cooked or raw feeding.

Here's a couple good place to start:

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/

http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=badingredients

 

[Sterling]

Thanks for those site links. I'm bookmarking them.

 

[Farmhand]

If finding quality food in your area is difficult, most companies will drop ship it to your door. You might also consider home cooked or raw feeding.

Here's a couple good place to start:

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/

http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=badingredients

Interesting, thanks for the Links

 

[Shari]

Honestly, this food has a lot of "Ingredients to Avoid." If you can do better next time, I would definitely suggest it. The problem with asking about dog food quality on a general forum is that the majority of owners don't look beyond labels to determine what's really in the bag. If finding quality food in your area is difficult, most companies will drop ship it to your door. You might also consider home cooked or raw feeding.

Here's a couple good place to start:

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/

http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=badingredients

That is what so wonderful about Foster and Smith. I called to talk with them about their pet food, had a lot of questions. Answered pretty much everything I asked. But was was neat is one of the owners called me back to answer the two questions their pet food folks did not know. Do not find people like that very often.

 

[HGFarm]

There is a book I just read called "Food Pets Die For". It should be required reading!! It is simply disgusting and I have switched from a brand (it is not cheap either) I have used for about 30 years to something else, because it does NOT manufactor it's food in this manner. I refuse to feed my pets feeds with euthanized pets in it, or other things that go into 'rendered' ingredients, and more.

If the package lists the ingredients with USDA approved (fit for human consumption) things, you are on the right track. There are many brands out there that use quality ingredients now- but you must do your homework. Lots of things are listed 'in disguise' and sounds fine, til you find out what it really is and is made from!!!

 

[AnnaC]

I would like to add that the protein level is horrendous!! A lot of dogs will have 'allergy' symptons when all that is needed is the correct protein level. Dogs should not be fed protein higher than 10% - unless perhaps very young or breeding. Their systems cannot cope with high levels. Cats on the other hand DO require higher protein levels - around 18%.

Please try to find some food for your dog that is more 'basic' and definitely a lot lower in protein. You can always use additives for things like joint problems etc.

Cant help you with suppliers I'm afraid as too many miles away from you!!

Good luck anyway.

Anna

 

[Equuisize]

Knowledge is power and the more we learn the better we will

be able to care for our furry family members......

I'm just about to the stage of going back to cooking for Chevy,

myself, as I used to do years ago, for my other dogs.

At least I'd know exactly what was going into his body.....

The more I read, thanks to all the articles Mininik is posting

the more disgusted I get, that I've taken the easy way out

with buying prepared feeds and trusting lables and

believeing that by putting a big price tag on a bag of food makes

it better.

 

[mininik]

Actually, Anna, many dogs are thriving on high protein diets. On the other hand, a diet too LOW in protein can cause problems. Check out Innova EVO, for an example of a quality high protein diet, or the many raw diets or homecooked plans or prepacked products. Here's some more information:

http://www.thepetcenter.com/imtop/protein.html

 

[Jill]

Over the past year, like A LOT of us after the pet food scares, I've gotten even more concerned. I've always tried to feed our dogs food that I thought was good for them and not what was the most affordable -- but even then, you get surprised.

This is one reason why mine now get HOME COOKING for dinners. They love it, and I know they are not being fed anything that's not fit for humane consumption. It's also pretty easy the way I do it now. I cook a couple boxes of Barilla Plus pasta (because that has 3x the protein of regular pasta), scramble some eggs, brown some beef, chicken, or turkey, and add some green beans and mix it together. I freeze some and put some in the fridge and it's enough for their dinners all week.

During the day, they have free choice Nutro Natural Choice, but reading --- I think this will be changing to Nutro Ultra.

The pitiful thing is H cooks for us... I cook for the dee oh gees.

 

[Sterling]

Jill good idea with the freezing the foods you cook for them. I pretty much alternate in cooking for them every other day but think I will cook up a good amount and freeze it in sections and dethaw it to add it to their kibble.

Now I was reading in that one link about the Nutro Ultra....they are saying that it has beet pulp in it and it may not be the best things for dogs. Sometimes some of the write ups can confuse me...some say yes...some say no...... Interesting articles.

 

[Sixstardanes]

Since the subject of protein was come up in regards to dog food I thought I'd chime in.

I'm not trying to step on any toes so apologies if it seems as if I may be.

It's not just protein levels that is the bad thing in regards to food

its protein hand in hand with calories.

High protein fed in excess meaning alot of calories is where problems usually occur.

We feed our lil mutt & our cats Evo. However they are small entities and therefore are fed small amounts.

However, I would not feed this food to a growing large or giant breed dog.

As you can probably guess from my handle and avatar we have Great Danes.

In this giant breed a low protein diet of approximately 22-23% is what many breeders recommend

for puppies... this means most puppies fed kibble start on an adult formula.

We have been feeding raw for over 7yrs.

Many people might think that a raw diet must be high in protein because of all the meats & organs

but that's farth from the truth because this natural food is mostly water so its lower unlike kibble which is condensed which is higher.

 

[Mona]

Well, yesterday we went to Kenora, which is about 2.5 hours away. I went to a pet store there and found they sold Nutro, so I bought 2 large bags of it.(the adult lamb and rice) How much do you guys pay for this stuff?? It cost me a little over $58/40 lb bag!

I was expecting to pay more than my current food, but never expected it to be over twice as much! Anyway, I am going to price it at another place I found it, that is only about an hour and a half away from here. So now that I bought this, I come back and read that some of you that feed this, think now it is not so wise! OH! UGH! Can't win for losing!

I used to make food for the Chihuahuhas when I raised them, but also fed regular food. I tried all kinds of different things. I am not going to start cooking for my dogs, I know that, and in fact, if it wouldn't have been for Shimmer's recent "allergy" type symptoms, I would have been happy to have kept them on the same cheap food(Pedigree Mealtime) that I have used for years without any problems. Yes, I am sure there are ingedients that could be better, but then I have never been one to worry about that type of thing anyway, not even for myself. Even when I used to feed the Purina ProPlan, I had very good results with that, and then people say it's crap too, so no pleasing everyone I guess. So for now, I will put them on this Nutro, and if I see no improvement within the next year or so, I will likely just switch back to the Pedigree.

 

[Jill]

I pay $35 for 40# of the Nutro Natural Choice Lamb & Rice Adult (small bites).

 

[mininik]

#40 lb. bags of Nutro run about $36. here. Even better foods run a bit more per pound. If you think about it, paying between $1.50-2.00 a pound for MEAT and a product made without useless fillers and binders and artificial coloring and preservatives should be worth it. You'll feed less and your dog's body will use more of what what goes in, meaning less going out. Of course, a high price doesn't always mean quality - sometimes you are paying dearly for advertising (think: Science Diet or Iams/Eukanuba).

As far as Pedigree, Purina and many other more common brands go, they have MANY ingredients that could be better, or left out entirely. I think it's unfortunate that so many people don't consider what they or their pets are eating, because as you are seeing it does have a direct impact on overall health. Some things, like cancer, may not show up right away. Of course, many dogs can look great on poor quality diets, but so can many people eating junk food on a daily basis. That doesn't mean an upgrade in diet wouldn't be beneficial. "Pleasing everyone" with what you do isn't important, but knowing what ingredients are not good for your dog (such as known carcinogens, BHT/BHA) or not needed by your dog and can cause problems with allergies (such as corn or soy) SHOULD BE important.

It shouldn't take a year to see a change in your dog's allergy symptoms and if I were you, I wouldn't wait that long to make a switch. I believe most vets recommend about 60 days to see improvement. Allergies can be tough to pinpoint without testing, so it may take trying several different brands and "flavors" of high quality diets to see if any have an effect. I believe I already mentioned switching to novel protein and carbohydrate sources in another reply to you. I also posted links to places where you can easily research dog food. My other thoughts were that this may have nothing at all to do with your dog's diet. Environmental allergies are also something to consider. Once again, I encourage you to get this dog allergy tested to make this process faster for her and easier on you.

http://www.purelypets.com/articles/whatsinfood.htm

 

[Sterling]

I pay about $33.00 for the big big bag of Nutro Natural. Canidae that I was using before was a few dollars more than that, but not by much.

Mona, I've used and am using the Nutro Natural...have never tried the Nutro Ultra which they say is really good...but it also has beet pulp in it which they also say is not so good for dogs. I also mix it up with home cooking about 4 times a week....and they do get treats and hand outs/table scraps altho many people frown on that. But I can't get a piece of cheese for myself and walk away without handing out some to them.