Nutro Natural Choice?

[Jenna AK]

A few weeks ago my hubby brought a new puppy home. (Not a Yorkie, this is a husky+dachsund+pomeranian female about 10 weeks old now if the folks who were selling them in front of Petco were right.) We decided to shun the Science Diet from the vet since it didn't do our last dogs any good and he bought Natural Balance dry and also this Nutro Natural Choice wet for her and she seems to do okay on it. Jenna has had the odd adult formula that comes home when hubby isn't minding what he grabs off the shelf. Since I'm in the market for something that doesn't irritate her like the NB does now, I'd like some opinions/info on the quality from other Yorkie mums & dads who may have tried it. Thankies!

[MorkieMomma]

We had our Brussels on Nutro Natural Choice for a number of years, and he always seemed to do well on it (or so I thought). However, Bella came home and during the transition phase, her doodee had little blood spots in it. I took her to the vet immediately of course, and he said her food's composition was far too grainy, which was causing her tummy to react with inflammation and minor bleeding. She had parvo testing (antibody testing too) because of the blood, which of course she didn't have (she's up to date on all her vaccinations).` As well as a slew of other tests, and this is what was concluded.

He then went on to tell me that by nature, dogs are carnivores and that grains do not have a high digestibility in canines, sometimes very difficult for certain dogs to digest. Bella is one of these dogs. He said really all grains such as rice, corn, etc will do is create more feces, lol! He said mixing 1/8th Teaspoon of pure honey with one tablespoon of organic oatmeal prepared with water once a week is a nice treat for small breed dogs, and shouldn't cause any stomach discomfort, but not to have grains as a regular dietary intake in their kibble. Go figure. =/ I'm sure vets are varied on this too...I'm just giving the viewpoint from our vet.

Sure enough, we tried another brand (at the urging of some friends on another board). It's called Orijen puppy and she barely had any transition problems whatsoever. Both diarrhea and bleeding stopped. There's zero grain in it, and we get it automatically delivered. They have it in puppy, adult, senior, and some others I don't remember. Additionally, it is animal-based protein content, which is easily processed by the liver and kidneys, whereas low quality proteins (horns, hooves, etc) are the ones that could cause liver/kidney issues.

Our Brussels (who will be 12 years old next June) also eats puppy food, and I'm amazed at his coat shine, and clear eyes and lack of tear stains since switching to Orijen - and we never have to shop for it, it comes to us. To those curious/worried, he's on puppy food at the vet's urging. As long as his liver enzymes stay within his age normalities, the puppy food is better for his particular system.

So all in all, I wouldn't 'recommend' Nutro because of the high grain content but at the same time it's better than a lot of others out there, and every dog is different. Yours may do exceedingly well on Nutro!! I just wanted to give our experience with it, and explain why our dogs no longer eat it.

[MorkieMomma]

Oh, I wanted to add that we also tried "Taste of the Wild" which is another good food. However, it caused the WORST smelling gas and doodees imaginable, so that went bye bye quickly. lol

I wanted to add that because some people LOVE Taste of the Wild and their dogs are absolutely wonderful on it, and very healthy! It simply didn't work for our older dog, and his stomach was constantly cramping with gas - and omg the smelllll.

Just like Nutro...yours might do awesome on it where ours don't.

[kjc]

I've never fed Nutro anything... too many recalls on it.

[LuvTaycieGirl]

Google Nutro Consumer Affairs. Wouldn't touch it with a 10 ft. pole.

[Lovetodream88]

I would never feed Nutro!

[OwnedByJezebel]

I have a two year old that I got at the age of 1 as a rehome. The previous owners gave us his food -- Nutro Natural Choice and some biscuits/treats for sensitive stomachs. They also said that he was a "picky eater."

They thought they were feeding him the best food there was, and I knew about all of the digestive problems with Nutro Natural Choice, but I didn't correct them, I wasn't going to lecture them while they were in the process of giving up their dog to me.

I put him on Nature's Variety frozen raw and Nature's Variety kibble and Acana Kibble. He ate like he was starving, and has an excellent appetite. Not picky at all. I think he didn't eat well for them because the Nutro didn't agree with him. He is thriving now.

[Britster]

Originally Posted by LuvTaycieGirl

Google Nutro Consumer Affairs. Wouldn't touch it with a 10 ft. pole.

[sganow]

I wouldn't ever feed Nutro anything! There are many other good foods for around the same price as the Nutro. Nature's Variety is good. Taste of the Wild seems good. I have tried Before Grain and my dogs loved it. I have tried all of these but haven't settled on one specific one yet. I like variety and rotation, so I tend to vary what I feed.

[Jenna AK]

Thanks everyone. We'll switch her to Natural Balance wet since she's already eating the dry.
The only place in Alaska that sells Orijen is in Anchorage (I'm in Fairbanks) and only 25 lb bags...does anyone know where I could get samples to try on them first? I don't see anything like that offered on their website.

[Lovetodream88]

Originally Posted by Jenna AK

Thanks everyone. We'll switch her to Natural Balance wet since she's already eating the dry.
The only place in Alaska that sells Orijen is in Anchorage (I'm in Fairbanks) and only 25 lb bags...does anyone know where I could get samples to try on them first? I don't see anything like that offered on their website.

They don't do free samples but you can buy a really small bag like less then a pound on amazon.

[OwnedByJezebel]

You can go to Luke's All Natural ( Dry Dog Food Sampler Pack - Luke's All Natural Pet Food ) and they will put together a sample pack of different super-premium kibbles for you.

You can specify what you are interested in. I wanted them to select all life stages foods, since at the time I had both a puppy and an adult and wanted them to eat the same food. They stuffed the box full, even throwing in a few sample sizes of treats and shampoo. Once I settled on the brand and type of food, I just used the rest as treats.