Info about Petsmart and Nutrical
 

The other night a new poster asked about Nutrical. She said she had been to Petsmart and was told that she had to get it from a vet. I had bought some just the week before without a problem.

Today, I was in Petsmart again. This time, there was no Nutrical on the shelves. I asked my friend who works there and he said that Petsmart has decided not to carry it any more. Instead, they are carrying GNC brand. It's called GNC Ultra Mega High Calorie Booster and is located in the supplement aisle. It looks like this:

Thanks for the info!!! i normally get mine from Petco.... do u know for how long do i have to give me baby this supplement?

Thanks!

I ordered mine off the net, can't remember what website but it was a little cheaper than the store. My vet also carries it.

Wow I called PetSmart and asked if they carried it and they apparently lied to me and told me that GNC bought out the Nutrical product and that they do carry the GNC kind. Ha! What a joke! They flat out lied to me! No wonder I'm seeing it everywhere other than PetSmart!

Petco still has it but its in an orange tube now not white like it used to be.

The GNC brand is NOT the same as Nutracal. When I was going to bring Mina home I read the label of the GNC brand and it didnt sound very healthy to me. I asked at the Banfield desk and was able to purchase the Nutracal from them.

That's odd. I wonder why it's harder to find now? We had it when Bentley was very young, he had hypoglycemia that caused a seizure because he refused to eat the food we gave him. He's always been a difficult dog to get to eat. He'll eat human food no problem but if it's formulated for dogs, he generally hates it. Luckily he doesn't get hypoglycemia anymore since he's grown up but in case he needed it I wanted to find it in stores. Thanks for letting me know that it's available in petsmart AT banfield. Petsmart is closest to us but luckily I haven't needed it. I was trying to get Bentley to eat his food that we just switched to since he is a poor eater. He has a poor appetite most of the time (except when it comes to some dog treats which dad was feeding a lot of during the evening, daily.).. Since we basically stopped that we have had some luck getting him to eat at least 1/2 of what he is supposed to eat daily of kibble. Some days more, some days less. He could stand to lose a little weight though. I'll get him into the vet to be weighed in about a week when my parents get back from vacation. So hopefully he maintains weight with what he is eating so I don't have to obsess about him eating enough. I"ve been using Nupro supplement powder in his food (making a gravy out of it and coating all the kibble in it).. He likes it much better that way. So I don't think I need to buy nutrical since he's eating some.

The main ingredient of Nutri-cal and the actual ingredient that helps is corn syrup. Corn syrup is sugar that is made from corn. The reason it’s used is because it gets into the blood stream faster than other types of sugar. While Nutri-cal has a few vitamins thrown in, they do nothing to help with hypoglycemia and are more for consumers who want to give their dogs something nutritious, so it “sounds” better. Products like nutri-cal are great if your dog is prone to hypoglycemia, but shouldn't be overused. Most dogs will never need it. The GNC Ultra Mega High Calorie Booster has a more honest name, and its main ingrediant is corn syrup, but it would probably be much cheaper to just use plain old Karo's white corn syrup and rub a little bit on the gums or roof of the moth. By the way, reviews of the chicken flavor GNC Ultra Mega High Calorie Booster were not good, everyone that I read, said that their dogs hated it. Do not give any of these products to your dogs just for the heck of it, it's for treating hypoglycemia and because hypoglycemic dogs often lose their appetite, a little sugar or corn syrpu can stimulate the appetite and cause the dogs to eat.

I wanted to get NutriCal for Sam's homecoming trip kit. I also did some checking on the GNC stuff that PetSmart sells. There were some truly horrendous reviews on it. I wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot pole!

I called my vet's office, which is just 4 miles from my house, and was able to pick up a tube of NutriCal on my way to the breeder's house. I still give it to him before I leave in the morning, because I know his bowl will still be at least half full when I get home.

My vet always had me use local honey or Karo syrup, said Nutrical was just more expensive.

I didnt like the Nutrical I always use Karo syrup. She doesnt need it now but I always keep some in her bag just in case. I still have a full tube of Nutrical if someone wants it. Just PM me and I will be more then willing to send it to you.

I would be cautious about doing this. Giving pure carbs such as sugar causes the body to produce insulin and if the carbs are not quickly followed by protein, it can induce hypoglycemia, not prevent. Just a heads-up.;)

Yes, while sugar can stimulate the appetite, it can also fill them up enough that they don't want the food, and like you say, if no protein is followed, it can induce hypoglycemia. It's kind of like giving a kid a candy bar for breakfast.

I don't give him much, maybe a pea size dollop on my finger, hoping to stimulate his appetite. Guess I'm damned if I do, damned if I don't with the little heathen. It's a good thing I love him so much already, LOL!

:thumbup: When Callie was having her hypo issues the vet told me it was very important to get some food in her after getting her sugar up.