Nutro?

[michelehbc]

Okay, I feed Bailey Science Diet. Because that's what my vet recommended, right..duh. That's what all vets recommend, because they sell it. ( <---that's coming from my professor..:rotfl:)

Well, I was thinking about switching him to Nutro, but they have had all those recalls... and that makes me squirm a little.

Also, he is 10 months, and has about a half a large container of puppy food left. Should I switch him to adult food and mix it in? :scratch:

What do you think? I know there are all those stickys about food, but..well..I want Opinions on this! :rotfl:

[Otto'sMom]

I'm bitter at Nutro because Menu Foods company had an outside firm feed food they knew to be contaminated to cats to see if it really would kill them.

No more Nutro in my house.

[areese]

Find the rate your dog food link in "Got Food" and find a better food than either of those. I feed Chicken Soup. I believe I rated it at 112 or something using that rating scale.
BTW, not all vets recommend Science Diet, mine does not.
I'd prob mix his puupy food in with his new adult food until it's gone but he can be on adult food now.

[Tex]

I think that you can start feeding the adult food at about 12 months (that's what I think I remember, but go with the age your vet says.....)......

I feed Innova (the small bites) and my two LOVE it!!! We mix it with french cut green beans (low sodium :) )......(started this to get a little weight off of Julie, and they like it so much, we just stuck with it).

I like to read the different sites (stickied under got food mostly), and there is a site that somebody (sorry can't remember who, it's early :coffee: ) just posted that rates food by stars. I found it....it's http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/ I found that one very helpful. Good luck!!!

[quavec]

I'm bitter at Nutro because Menu Foods company had an outside firm feed food they knew to be contaminated to cats to see if it really would kill them.



That's one reason for us not to feed it, the other is that Cricket didn't do well on it. I'd do a little research and see what else is out there that might be a bit higher grade - and in your price range. You've still got enough to last him a bit. As for mixing it together, I don't. Only because if Cricket has belly issues, I won't be able to know for sure if it's a bug or the food. I've always fed what I've got until it was gone then switched (unless the current food makes them sick). Some suggest mixing it though and it works for them. Each dog is different.

BTW, Cricket was on Nutro in the beginning and although he didn't have any serious issues with it (poo was a bit off and he did itch), I switched him to NB and his coat got shinier and his poo was more consistent and firm.

[Bella's Mom]

We use Eagle Pack and the pups have done VERY well on it. www.eaglepack.com.

[Chris]

My boys are on Nutro Ultra until we can switch.
They do much better on it than other Nutro products.
I live in the sticks and have to drive aways to get Solid Gold, Natural Balance is offered at a place 1 1/2 hours from me, etc, so i have to be serious about the food and if i think we can get there at reasonable enough intervals to get it.
I have narrowed it down between 2 or 3 now...

[catstamm]

Sweetie...the vet recommend Science Diet because he makes a commission for it when he sells it ....NOT because it is good food.... it is actually terrible food ...Nutro is mid -Grade....
After 6 mths of age a dachshund doesn't need to be on puppy food ....
There is a great "Rate your dog food" Quiz on this board ...I'll try to find it...here you go..
http://www.doxielovers.com/dlc/showthread.php?t=4715&highlight=Rate+food
Keep in mind Vets are medical doctors, not Nutritionists...
My Girls eat Canidae and Wellness Super5

[oceangirls]

You can switch him to adult at this age (except I probably wouldn't feed Evo until he's a little older, since it's not recommended for puppies).

Science Diet would not be my top choice (it has a lot of corn and other grains). Is there a specific reason you were interested in Nutro, or is it difficult for you to find other foods where you live? If not, there are probably better options, like the suggestions below. I switched mine from Pedigree (from the breeder) to Wellness as puppies and then to the adult Wellness at about Bailey's age - they did very well. I have them on Innova now and supplement with Wellness canned so I can rotate through the different meat varieties.

Do check out the review sites though, even after reading our opinions because they will really tell you what to look for. You might pick a completely different food based on your own research, and that is fine! Also just because our dogs like and do well on food doesn't mean yours will... dogs' tastes and tolerances are different. I had my dogs on Evo for several months but I was having to supplement with other foods because it was causing loose stools. I finally realized that was ridiculous, and I needed to pick a different food that they tolerates better! But a lot of dogs do great on Evo. So you might have to experiement. A lot of pet suppliers also have sample bags (you might have to ask) so you can try something for a week and see if he likes it. I agree to always start by mixing old food to new food about 3:1 or 2:1 for a few days to let his stomach adapt. Good luck! :)

[Michelle]

If you are going to stick with just dry food, and not do any raw,
I would consider some of the brands that are on the list from the Whole Dog Journal,

Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance (Heidi and Princess love this!!)

Timberwolf Organics

Fromm's 4 star foods

Wellness

Solid Gold

Nature's Variety

Canidae

etc.....

[Patt]

I feed Innova and Wellness brands.

Sweetie...the vet recommend Science Diet because he makes a commission for it when he sells it ..

Where do you get this info? My vet does NOT get kick backs. She sells only the prescription diets, not the regular that you can buy off the shelf at a pet store.


Keep in mind Vets are medical doctors, not Nutritionists...

Extacly!!

[Jen]

Tasha did well on Wellness--but for us Evo is even better. But I think he's too young for it yet. We do not have problems with loose stools on Evo--but I know it varies dog to dog and some dogs cannot tolerate the high protein.

[akiss]

I feed my dogs a couple of varietys. Every couple of months I faze one out and bring another one in.

My puppers love
Merrick (wet and dry)
Innova small bites ( o evo it is to rich )
Natures Variety raw
just to name a few

[lotsadox]

Two words: INNOVA EVO. That's what my very picky vet who has extensive nutritional knowledge (it's one of her specialities and goes hand in hand with holistic treatment) recommends to most people. It's a great food and Scooter did very well on it. If you can find one called Nature's Logic, it's even better. No synthetic vitamins.

[Da Brat]

I feed Nutro to my cats and they both have done really well on it.
My personal opinion is that Nutro had nothing to do with the testing that Menu Foods did so I'm not going to pass judgement on them. My guys like the food they are on and it wasn't involved in the recall so I'm sticking with it. Really it's up to you and what you can afford.

[catstamm]

I feed Nutro to my cats and they both have done really well on it.
My personal opinion is that Nutro had nothing to do with the testing that Menu Foods did so I'm not going to pass judgement on them. My guys like the food they are on and it wasn't involved in the recall so I'm sticking with it. Really it's up to you and what you can afford.

Your personal opinion???? The finding were based on FACT.
I'm with Andrea on this one...

[Otto'sMom]

I'm with Andrea on this one...

:faint:

Well, if that's the case, looks like my dogs are getting Nutro again.:duh: :rotfl: :rotfl: (not really)

Amanda, Menu Foods makes Nutro, therefore, Nutro has everything to do with the research the company they hired to kill cats for them.

If your cats are doing well on it and you're NOT the mom to a 27lb behemoth cat, do what you want:hug99:

[Lee Anne]

I like Innova, Wellness, Canidae (we're on that now!), and Natural Balance. I've read that rotating good foods can be good for your dogs too. Also, after 6 months - it's fine to put him on adult food.

Addressing the Science Diet and vet kick backs issue, I found several sources that support the kick back claim...

Veterinarians are invariably linked to the commercial pet food industry. They advocate and even market commercial foods, receiving substantial revenue and kickbacks. The pet food companies make sure of this by promoting programs in the universities and by giving FREE FOOD to the up-and-coming vets to sell at their practices. For example, Colgate-Palmolive, the company that manufactures Hill's Science Diet, spends "hundreds of thousands of dollars a year funding university research and nutrition courses at every one of the 27 US veterinary colleges. Once in practice, vets who sell Science Diet and other premium foods directly pocket profits of as much as 40%" (Parker-Pope, T. 1997. For You, My Pet. The Wall Street Journal. 3 November 1997. In Lonsdale, T. 2001. Raw Meaty Bones. p266).

Here's three others: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070313051511AAcjBol
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=1006031705438
http://www.4pawsu.com/vet_dogfood.htm

I think that most vets just don't have the time or desire to make an effort to educate themselves on better nutrition though. My vet was selling me the limited ingredients version of Science Diet (duck and potato) for Greyson and I compared the ingredients to the Natural Balance duck and potato and it was almost the same (minus the strange preservatives and crap.) My vet hadn't even heard of Natural Balance or Innova when I reported back to him that Greyson was doing fine on the better (and cheaper) food.

[catstamm]

I like Innova, Wellness, Canidae (we're on that now!), and Natural Balance. I've read that rotating good foods can be good for your dogs too. Also, after 6 months - it's fine to put him on adult food.

Addressing the Science Diet and vet kick backs issue, I found several sources that support the kick back claim...

Veterinarians are invariably linked to the commercial pet food industry. They advocate and even market commercial foods, receiving substantial revenue and kickbacks. The pet food companies make sure of this by promoting programs in the universities and by giving FREE FOOD to the up-and-coming vets to sell at their practices. For example, Colgate-Palmolive, the company that manufactures Hill's Science Diet, spends "hundreds of thousands of dollars a year funding university research and nutrition courses at every one of the 27 US veterinary colleges. Once in practice, vets who sell Science Diet and other premium foods directly pocket profits of as much as 40%" (Parker-Pope, T. 1997. For You, My Pet. The Wall Street Journal. 3 November 1997. In Lonsdale, T. 2001. Raw Meaty Bones. p266).

Here's three others: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070313051511AAcjBol
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=1006031705438
http://www.4pawsu.com/vet_dogfood.htm

I think that most vets just don't have the time or desire to make an effort to educate themselves on better nutrition though. My vet was selling me the limited ingredients version of Science Diet (duck and potato) for Greyson and I compared the ingredients to the Natural Balance duck and potato and it was almost the same (minus the strange preservatives and crap.) My vet hadn't even heard of Natural Balance or Innova when I reported back to him that Greyson was doing fine on the better (and cheaper) food.

Well look at you Iilsa...very resourceful..... thanks for finding that Mama....
No one promotes a product w/out their being a benefit of some kind ...
I agree 100%...

[Otto'sMom]

I would just like to say that Cadbury Carmel Eggs are awesome, and so are the mini eggs.

Now I'll just kick back and wait for the chocolaty benefits to start rollin in. Giggity.

[Lee Anne]

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: Hmmmm.... What to promote? WHAT TO PROMOTE?!?!?! :banana:

[catstamm]

I would just like to say that Cadbury Carmel Eggs are awesome, and so are the mini eggs.

Now I'll just kick back and wait for the chocolaty benefits to start rollin in. Giggity.

No silly really promote them.... like take a picture of yourself in the bathtub covered in them, send it to the company.... then the chocolate goodness will start rolling in...you will be the new Cardbury girl :rotfl:

[Otto'sMom]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v289/Anewborg/Mississippi381.jpg

[Da Brat]

Your personal opinion???? The finding were based on FACT.
I'm with Andrea on this one...

Fact- Menu foods makes Nutro's WET food.
Fact- MENU foods, not Nutro did the testing.
Fact- Menu foods does NOT make Nutro dry food, that is produced in house.

Until I see definitive PROOF that NUTRO okayed the testing I'm sticking to my guns on this one.

[oceangirls]

Fact- Menu foods makes Nutro's WET food.
Fact- MENU foods, not Nutro did the testing.
Fact- Menu foods does NOT make Nutro dry food, that is produced in house.

Until I see definitive PROOF that NUTRO okayed the testing I'm sticking to my guns on this one.

It is a tough call!!... according to the site Patt posted, Menu makes Wellness wet food (which I feed my dogs) although they specify the process standards and ingredients. I am not really worried about the quality of Wellness food, but I'm not very pleased with the association. But often that is how big business works.

[catstamm]

Fact- Menu foods makes Nutro's WET food.
Fact- MENU foods, not Nutro did the testing.
Fact- Menu foods does NOT make Nutro dry food, that is produced in house.

Until I see definitive PROOF that NUTRO okayed the testing I'm sticking to my guns on this one.

"Guilt by Association" .....
If you want to feed Nutro ...by all means feel free....
I like to hold people to higher standards, esp when they claim to have higher standards....
I tossed 20 lbs of Wellness kibble,...was it contaminated? NO? They chose to farm out some of their food to be made by Menu, and I'm not personally OK with that.
I think a lot of these company's that claimed to the public to be superior food...and then chose to farm stuff out to Menu....WILL feel a financial hit from ALL that has gone on.....and they should!
I have actually seen the affects already....I went to PET People...a specialty store out here that sells only the high grade foods....yet it was CANIDAE brand that was gone...the guy that works ther said in 2 days they sold out of their weeks inventory of Canidae!!!!! Why? you ask ...they don't farm out anything of their food products....
I for one am thrilled that Canidae's sales are up...they are loyal to their customers :appl:

[oceangirls]

I think your point is very valid, but I also know that smaller companies often use larger companies' resources or other assistance - it's just the way of the world. Kind of like being totally against cigarette smoking and then finding out Philip Morris owns the companies that make a lot of your favorite products. Or years ago when US relations with France became strained because of war opinions, there was a list of products owned by French investors and companies (for people who wanted to boycott). Well it was amazing how much was on this list!! :faint:

I don't disagree with you, Cat... just not sure that there are many companies where you won't find dirt if you dig deep enough.

[Otto'sMom]

I would just like to add that Cadbury contains no dirt.

[catstamm]

I would just like to add that Cadbury contains no dirt.

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: Damn that's good to know *off to buy some cadbury 1/2 off eggs* :rotfl:

[michelehbc]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v289/Anewborg/Mississippi381.jpg


I'll take 200 bags.


Thanks for all the info! I love you guys! :bighug:

[catstamm]

I think your point is very valid, but I also know that smaller companies often use larger companies' resources or other assistance - it's just the way of the world. Kind of like being totally against cigarette smoking and then finding out Philip Morris owns the companies that make a lot of your favorite products. Or years ago when US relations with France became strained because of war opinions, there was a list of products owned by French investors and companies (for people who wanted to boycott). Well it was amazing how much was on this list!! :faint:

I don't disagree with you, Cat... just not sure that there are many companies where you won't find dirt if you dig deep enough.
Oh I totally understand what you are saying also ....and sadly enough that is the way of big business....Mine is a personal choice and about principle..... :hearts:

[oceangirls]

Yeah, it's frustrating when you thought you found an ideal food and then something like this comes up :mad4:. I will be interested to see if any of these companies using Menu Foods will end their contracts (assuming Menu continues to function).

I would just like to add that Cadbury contains no dirt.

You don't know that for sure, it could be chocolate-flavored dirt :conf4:. TRUST NOTHING!!!

[lotsadox]

I don't care if it is dirt! Cadbury eggs taste great and I'll eat them anyhow. :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

[Puppen]

I saw Nutro on the Menu foods list As well as a lot of other highly recommended brands...and now I see Mighty Dog which is a Nestle/Purina product. I feed the girls Purina Alpo Dry... Sheeeesh!!! Purina posted that the reason for commissioning Menu Foods to produce the canned product was because their factory wasn't capable...IMO...When a company makes as much PROFIT as they do they should ADAPT their facory or build one specific instead of putting trust into a mass producing company. For me, who knows what all it found it's way into.
It's like buying a bag a frozen french fries from say Sue's Fries and finding a tater tot in it. You are shocked because you know that the Sue's Brand of fries does NOT make or offer tater tots...Therefore you deduct through commpn sense that some other companies tots are being made right by Sue's fries. Doesn't it stand to reason that being in such Close relation that ingredients from one WILL get intergrated in to another??? That being said... What to do? I'm going to scraps and such I believe. I've read a lot of "dog food recipes" and they read no different than any other reciepe I have for US. If scraps were good enough for Grandma's Smokey and he lived to be almost 22 then by god it's good enough for my girls.

[catstamm]

Table scraps or cooking dog meals for dogs???

Perhaps you should read these posts before deciding...
http://www.doxielovers.com/dlc/showthread.php?t=11953&highlight=mitzi
http://www.doxielovers.com/dlc/showthread.php?t=12031&highlight=mitzi

[Otto'sMom]

You don't know that for sure, it could be chocolate-flavored dirt :conf4:. TRUST NOTHING!!!

Would you lead me to this chocolate flavored dirt you speak of? Surely that would be HEAVEN.

[catstamm]

Would you lead me to this chocolate flavored dirt you speak of? Surely that would be HEAVEN.

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

[Puppen]

dog meals, though there doesn't seem to be very many differences betwix the dog meals and mine. I got both these recipes from a site posted on here....
http://www.seefido.com/html/dog_food_recipes.htm

Take this one for example: I actually Make these from Grandma's recipe!! The only difference is Grandma's says - Pinch of Salt and Pepper to taste....
__________________________________________________ _______
Tater facts: During generations dogs lived on potato diets. Many people though are under the impression that potatoes are harmful to dogs. To the contrary, potatoes are nutritious for dogs. Canines seem to be the biggest fans of baked potato skins. Give these to your dog as a snack. Just make sure that whenever you are preparing potatoes you cut out any green areas and any budding sprouts as they may contain toxic substance.
Mashed Potato Dog Food Balls

2 cups mashed potatoes
½ chopped up parsley
Salt
Pepper
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon non – salted butter
½ teaspoon paprika

Heat oven to 200 C. and grease baking dish.
Put the mashed potatoes, parsley, salt and pepper at desired taste in a mixing bowl. Stir until all is mixed well. Add in egg yolk and mix. Shape dough into small balls and place these in the baking bowl. Put a small amount of butter on the top of each potato ball, and dust lightly with paprika. Bake for about 10 minutes until lightly browned.

Makes about 20 potato balls.

Or this one... which is something Else I make often for US!!
Chicken Vegetable pie recipe for dogs


Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter
1 baby cabbage
1 carrot
1 red bell pepper
3 medium red potatoes, unpeeled
1 ½ cups fresh corn kernels
1 cup Chicken Stock (see recipe)
½ teaspoon thyme
½ teaspoon marjoram
Salt
Ground pepper
2 cups cooked boneless chicken, cut into 2 cm pieces
2 tablespoons white wine
2 tablespoons cornstarch
Dough for double crust 22 cm pie

To prepare vegetables chop baby cabbage , cut carrot into 1 cm pieces,

remove seeds and core of bell pepper and cut into 1 cm pieces and cut red potatoes into 1 cm pieces. Sauté baby cabbage, carrot, potatoes, corn and bell pepper in butter until baby cabbage change their color. Pour ¼ cup chicken stock in to pan and then add marjoram, thyme and salt and pepper to taste. Let boil lightly for about twenty minutes while stirring. Add chicken and mix well.

Heat oven to 175 C.
Place half of pie crust dough into a 22 cm pie dish. Place chicken and vegetables into dish. Pour the wine mixed with the cornstarch over pie filling. Cover pie dish with remaining dough and seal the edges. Make a cut in the center of the pie. Place pie in oven and bake for about forty-five minutes with an oven safe tray under the pie dish to prevent dripping. Serve when cool.

Makes a 22 cm pie.


So Uhhh....Where are the differences?