Better food?

[Coco'smommy]

I too realize that a lot of folks on here don't promote Nutro. I have always been about half scared to admit we use it but....it is working great for us. I feed Nutro NC Lamb & Rice Puppy to Coco and she loves it. Her coat is beautiful and I get many comments on how shiny & soft and how healthy she looks. She eats about 3 1/2 to 4 cups per day and poos twice a day, once in morning, once in evening. Her stools are fine. My vet said that her stool should not be too firm or wet but moist enough that a tissue would stick to it. I know that's kinda gross but that's how he recommended I check them. She is steadily gaining weight and doing fabulous. She weighs approx 50 lbs and is 8 mos and there is not an ounce of fat on this boxer. I am very pleased with it. I have read that you should switch every now & then so we may try one of the other recommended brands just for a change if I feel it's necessary but for now, we're happy. We had tried three other brands before we went to Nutro and so far it's been the one. I spare no expense when it comes to Coco so I don't NOT choose the others because of $$. I am the same way with my skinkids and the rest of my family for that matter. We even see what we can get for Samantha the snake (my son's latest addition) when I go to the pet store. If it's working and the furkid is tolerating it and enjoying it like they're supposed to and the vet is good with it, then I am okay with it. This is just my experience and my opinion.

 

[Coco'smommy]

Sorry about the second post but meant to add that Coco has a few toots but since we've been feedng Nutro NC, they really don't have any odor. So...that's always a good thing!

 

[Coffeebuzz]

If you are looking to cut down on volume, you could try comparing calories across different brands.

Nutro LB Adult has 335 Cal/cup (http://www.nutroproducts.com/ncdoglbadult.asp)

while Innova has 557 Cal/cup
(http://www.naturapet.com/display.php?d=product-detail&pxsl=//product[@id='1'])

So, per cup, you can get more "bang for your buck" so to speak.

Also, most companies have a store finder to locate where their products are sold.

 

[Ringo]

Don't know if anyone is still paying attention to this but the amount of food he's eating will literally put us in the poor house. We bought a 40 pound bag on the first of the month and will have to get another in a few days.

We were looking at the Nutro High Energy, but thanks to the post with the links above I notice it doesn't have that much more punch... While we were looking in the store someone told us about a food she buys at Sam's called Exceed or something like that... She said it was high calorie, but I'm a little aprehensive of buying grocery store food. Any experience or knowledge about this stuff? She said a 40 pound bag cost 18 bucks; probably pretty crappy food but maybe not.

The Inova has considerably more calories per cup but the biggest bag is 33 pounds I think... If the price is the same, wouldn't it be a wash? Does anyone know what a big bag costs?

I'm really starting to get concerned about how much money its going to cost feeding two adult dogs...

 

[Coffeebuzz]

Here's a site I've used to find pricing...

www.petfooddirect.com

They carry many brands, and their pricing seems to be pretty close to what I have found in stores, give or take a few dollars. I haven't purchased anything from them, because their shipping costs are prohibitive, but they are a great resource!

When I was looking at foods I wrote out a cost analysis based on calories. I believe that Canidae was one of the least costly (based on calorie density - 466 Cal/cup) foods from the WDJ list to feed. More info at: http://www.canidae.com/

Around here Innova runs around $39/33 lb bag. I think Canidae just went up to $36/40 lb bag. Things may be priced differently where you live.

Of course, if your dog doesn't do well on a food, it's not worth it no matter what the cost! I was having trouble deciding on which food from the WDJ to pick, so I used cost as a starting point. Good luck!