Natural Choice Ultra Puppy Food?

[jkdallasfans]

Any one know anything about this food or have experience with it? Thanks for any input.


Jen

 

[DeucesMomma]

We bought a bag of this the last time we went to the store because Deuce likes a change every once in a while and was on the regular Nutro Natural Choice -- the guy at the store said he switches his boxers between three types of Nutro for variety (natural choice, natural choice ultra, and nutro max) and it doesn't upset their stomachs because the ingredients are very similar. Deuce loved it and he seemed to even have more energy (if that was possible). Also, he is recovering from Demodex and although I'm not sure this is related, after we switched to the Nutro foods, all of his spots filled in and his coat looks 100% better so we're really happy with it.

 

[courtney323]

In terms of dog kibble quality, Nutro is not a very good quality dog food at all (granted, it is not the worst either).

I, personally, would look for a better kibble to switch him to. If you do a search on "quality kibbles" you will find a lot of useful information. In short, here are a few premium kibbles in no particular order:

Wellness
Innova
Flint River Ranch
Eagle Pack Holistic
Canidae
Chicken Soup

One more thing, your pup would be best suited on an "all stages" diet, not "puppy food", as it is unnecessary (and more of a marketing scheme). It also encourages super fast growth, which can put a lot of stress on the pups body

Good luck!

 

[mthegodfathe]

I feed Tyson Nutro Natural Choice High Protein formula and he really likes it. His coat looks much better on it. I would recommend it to anyone.

 

[jbbtlr]

Natural Choice is what we have Koda on and we were told by the trainer at Pet Smart that it WAS a good food to have them on. Koda seems to like it and he's happy and healthy.

 

[courtney323]

Jbbtlr -

One thing to keep in mind is that the trainer works at petsmart and also, Petsmart does not carry the above mentioned premium kibbles (so they are unlikely to recommend one they don't carry)

Jen -

Try doing some research on various kibbles, and this will help. You'll find that you need to steer clear from foods with cheap fillers such as corn, corn gluten/meal, grains like wheat, white rice, bran, and protiens like chicken MEAL (anything that says "meal" or "rendered fat" or "by product"). Nutro is generally high in all of these.

Here is their ingredient list (from their web site):

Ingredients
Chicken Meal, Brown Rice, Rice Bran, Lamb Meal, Poultry Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols, natural source of Linoleic Acid), Ground Rice, Sunflower Oil (preserved with mixed tocopherols, natural source of Linoleic Acid), Flaxseed (natural source of Alpha-Linolenic Acid), Natural Flavors, Beet Pulp, Alfalfa (natural source of Chlorophyll), Salmon Meal (natural source of DHA), Oatmeal, Tomato Pomace (natural source of Lycopene), Fish Oil (preserved with mixed tocopherols, natural source of DHA), Cranberry, Dried Egg Product, Kelp (natural source of Iodine), Taurine, Bacillus Lichenformis Fermentation Extract, Bacillus Subtilis Fermentation Extract, L-Carnitine, Glucosamine Hydrochloride, Chondroitin Sulfate, Garlic (natural source of Selenium), Marigold Extract (natural source of Lutein), Lycopene

 

[Albie]

"Meal" is not a bad ingredient in a food so long as the type of meal is specifically identified, e.g., chicken meal, turkey meal, etc. You would want to stay away from something identified as meat meal, or poultry by-product meal since you do not know what makes up the "meat" or "poultry by-product". One thing to keep in mind is that a food containing something like chicken meal as the first ingredient may in fact contain more meat than a food that lists chicken as the first ingredient. Chicken meal has the water removed already and is a dry ingredient, so you are getting more protein than plain chicken. Labels list the ingredients in the food in descending weight order so that the "chicken meal, brown rice, rice bran and lamb meal" are the main ingredients. Two of the first four ingredients are a protein, which is a nice food. The "poultry fat" may be questionable since you don't know what type of poultry.

 

[Cindy Creel]

I understand that the Nutro Ultra in a new food that is along with the holistic foods. That is what the person att the store told me. I read the ingredients and it has veggies and other good things in it.

 

[Spiderfly]

^^ I work at a pet store, and have gone through numerous dog food seminars. Meal, means simply, after water has been removed. So basically. Chicken meal at the top of the list is better than chicken meat. Because if it's chicken meat, by the time it has been dried out it will only truly be around the 5th or 6th ingredient. Chicken meal however, is the weight it is, so if it's first, it really is the 1st ingredient.

Natural choice is one of the better foods out there, and has around 5 times more lanoleic acid then any other food, which really helps out the coat. Plus many of the cheaper foods have 'wheat middlings' which is really just straw. Filler to make it cheaper. So although the food is cheaper, your dog will have to eat twice and much, and will poop twice as much as the straw will simply go through them.

Spending the extra on a brand like Natural Choice, is worth. Because your dog won't eat as much, poop as much, and it's overall healthier in the longrun.

 

[jcgc]

We give our dog our combination of Solid Gold (Wolf King) and Nutro Large Breed. He gets 3/4 S/G to 1/4 of Nutro. The Solid Gold is along with lines of Wellness and Innova, which are more expensive than Nutro. He enjoys the mix and we enjoy the idea that he is getting more of a hollistic diet. We also mix in some cottage cheese, which is a good source of protein and dogs usually enjoy the taste.