why is it so much better?

[dogsarebetter]

I feed nutro natural choice high energy. i was using egeal pack for high energy breeds but that has to be shipped to me, and that was too pricey.

i hear people talk about Natural Balance, and that its such a good food. I just dont see why its so much better than what i am feeding. I have been to the dog food project site, and i guess i am just not seeing the big diffrence here. of course if i look on the ingrediant list of purina and compare it to nurto i see why nurto is better, but not why Natural Balance is better than the nutro i feed.

also, with natural balance i dont see a type with the higher fat and protein.
Ruckus has been doing AWESOME on this nutro. big coat is shiney and full. he has lots of energy and you can just see the sparkle in his eye.
this is the nurto high energy info
Ingredients
Chicken Meal, Ground Rice, Corn Gluten Meal, Poultry Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of natural Vitamin E), Dried Beet Pulp, Rice Bran, Rice Flour, Lamb Meal, Natural Flavors, Soybean Oil, Sunflower Oil (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of natural Vitamin E), Potassium Chloride, Monosodium Phosphate, Choline Chloride, Dried Kelp, Dried Egg Product, Vitamin E Supplement, Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Zinc Proteinate, Biotin, Ascorbic Acid (source of Vitamin C), Manganese Proteinate, Glucosamine Hydrochloride, Niacin Supplement, Chondroitin Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Pantothenate, Copper Sulfate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Copper Proteinate, Sodium Selenite, Riboflavin (source of Vitamin B2), Vitamin A Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine Mononitrate (source of Vitamin B1), Garlic, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (source of Vitamin K activity), Calcium Iodate, Folic Acid.
Nutro supports the safe, ethical and humane treatment of all animals, including those used by our suppliers who provide our ingredients.

Guaranteed Analysis
Crude Protein (minimum) 30.00%
Crude Fat (minimum) 20.00%
Crude Fiber (maximum) 4.00%
Moisture (maximum) 10.00%
Linoleic Acid (minimum) 4.00%
Magnesium (minimum) 0.10%
Zinc (minimum) 200 mg/kg
Vitamin E (minimum) 200 IU/kg
Ascorbic Acid (minimum)* 60 mg/kg
Glucosamine (minimum)*‡ 625 mg/kg
Chondroitin Sulfate (minimum) *‡ 500 mg/kg

AND here lately i have been using can natural balance in his kong. and i dont like keeping it in the fridge more than a couple of days so i have been mixing it with his dry a little.

if i did want to switch to natural balance is the can better? or the dry?

 

[dogsarebetter]

i am on the natural balance website looking now.
thats not nearly as much fat or protien as i would like to feed.

 

[juliefurry]

Well I used the Nutro natural choice a couple years ago, when Hannah was a baby, and I always thought that my dogs looked great. I think canned is technically better (ofcourse it depends on what canned we're talking about). Canned has a higher water content than kibble so it's better for the dog because some kibble fed dogs aren't getting enough water in them during the day. Holly briefly tried Natural Balance but it was quite expensive and for the amount you had to feed it would have cost us a fortune to keep Holly eating the Natural Balance. Ofcourse we probably spend the same amount the the TWO, maybe even more, but the difference in Holly since switching from the Natural Balance to TWO is amazing.

 

[showpug]

This is my reply from the other thread you brought this subject up in. Here is my answer why I wouldn't feed Nutro. I am not saying Natural Balance is the best either, just way better than Nutro.

Nutro High Energy Ingredients:Ingredients
Chicken Meal, Ground Rice, Corn Gluten Meal, Poultry Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of natural Vitamin E), Dried Beet Pulp, Rice Bran, Rice Flour, Lamb Meal, Natural Flavors, Soybean Oil, Sunflower Oil (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of natural Vitamin E), Potassium Chloride, Monosodium Phosphate, Choline Chloride, Dried Kelp, Dried Egg Product, Vitamin E Supplement, Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Zinc Proteinate, Biotin, Ascorbic Acid (source of Vitamin C), Manganese Proteinate, Glucosamine Hydrochloride, Niacin Supplement, Chondroitin Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Pantothenate, Copper Sulfate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Copper Proteinate, Sodium Selenite, Riboflavin (source of Vitamin B2), Vitamin A Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine Mononitrate (source of Vitamin B1), Garlic, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (source of Vitamin K activity), Calcium Iodate, Folic Acid.

I put in bold the ingredients I don't like. This food contains a lot of grain fragments. It's fat source is generic. Instead of "chicken fat" it has "poultry fat" so you don't really know the exact source of the fat. I also don't like the fact that it contains corn gluten meal and soybean oil. Both of those ingredients aren't the best quality and are common allergens. Lastly, it contains menadione which I refuse to feed because it is potentially toxic and banned for human consumption.

It's not a horrible food, but there are many others that are much, much better!

 

[Whisper]

Natural Balance does not have the protein/fat content a lot of people want for their dog.
However, if you are looking for a better quality food than Nutro, Innova, Canidae, and Timberwolf Organics are a great choice. I'm also fairly sure they are more reasonably priced compared to Nutro considering their quality.

 

[Whisper]

I posted at the same time as you guys.

 

[dogsarebetter]

thank you! yeah, i thought i brought this up before. didnt remeber where or what thread.

petco is my only option on where i can get dog food at. unless you count walmart. so i **think** nutro or natural balance is the best there. and like i said the natural balance doesnt have enough of what i want.

have you ever had dog food shipped? OMG i bought a bag of eagle pack (40lbs) and i paid 30 dollars alone in shipping!!

 

[terrier terror]

I'm not a fan of both brands honestly. One of my dogs is on NB's duck because of a allergy scare and it was the closest low-ingredient food available in my area, but because it isn't a food allergy, she will be switched right off when the bags gone (which I am happy about).

But saying that, NB does have better ingredients than any of Nutros imo.

Hate NB's protein/fat levels, but I can easily throw in chicken, eggs, etc. and of course add canned food (I'm a believer that a strict kibble-only diet is not good no matter how great the food it ).

EDIT: I'm slow.

 

[showpug]

thank you! yeah, i thought i brought this up before. didnt remeber where or what thread.

petco is my only option on where i can get dog food at. unless you count walmart. so i **think** nutro or natural balance is the best there. and like i said the natural balance doesnt have enough of what i want.

have you ever had dog food shipped? OMG i bought a bag of eagle pack (40lbs) and i paid 30 dollars alone in shipping!!

I can't remember...do you have access to Costco?

I am currently feeding Timberwolf Organics and yes it's shipped each time. All shipping is free off of their website no matter where you live...

 

[dogsarebetter]

oh, innova had a seller that was somewhat close to me
so thats a possibilty! thank you for the link

oh? i didnt know timber wolf shipped free!
nope i have acess to nothing! litterly...
petco, walmart, dollar general stores, and a small mall with a couple of shoe stores.

 

[~Jessie~]

I order my Timberwolf Organics online, and the shipping is free. It's great, since our closest dog bakery that carries it is 30 minutes away

 

[dogsarebetter]

after looking at both innova, and timberwolf i am unsure if the protein fat content is enough...
all of this protein and fat in the nutro is what made his coat so healthy and made him feel so much better (i think so anyway)

 

[sam]

My two biggest qualms with Nutro are the price is VERY high considering the quality-- there are much better foods for better value. And the carcinogen of menadione- you won't find that in the better foods. I refuse to feed my dog food that has a known or suspected carcinogen. I'd also avoid "poultry fat" (generic vs specific= bad news) and corn gluten meal. There's a whole whack of filler in that food.
I don't find it too big a deal to travel to get kibble since it lasts so long. A once or twice a year trip to stock up seems a minor nuissance to me. I'd probably add that on to another trip rather than pay for shipping.

Adding canned is a great idea both for moisture and protein. The other good thing about canned is it's less cooked, less processed so the nutrients are better able to be used by the dog.
I would add an omega 3 (fish body oil) supplement and vit E as well.

 

[dogsarebetter]

oh yeah, btw i add fish oil

 

[lvmommy]

My pup wouldn't touch Natural Balance. I just ordered Timberwolf. I got the wild-n-natural which has 36% protein and 18% fat. Best of all, free shipping!

 

[dogsarebetter]

i wish the fat was higher in that!
or is it as long as the protein is high, thats okay?
that is alot of protein and does sound nice

 

[dogsarebetter]

wow, timberwolf is high!

 

[showpug]

wow, timberwolf is high!

Timberwolf Lamb & Apples if pretty high too.

 

[Luvntzus]

I think what she meant was that Timberwolf Organics is expensive, but I could be wrong. I definitely think the price difference is worth it.

Timberwolf Organics' protein percentage comes from meat, part of the percentage in the Nutro formula you posted is from corn gluten meal, which isn't useable to dogs in the same way as protein from meat. Besides that, Nutro has lots of ingredients (already pointed out by other posters) that I definitely wouldn't feed. You should also be able to feed less of the Timberwolf and have smaller poop to pick up.

 

[dogsarebetter]

yes i meant pricey!
i may order some. i would like to feed him the best that i can afford.