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I've heard Nutro isn't very good food. Is that true? I'm assuming it's better then Dog Chow and Pedigree and that sort of thing?
Has anyone heard of Proseries? Is it any good? I'm currently switching Clover to Proseries but I'm wondering if I should look into something better? I shop at a pet food store where they seem to have higher quality foods then pet stores or grocery stores.
I'm not sure if this is the proper section or if it should be in health?
Nutro IMO isn't that great it's more of the middle of the road food. I personally wouldn't feed it.. I haven't heard of Proseries. It's up to you what you feel is best to feed but I'd stay away from Ol'Roy, kibbles n bits, alpo, etc. Purina and Pedigree isn't that bad, a lot of people feed it with no problems. Kirkland you can get at costco is fairly decent, Natural Balance is good as well. :) Blue Buffalo is good as well.
Just feed what is in your budget range and get something from your pet store not the grocery store.
A good place to start is here:
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/
Read some reviews. You will learn quite a lot!
Put Proseries and Nutro in the search and read their reviews, too.
I've found that most of th 6 star foods are for highly athletic dogs - dogs doing Agility, flyball, sled pullers, etc. They are high in protein. Too high for my lazy bones, who would sit in the sled and expect me to pull it! They were getting "protein itch."
Clover should be on a puppy formula until she is about 1 year old.
I used to feed Nutro and switched them to holistic food and will never go back. I recommend anything very low in grain or preferably grain free. My dogs have done wonderfully on them. I feed Acana. Sam used to get chronic Colitis to the point the vet recommended we permanently put him on steriods, and when we switched him from California Natural to Acana he hasn't gotten Colitis since! I'm assuming it was the grain.
It sometimes depends on the dog. My brother used to feed Springen Innova Evo, listed as a six star on the site above, and for some reason he always had diarreah on it.
Blue Buffalo is probably the best pet store (petsmart, petco, etc) food I know of. I really haven't heard of Proseries.
We don't have petco or petsmart here :(
That's OK! Once you find a food you want to try, go to the manufacturer's web site, as they all have "find a dealer" on them.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sowa
You are wise to switch from Nutro. It is a very low quality food in spite of the price. Nutro contains, corn gluten, wheat, soy and menadione, all of which should be avoided. A high price does not guarantee good food. Your new food Proseries is a much better food and I imagine costs much less. ProSeries, while much better than Nutro is certainly not among the best. I assume you are in Canada since you say that you do not have PetSmart or PetCo and Proseries is a Canadian company. Orijen, another Canadian company is probably the best there is but it is very expensive. Other good foods are Blue Buffalo, Wellness, Castor & Pollux, Merrick, Taste of the Wild, Canidae and Solid Gold.
You even have to start being careful about the grain free foods you buy. I know Nutro just came out with one and it's not much better than regular Nutro... still a lot of carbs and low sources of meat. Dogster.com's nutrition forum is a great place to learn.
dogfoodanalysis is an ok site, but concentrates on meats and grains. They don't mention the risks of feeding things like menadione. Sometimes I think I'd rate the food lower than they do.
Nutro would be lower than Purina on my chart. What really tarnished their rep for me was the fact that years ago they tested positive for sodium pentabarbitol. That's what is used to euthanize small animals (dogs and cats, not cows and horses). Were they rendering the meat of euthanized dogs and cats for pet food? I could never trust this company again.
Proseries Puppy food contains menadione, mega red flag. Menadione is banned in human food and should be banned in dog food. It can cause liver cancer among other health issues. Its just a catalyst for vitamin K, its not the actual vitamin.
Herring and anchovy meal can have too much domoic acid. It should not be a large part of the daily diet.
Corn and wheat potential allergens with little nutritional value.
Beet pulp is almost unavoidable in dog food though controversial. Yucca is also debated as to its health value.
I see several brewer's by-products. Stuff that should be thrown away but instead ends up in animal feed.
Honestly; between Nutro, Purina, and this Corey Proseries food, I'd only be willing to feed Purina.
Do you have a Tractor Supply Store near you? They have a decent food called 4Health.