Blue Buffalo?

[Crazy-Cat-Lover]

I thought rice and flour were bad for dogs? Correct me if I'm wrong. I just get confused with all "what's good" and "what's bad".

I found this info at Natura Pet...

Rice Flour

Rice flour consists principally of the soft, finely ground and bolted meal obtained from milling rice (containing essentially the starch and gluten of the endosperm) together with fine particles of rice bran and the offal from the 'tail of the mill.'

Whenever flour is part of an ingredient's name, the grain has been processed and some (or all) of the nutritional value has been lost. Frequently these flour ingredients are simply the leftover dust from processing human food ingredients.

Rice

Rice is a high quality source of carbohydrates. Rice is the most digestible grain for pet foods and is relatively hypo-allergenic.

[zoomer]

I say Blue Buffalo first, and Nutro second. Ingredients sound better.

[Roxyluvsme13]

I'll see how much money I can get before I make a real decision.. and I'm not 100% sure I've seen Blue buffalo at Petsmart.. Do all of them sell it?

[IRescue452]

For the price, you'd be cheaper going with raw. Another thing about dog foods with veggies and meat is that dogs' stomachs are meant to digest one type of food at once. Wild dogs don't eat a deer with a potato as a side dish. They eat one kind of food at a time and vary the diet from day to day. Rice is helpful for dogs with upset tummies, but most it isn't necessary in dog food. Whole grains of rice are packed with nutrients, but as they are processed they lose most nutritional value. Rice bran and rice flour usually are made in such a way that nutrients are preserved. Nutro doesn't add that they have had food test positive for pentabarbitol, which is a chemical you want to avoid.

[Roxyluvsme13]

For the price, you'd be cheaper going with raw. Another thing about dog foods with veggies and meat is that dogs' stomachs are meant to digest one type of food at once. Wild dogs don't eat a deer with a potato as a side dish. They eat one kind of food at a time and vary the diet from day to day. Rice is helpful for dogs with upset tummies, but most it isn't necessary in dog food. Whole grains of rice are packed with nutrients, but as they are processed they lose most nutritional value. Rice bran and rice flour usually are made in such a way that nutrients are preserved. Nutro doesn't add that they have had food test positive for pentabarbitol, which is a chemical you want to avoid.

But my mom doesn't want to feed Raw anymore.. I'd love to, but she controls whether they eat kibble or Raw. Plus, the meat around here is too high..

[Crazy-Cat-Lover]

Here's a little breakdown of the two brands we're discussing. I added the top 10 ingredients, the price of the biggest bag, and how much it costs per pound.

Natural Choice Chicken & Rice

Top 10 Ingredients:

Chicken Meal
Rice Flour
Ground Rice
Rice Bran
Poultry Fat
Oatmeal
Soybean Oil
Sunflower Oil
Natural Flavor
Dried Beet Pulp

40 Pound Bag: $30.99 works out to $0.77 per pound

Blue Buffalo Chicken & Brown Rice

Top 10 Ingredients:

Chicken
Chicken Meal
Whole Ground Brown Rice
Whole Ground Barley
Rye
Oatmeal
Chicken Fat
Whole Carrots
Whole Sweet Potatoes
Ground Flax Seed

30 Pound Bag: $39.99 works out to be $1.33 per pound

Nutro is much, much cheaper - but Blue Buffalo has better ingredients. You could start with Nutro and see how well Roxy does on it. I know many dogs that are fed Nutro and do fine on it.

Good luck!

[BitsyNaceyDog]

I never said Nutro was equivalent to Blue Buffalo, but it is a decent food. I know you are on a budget and Blue Buffalo is a bit pricey. Roxy may do really well on Nutro. I was just giving you something to consider.

[MajesticCollies]

Just so everyone knows Nutro has come out with a all natural Holistic food now. Saw it at a visit to PetSmart the other day. Nutro is ummm OK in my book and my sister's collie is doing well on the all natural. I still believe if you look around your area some of the big kennels sell high quality food.

[Giselle]

Yes, but chances are "natural" and "holistic" are simply selling gimmicks. I bet there's not much differences between the normal Nutro and the "natural and holistic" Nutro because "natural" is a very loosely defined term in animal nutrition. Human nutrition is an entirely different subject as the USDA has stricter regulations as to what qualifies as "organic", for example.

Nutro is an okay food, but it is heads and shoulders above Pedigree. Blue Buffalo is a VERY good food, although it is very expensive in comparison to other greyt kibbles out there.

Roxyluvsme13, do you have a specialty feed store anywhere near you? Unless you live out in the sticks or something, you should have one relatively near you... You can try going to each individual company's website and doing an individual search. Naturapet is a good start, as is Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul (very inexpensive for a very good food!), and Canidae is superb as well. Good Luck! I know you're trying your best and we all appreciate your effort