Nutro

[piper]

How disappointing that they appear to have changed the formula so drastically and made it more like the many other dry foods available out there

I had clearly incorrectly assumed that given the name and packaging were the same it would be the same or at least very similar formula to the original and they were just making locally to avoid the mport problems.

[labsrule]

Understand that formulas change over time, but where's the logic of changing it when they are trying to re-enter the market and recapture that established customer base they had before the import ban/withdrawal. Pretty dumb move on their part , as most of us who were part of that established customer base will probably not purchase the "new formula" product. I believe NZ still import from US.

[Raelene]

Ingredients of Chicken Rice and Oatmeal....

Dried chicken, ground rice, rice flour, dried beet pulp, chicken fat, sunflower oil, natural flavours, oatmeal, iodised salt, potassium chloride, Choline Chloride, Taurine, National anti-oxidents (including mixed tocopherols and rosemary extract), Vitamin C, Vitamin E supplement, Zinc sulphate, Marigold meal, dried kelp, ferrous sulphate, copper sulphate, calcium pantothenate, vitamin a supplement, biotn, riboflavin supplement (source of vitamin b12), vitamin B12 supplement, potassium iodide, thiamine hydrochloride (source of vitamin B1) niacin supplement, Vitamin D3 supplement, selenium, vitamin B6, folic acid.

Crude protein (Min) 22%

Crude fat (Min) 13%

Crude fibre (Max) 5%

Moisture (Max) 10%

Ash (Max) 7.5%

Salt as NaCl (Max) 1.2%

Linoleic Acid (Min) 3.5%

Zinc (Min) 430mg/kg

Vitamin E (Min) 500IU/kg

Vitamin C (Min) 200mg/kg

Just happened to have bought some yesterday from Petbarn (they had a 20% of special) for my dogs - a couple of whom suffer contact allergies and otitis externa. They couldn't tell me alot about the product as it had only just arrived and they are having a training night this week. Although food is probably not the culprit for my dogs conditions, I have found that feeding a low allergy diet is very helpful in controlling their itchy-scratchies.

So far no complaints in the flavour department.... even our opinionated foxie is keen to want to guard the bag.

Will have to see what the longer term results are.

Rae

[ShesaLikeableBiBear]

Will contact the General Manager of the Co. who used to import Nutro into NZ and AUS, if they still do, and see if he can shed any light.

[AnimalMad]

Hmm think i'll stick with Natural Balance for now..

[Raelene]

Dried beet pulp (filler) made it to # 4 before the chicken fat. This doesn't look very good .

I'd been pondering on this and thought I'd ask as I don't know the answer.....

We use Speedi-Beet for our horses (dried Beet Pulp that you soak) as a source of fibre which is very good for helping the horse to metabolise the starch and sugars in the correct areas of the gut to prevent intestinal horse issues (colic, ulcers, etc) and laminitis and is widely used for this purpose around the world. Our horses have been doing really well since we have been using it.

I note that it was said that it is used as a "filler" in the Nutro dog food. My thought is that a "filler" is an item that is used for padding out the food with a cheap food source, that is usually a cereal, that will fatten the dog but not necessarily provide "nutrition" but will minimise the costs of manufacture.

Is the reason for adding it to the Nutro (and I've seen it in other brands of "natural" dog foods) for fibre reasons? I wasn't sure that in my thoughts of what the product is, that it quite fits the bill of being a cheaper fattener? Or am I on the wrong line of thinking?

Does anyone know more on the benefits/detriments of using the product (beet pulp) in dogs?

Raelene

[4 Paws]

found this although it's from an overseas kibbles website and mentions their products

Beet Pulp (Sugar) - CONTROVERSIAL http://www.iei.net/~ebreeden/kibble.html

AAFCO - Beet Pulp is the dried residue from sugar beets which has been cleaned and extracted in the process of manufacturing sugar.

Natura uses it because - "it as a good source of fiber and a stool hardener". However, it is not found in their Innova or California Natural products.

Solid Gold doesn't use it because they believe it is: "Added to pet food to slow down the transition of rancid animal fats (think toxic waste). This holds the waste in. Kidneys and liver work overtime. Dogs may chew their lower backs. Feet may swell, so the dogs lick their feet. Sugar is a contributing factor to ear infections and cataracts".

Beet pulp is rather controversial, many think that it is an excellent additive and source of fiber and that all sugar has been completely extracted before being added as a pet food ingredients. If this is the only "problem" ingredient in a kibble, other factors will have to help you decide.

ETA this-http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=1+2243+2244&aid=2705

Beet pulp is a very common ingredient in many different pet foods. It has long been recognized as a popular feed additive for horses and other livestock and, more recently, has also been added to many dog and cat foods. There are many reported benefits to using beet pulp in animal foods, but there is also some controversy concerning its use. This article will help explain the benefits and potential disadvantages of this common feed ingredient.

The origin of beet pulp

Some people confuse beet pulp with the common garden vegetable, but beet pulp is actually very different. Beet pulp is the by-product of the extraction of raw sugar from commercially grown sugar beets. Sugar beets are grown in huge quantities for the production of sugar. After the sugar has been extracted, the remaining pulp contains very little sugar, but is valuable as a fiber and energy source.

The benefits of beet pulp

One of the biggest advantages of by-product feed sources is that they are usually readily available and affordable. In addition, beet pulp has several additional advantages over many other common fiber sources such as peanut, rice, or soy hulls. Beet pulp is an insoluble fiber source that is moderately fermentable. This means the fiber from beet pulp has the benefits of adding bulk and moisture to animal stools while providing an energy source that can improve the health of the colon. Slow to moderately fermentable fiber sources, like beet pulp, are often recommended as one of the best sources of fiber for dogs and cats.

Beet pulp has been most commonly used in horse feeds. Horses are true herbivores and up to 40% of their calories come from digestion of food in the colon. There, fermentable fibers are broken down into volatile fatty acids by bacteria. These volatile fatty acids are then utilized by the beneficial bacteria and the horse as an energy source. Little digestion occurs in the colon or large intestine in dogs and cats, however, so they would receive few calories from the beet pulp. Nevertheless, beet pulp would improve colon health by providing the beneficial bacteria with a small amount of volatile fatty acids.

The disadvantages of beet pulp

There have been several reported problems concerning the use of beet pulp in animal foods, including potential swelling in the stomach, palatability, and plugging of the intestinal villus. Few of these have been substantiated and most refer to the feeding of beet pulp to horses. Some studies conducted in horses actually used a quantity of beet pulp that provided up to 50% of their daily calories, therefore, any negative (or positive) effects of beet pulp were related to the large quantities that were fed. Keep in mind that the amount of beet pulp that is normally fed to horses is a much larger quantity and greater percentage of daily intake than would ever be fed to a dog or cat.

Summary

In summary, beet pulp is considered to be an excellent fiber source in most commercial pet foods. The addition of beet pulp to commercial dog and cat food is widespread, but the actual amount eaten per day is quite small. Beet pulp is rarely the only available fiber source; as a rule, a variety of fiber sources that cross all ranges of fermentability and solubility are recommended. In addition to being a good fiber source, beet pulp may have a slight advantage over some other fiber sources because of its benefit to the intestinal bacteria that help maintain colon health. Beet pulp is often found in many quality foods, and when fed correctly, is an ingredient that can be beneficial to almost all pets.

Edited April 17, 2009 by 4 Paws

[laffi]

I think beet pulp is an average quality fiber in dog's food.

In the ingredients list posted above it was very high up the list, before fat even if I remember correctly.

I like feeding my dogs nutritious foods for carnivores: rich in high quality proteins and fats. If I wanted to add fiber to their diet I would just feed them more fruits and veggie since they can only partially digest these.

[Raelene]

Thanks 4paws. Gosh if only everything that came out wasn't "controversial"......

I googled "use of beet pulp in dogs " and found several articles, including these couple of more positive, how confusing:

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=...44&aid=2705

http://www.petfoodindustry.com/ViewArticle.aspx?id=12828

I haven't finished looking as yet (but best do some "work, work") but noted that most of the negative information so far has been on forums. 4paws, I couldn't find the info that you posted, can you either pop the url here or pm it to me? Ta

Will be interesting to see what affect it has on my dogs with allergy issues (they already had these when I adopted them) and whether it increases the issue (which we have generally under control at present) or not.

Laffi, I was not wanting to add fibre to the dogs diet in particular (some of mine have different diets depending on their needs - I have another that doesn't metabolise fat very well) but looking more at the ingredient in commercial dog food, and in particular, the one that I purchased last Saturday - Nutro.

R

Edited March 31, 2009 by Raelene

[chuckie500]

Any more news on this product? I noticed it advertised in the local Petbarn brochure with words like: Chicken from Tamworth, Goulburn Lamb, Oats milled in Bordertown SA, and Salmon farmed in Tasmania. Proudly 100% Australian Made.

[Sagittarian]

Rice is from Asia. Don't know where the wheat and corn protein originates.

Sags

[casowner]

Rice is from Asia as it is not sustainably viable to grow it in Australia, not sure about the corn I will find out.

[Exaltare]

I have started using Nutro and I must say I have been exceptionally pleased with the results!!!

My young bitch always was getting hot spots and was always scratching and I had tried nearly all the foods on the market trying to get it under control.

After 3 weeks of use the itching has stopped and her coat looks amazing and the stools have improved too.

The recipe has been changed a bit to conform to Australian conditions but it is an amazing product and I am so pleased that I gave it a try.

[_PL_]

I'm going to try it (although I don't use much dry it's good ta have). Apparently all Oz ingredients, except for thailand rice. I was also told by a nutro promo rep the chicken is measure in dry-weight as opposed to fresh (wet) which makes a difference to competitors stats.

[benny123]

I'm really unsure about whether to go back to it as it's not the same. I really loved the US made one and the dogs were just fabulous on it. Wonder if they do sample bags (like the US one did), anyone know?

[Exaltare]

I hear some of the demo team will have some samples in the next month or two but they do have a money back guarantee on the range.

[kitty]

anyone been using Nutro since the change?

They have it at my local petwise (bought a bag today to maybe try) and it looks good (but i'm not expert) and i'm tossing up between that and the Royal Canine, but they don't always have the stock of Medium Junior.

[KitKat]

So far i have tried the kitty food....unfortunately i have to smother it in Royal Canin to get them to eat it

[JulesP]

I tried a bag. No bad effects. My dogs are in great nick so no improvement either. But they only had it for 2 weeks. I really did not like the way it smelled though. Kind of like really cheap kibble. Tried the Artemis just before it and they seemed to prefer the taste of that.

[KitKat]

Yeah - it's a lot dryer looking/feeling then it used to be...i doubt i'll be trying any more for it as for the price i can get tried and tested foods that i'm happy with