# thoughts on Nutro grain free cat food



## purplearora (May 13, 2016)

http://www.nutro.com/natural-cat-food/nutro/dry/grain-free-duck-potato.aspx 
Although the fat is 16% this is for a baby


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## purplearora (May 13, 2016)

I'm curious why no one has any comments on this food or nutro hasn't been addressed that I can see ? The ingridents seem to be fine and it fits the dietary guidelines so what am I missing that doesn't make this a good food ? The only 2 ingredients I wasn't sure about was the chicken fat and potatoes which is why I posted in the first place. Raw potatoes was on the list to avoid but since this is in a hard cat food form is it still not acceptable food??


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## Artemis-Ichiro (Jan 22, 2016)

The only think I can come up with is that it had a recall in the past 5 years, that's why Natural Balance is not in the new list, other than that I have no idea, ask Finn why it didn't make the cut.


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## FinnickHog (Dec 1, 2014)

Here's the top few ingredients: Duck, Chicken Meal, Pea Protein, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols), Dried Potatoes, Potato Starch, Split Peas, Duck Meal, Dehydrated Alfalfa Meal, Dried Plain Beet Pulp, Potato Protein

Both peas and potatoes have been split (pea protein and split peas, dried potatoes and potato starch and potato protein), potentially to make them appear lower down on the list. Neither peas nor potatoes are very good vegetable ingredients in dry food and are mainly used as filler like rice or corn are. They also split their duck and chicken, which makes it almost impossible to judge how much of each ingredient is actually in the food. That's why it was excluded.

Unrelated but important to me, Nutro had a massive recall in 2009 because of various issues, one of which affected my golden retriever very badly, so I personally hold a grudge.

That being said, there are definitely worse foods out there and if you like the Nutro brand, this one is an alright choice, especially as part of a mix. 

The new list is more of a current best-of-the-best collection rather than an end-all list. To find more foods, take a look at the resources on the bottom of the post, and use the information in the nutrition stickies to select a food, and then go ahead and post here about it and we'll take another look for you. I excluded a lot of decent foods solely because of excessive ingredient splitting.


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## purplearora (May 13, 2016)

Thank you for the information, so other than being a filler is the potato ok though in this form ( it is on the avoid list in raw form but I wasn't sure if it's ok like this ?) the reason I chose this is because I live in Alaska and need to choose a food I can purchase through Amazon that include prime shipping and still affordable, many of the foods Amazon sells but doesn't include prime shipping, I have done many hours of research on good foods vs price and Amazon prime availability and this is one that made the cut for me. I would like it to be a mix with blue buffalo indoor health.


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## twobytwopets (Feb 2, 2014)

You have discovered the reason we cannot say everyone should feed this mix, or make any decisions for them. 
Recalls play an important role when we consider how picky these guys are. If there is a recall on the food, you could be up the famous creek without a paddle. Recalls also dictate how many foods are in a mix, and that's entirely a personal decision.


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## Artemis-Ichiro (Jan 22, 2016)

Another thing to add, you might like the food but your hedgie might have another idea. I have tried like 7 different foods by now and Ichiro only likes one, I'm still experimenting to see if he finally takes another one for his mix.


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## FinnickHog (Dec 1, 2014)

The potato content in kibble is fine for hedgies. If you mix this one with blue buffalo that should work out well.


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## purplearora (May 13, 2016)

Could someone give me recommendations or point me in the right direction on figuring out a good mixing proportion. I may have over looked how to do this in another post ? My baby girl will arrive Friday and she is on Spikes. So mix the foods evenly or should each brand be introduced seperatly? If it's evenly mixed which I'm assuming it should be then should I offer the mix with 75% Spikes on the first night or wait a few nights before transitioning foods.


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## FinnickHog (Dec 1, 2014)

Wait about a week before you change her diet at all so she can get settled. Make sure her poops are brown and firm, but not hard. Once that's done, pick one food and mix that with the Spike's so the Spike's is at 75% and the new stuff is at 25%. Count your kibbles to make sure she's trying the new stuff. Give it a few days to make sure she's eating and not allergic to the new stuff, keep an eye to see if her poops change at all, and then gradually move from 75% Spikes to 0. Then start introducing the next food the same way up to the ratio you want.

That way if she doesn't like something you can tell right away, or if it gives her an upset tummy you can see her poops each night with every new addition to her diet.

Do you know how much Nutro and how much Blue Buffalo you want to do? You can start with a 50/50 ratio and adjust from there easily enough.


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## Dtil (Jun 5, 2016)

I bought the weight management cat food for my Doug and other than the pieces being big it doesn't seem to be a problem, I didn't know about the recalls though. He is fed it with a mix of other food as well.


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