Nutro vs. Iams food

angelom3

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Hi everyone!!

I go to pick up my kittens... their brothers... this Saturday. The person that I'm getting them from has been feeding them Iams for kittens. My brother works at Petco and says by far the best food is Nutro. I picked up a bag of Nutro for kittens.

Should I ease them off of Iams and onto Nutro? Or is Iams good food to feed them. Their about 6 months old.
 

sharky

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Iams is not a bad food BUT IMHO Nutro is far better and in some cases cheaper...

Nutro is formulated for less shedding and less in the litter box / less smell


YES ease them over about two weeks
 
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angelom3

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Ok cool... my brother even told me that Nutro has a guarantee that if the cats dont like it.... even if the bag is half empty, you can return it for a full rebate.

I assume the best way to switch over to Nutro... is gradually mix the Nutro in with Iams?
 

goldenkitty45

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If they are 6 months old now, they can be eating adult food. I'd get a small bag of kitten food and a larger bag of adult food and mix them together gradually.

I used to feed Iams, but now feed Royal Canin - Nutro is better but IMO RC is better then Nutro.

Also it would be good to have a diet of both dry and canned.
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

If they are 6 months old now, they can be eating adult food. I'd get a small bag of kitten food and a larger bag of adult food and mix them together gradually.

I used to feed Iams, but now feed Royal Canin - Nutro is better but IMO RC is better then Nutro.

Also it would be good to have a diet of both dry and canned.
I would love the why RC is better than Nutro... ???? And dont give the breeder used it ...lmao.. 50% of breeders seem to use grocery or what I would consider grocery

6-12 is kitten to adult time... MOST on here do 9-12 ... I personally have done baby food much longer since it is higher protein and fat which cats need... Ideally a mostly canned diet ( many of us cant get the kittys to agree
)
 

goldenkitty45

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I feed some Nutro canned, but like the way the cats coat/health is on RC. I don't know which 50% of breeders you talk to, but in the show rings, they don't feed grocery foods. They feed better quality brands.

And I show cats. NONE of them were on kitten food after 5 months - its NOT necessary to keep them on kitten food for a long time - unless its a sick cat, had a poor start in life, or one of the larger breeds. Most small to average size cats would get fat quickly if kept on kitten food longer then 6 months.

The poster is getting the kittens from a breeder, and since the kittens are 6 months old, no reason to continue feeding kitten food at that age.
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

I feed some Nutro canned, but like the way the cats coat/health is on RC. I don't know which 50% of breeders you talk to, but in the show rings, they don't feed grocery foods. They feed better quality brands.

And I show cats. NONE of them were on kitten food after 5 months - its NOT necessary to keep them on kitten food for a long time - unless its a sick cat, had a poor start in life, or one of the larger breeds. Most small to average size cats would get fat quickly if kept on kitten food longer then 6 months.

The poster is getting the kittens from a breeder, and since the kittens are 6 months old, no reason to continue feeding kitten food at that age.
I understand but you said one is better but cant seem to back it up...
... I have used both and think both are good for the RIGHT animal...MANY breeders I talk to are feeding Iams and SD which I consider grocery


Kittens GROW in most cases till 10-12 months( mine is 40 months and just stopping growing yet is not a BIG cat) ... that is why most still stick with the std 12 months of kitten food ... YOU did breed SMALLER than ave cats thus I would agree kitten food a shorter time
PS the OP said she is PICKING up the kitties and BROTHER s nothin about if from a breeder
 

arlyn

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I have always, always fed my kittens based on activity level.
Using the cats themselves as my guide, I have never fed kitten food for less than 9 months and average about 11 months.
I have no fat cats, in fact, I've never had a fat cat.


Iams is far too corn heavy for an obligate carnivore, corn grits and corn meal? Why?
Yup, I feed Nutro, Iams is inferior IMO.
 
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angelom3

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Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

The poster is getting the kittens from a breeder, and since the kittens are 6 months old, no reason to continue feeding kitten food at that age.
Well let me clarify... "technically" I'm getting them from a breeder. Are they pure bread? Most likely not.... are they kittens from a mother that got out one night and had some "fun", probably.

Thanks a bunch for your advice on foods.... well I only bought a small bag of the "Kitten" food... so I'll make sure to pick up Nutro "Adult" dry and wet.

As for the type of bread... not sure. Here is a picture of them when they were about 2 or 3 months old. If anyone can guess their bread, it would be appreciated.
 

arlyn

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Pic is a bit large, but they are so cute!
I absolutely LOVE the white tip on the black tuxie's tail.
 
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angelom3

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Originally Posted by sharky

PS the OP said she is PICKING up the kitties and BROTHER s nothin about if from a breeder
Fixed the picture so it isn't gi-normas!

I was thinking of calling them Heckel and Jeckel... but I think I have to get to know their personalities before I give them a name.

Let me fix this for ya..........
PS the OP said HE is PICKING up the kitties and BROTHER s nothin about if from a breeder

And they are brothers.
 

sharky

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Love the names... and thank you for the HE reminder
.. we have about 3% male on here
 

jencat

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For dry, I still feed Natural Choice kitten food to my 8 month old as she still has a lot of growing to do. Her coat is really beautiful and shiny on the Nutro. My 9 month old male who is also still growing eats an all life stages food that is more caloric than the kitten food my girl eats. Neither one is overweight. They are both lean but well muscled. For wet food I don't bother with kitten food. It's either all life stages or adult.
 
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angelom3

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Originally Posted by sharky

Love the names... and thank you for the HE reminder
.. we have about 3% male on here
LOL


Boy I feel outnumbered now!
 

arlyn

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Originally Posted by AngeloM3

LOL


Boy I feel outnumbered now!
Well, I hope you won't hold it against us and you'll stick around, the place really could use some more testosterone
 

goldenkitty45

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Ok I was mistaken - thought they were from a purebred breeder. They are cute kittens (really love the black/white one's markings). They are DSH, mixed. No real breed that comes across


Sharky I'm not into nutrition as much as you. I go by their general health, body, coat, etc when evaluating foods. I won't feed Iams anymore cause they changed the formula. It used to be better then it is now. I like RC. I'm sure most cats would be ok with other foods. You get what you feed - some foods are a lot better then others.

And because they also get people foods (chicken/hamburger) more then most cats on a cat-food only diet, they probably get more protein to make up for the corn based dry.

Still would recommend kitten food only up to 5 months old for the most part. A small bag of kitten and the adult food would be fine to switch over - by the time they are finished with the kitten food, the cats would be fine on adult food only.
 
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angelom3

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Originally Posted by Arlyn

Well, I hope you won't hold it against us and you'll stick around, the place really could use some more testosterone
I'll definitely stick around. These are my first cats.... always had dogs.... so this is something "new" to me.

So you think their short hair? I'll have to get an updated picture when I get them to show everyone.... I was hoping they were short-hair so there is less shedding (if thats how you spell it).

GoldenKitty... I just found someones ad on Craigslist.org saying that they had kittens they were given away for free. I definitely wanted related cats... and these guys are a plus because they are up-to-date on all shots and neutered. So that saves me some vet trips for a bit. I find it funny coming home and seeing a corner full of cat stuff... but not one cat running around yet. They will definitely be spoiled!
 

kitytize

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I would choose Iams. Why because Iams foods do not contain gluten. And Iams still do not use gluten in their dry products.Taurine is still very high in these foods without any extra added. This means there is real meat in the product. It means that the protein listed is primarily from meat and not gluten or soy.

The corn in Iams is at minimum because the % of protein on the package is high. Corn isn't high in protein at around 9%. Compare this with other products that use corn or other grains and get the same or less taurine even with the taurine they add. Same for total protein. Look at the products getting the same or less protein with gluten listed in the ingredients. Gluten is 60-70% Protein.

Meat is high in all the Iams/Eukanuba products, because they do not add Taurine or gluten to any of them, and still get a respectable .16% taurine in the Iams/Eukanuba products and 34-36% protein.
 

mechanicalman

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The "adult" and "kitten" labels seem arbitrary to me. I may pick up a bag of Nutro for Gracie (only because it is free) and mix it with her EVO. She is two years old. The thought that I must buy her the adult formula Nutro to avoid weight gain seems silly, considering the fat and calorie content of EVO.
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by MechanicalMan

The "adult" and "kitten" labels seem arbitrary to me. I may pick up a bag of Nutro for Gracie (only because it is free) and mix it with her EVO. She is two years old. The thought that I must buy her the adult formula Nutro to avoid weight gain seems silly, considering the fat and calorie content of EVO.
lol.. yeah compared to EVO most things are "low cal"... Kitten foods generally have more in the minerals and vitamins and about 10-15% more cal per cup
 
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