Nutro Natural Choice Reformulated

darlili

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May be old news, but Natural Choice is being reformulated - rep at my Petsmart said it should be getting to the shelves in September/October. Apparently the main difference will be a higher percentage of protein - with chicken meal still the first ingredient listed, per the handout I got. I feed Indoor Senior - protein percentage going to 40% from 30%.

They're saying the formulation was based on work by Waltham in England - I believe that's a Mars-owned facility, but does seem to be doing a lot of nutrition and genetics work, which I guess would make sense if you're a company that manufactures a lot of pet food.
 

sharky

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ahh That is something I would like to see... and yes the Waltham center is owned by mars but run by Royal canin and Nutro
 
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darlili

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If I have time tonight or tomorrow, I'll try to either scan the handout, or type out at least one of the sub-line's ingredients. Which would be most useful, indoor adult?
 

littleraven7726

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I saw the new bags at our Petsmart on Friday already. I had no idea it was a reformulation, I just assumed they were a new bag design.
We are switching back to Nutro Max from Iams/Purina. My oldest decided he's not eating Iams anymore.
I guess if he changes his mind on dry food again we'll have to check out the new Nutro Natural.
 
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darlili

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well, I was able to make a PDF of the Nutro handout, but I guess it's too large to attach. Dang...I don't know that I'm overly happy that corn gluten meal has been added (I don't think it was in the old formula), but it does look like protein did go up. I don't know - I guess I'll try it and see, as mine have done well on Nutro up to date - and they're such nibblers and with my irregular schedule, I do like to leave some kibble out for them, besides their wet breakfast and dinner.
 

strange_wings

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Originally Posted by sharky

ahh That is something I would like to see... and yes the Waltham center is owned by mars but run by Royal canin and Nutro
I'm sure you know this, but others may not know it. There are very few brands that manufacture their own food - aside from a few smaller brands actually owned by the main company. (ie, Mars owns Wiskas) Off the top of my head, I can only think Purina that owns and only runs it's own at it's plants.

With Mars, they make the foods but mostly leave the research and formulation up to the brands they won the bids for.

I could have sworn Nutro had already been reformulated a while back.
Maybe I'm thinking of the dog food or a specific type.
 
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darlili

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It seems to me that Nutro does reformulate every now and again - one would hope in response to new research that they've come up with. It's sort of like a rock and hard spot - sometimes we don't want anything to change, since our pets have been doing fine on "A", but it's good when a company does keep up with research and development in the nutrition world, but then we might have to change. And then picky kitties may not do as well with the reformulation. Now, I'm basing this on changing formulas due to new nutritional guidance - not just trying to use cheaper ingredients that actually hurt the nutritional balance.
 

strange_wings

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Another reason is certain ingredients from specific suppliers become unavailable, change slightly, or become too pricey. So a company has to find another supplier or modify their formula slightly.
Originally Posted by darlili

Now, I'm basing this on changing formulas due to new nutritional guidance - not just trying to use cheaper ingredients that actually hurt the nutritional balance.
Too many brands do try to go the cheapest route.
 

sharky

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Yeah some brands got price increases since they wanted the same suppliers... Yeah I knew ... Mars owns several plants plus the old Nutro ones for dry ...

Dog and Max were recently reformulated
 

zoe2009

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So, are you guys saying Nutro may not be a good food? And what about the dog food. Was it reformulated too?
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by zoe2009

So, are you guys saying Nutro may not be a good food? And what about the dog food. Was it reformulated too?
ALL foods are redone at some pt ... Within the last 4 yrs most brands seems to be doing it yrly or bi yrly ... NOT a big issue except consumers often are the last to find out
I have feed various nutros over the yrs with good results , like all foods not all animals thrive on it
 

zoe2009

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All I want is a good dry cat food that produces less waste, and helps with shedding (hairballs) and low in magnesium. It gets so confusing.
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by zoe2009

All I want is a good dry cat food that produces less waste, and helps with shedding (hairballs) and low in magnesium. It gets so confusing.
NC for most cats will fit that bill...
 

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Just found out yesterday about the changes in Nutro's formulas, bag look/size and pricing.


I called the company this morning...
their website has not been updated with the new info. yet...odd.


Was told by the customer service person that for Dexter's food...
the Weight Management formula, the main changes are...
a rise in protein (from 33% to 42%) using the same protein sources,
wheat flour added as the 4th ingredient,
fiber content upped from 4 1/2% to 7%.

The customer service person was frustrated by the lack to info. Mars was giving her.
Me too.


Is wheat flour a protein or fiber source?
I question this as a good move for a cat food.
Anyone have any more info. about this change other than a smaller bag for more money?

PS....I asked if Mars intended to re-formulate MaxCat again. Customer service did not know.
 

sharky

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wheat has some protein , very little fiber in that form and IMHO lots of carbs ...

7 % fiber is okay for many cats but the norm is 3-5 or 4-6 depending who you talk to

The chicken and chicken meal would have to be lower in bone to raise the protein ...

IMHO wheat is not a good addition as many are allergic and others very intolerant
 

ilovemy2cats

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I knew this would happen eventually after Mars took over. I was waiting for them to cheapen the Natural Choice cat since they already did the Natural Choice dog. I took my cats off Nutro as soon as Mars bought them out. I guess I quit working for Nutro at the right time, a few months before Mars took them over.
 

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Just curious... what did you switch to and how is it working for you??
 

ilovemy2cats

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Originally Posted by bellatrix

Just curious... what did you switch to and how is it working for you??
I used Innova for about a year. Very good food and company and ALL of their ingredients are from the USA. I moved and none of the stores close to me carry it so I switched them to Eagle Pack Holistic duck and oatmeal which is what they were on before Innova. They both do excellent on the Eagle Pack and their coats are even better on this than on the Innova.
 

xocats

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Ugh...
let the search for a new food begin.
 

katkisses

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At the begining of the post I was starting to consider giving Nutro one last chance... Definatly not now.

Are you SERIOUS? The bags got even SMALLER? I still am not over the 20lb bags turning into 16lb bags... those 4 extra pounds meant alot with 5 cats. Isn't it great how the bags keep shrinking and the price tags get larger?

What is with the high fiber? Not all cats have hairball issues. I bet the Mag went up too. Why is wheat flour so high on the list?

Nutro's gone stupid!
 
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