Nutro Natural Choice Grain Free...Help!?

Hi!

I am looking for reviews on Nutro Natural Choice Grain Free Food, I want to give a little background story so you can understand me a little more. We had a farm kitten that we raised and before his 2nd birthday, we found out he had a urinary tract, which was close to $4,000 for surgery. We obviously couldn't afford that and ended up having to put him down, broke our hearts. We now have a cat name Milo who will be 3 in May and he's been throwing up and I didn't really think too much about it and we switched him to Science Diet because everyone just raves about that. Well after a month with that he was still throwing up. We took him to the vet and he told us that he is allergic to something, because he keeps throwing up food and has been getting watery eyes, he is loosing more hair then he should be and he is a bit underweight.

I am paranoid and don't want him getting a Urinary Tract and the vet told me to look for food that is low in Ash. So after doing hours of research I found that I need no chicken by products, no corn, no grains (to help with allergies and sensitivty). The vet kept trying to push Prescription Diet on me I said no, it has chicken by products why would you try and sell me that? Anyways, so we went to the pet store and I read Blue Buffalo and liked the ingredients in it, I took it home Milo would eat it but he didn't love it and I could tell that right away. I did research and found bad reviews and that they have had alot of recalls and that alot of cats have been getting urinary tracts while eating this food. I took his food away and went to the pet store last night to exchange it.

My main concern is to get him on food that won't make him throw up and stop with the water eyes, I want him to be healthy and happy and to have healthy fur. We also switched his litter to Blue Buffalo's Walnut Kitty Litter and got him a much bigger litter box. The customer service lady helped us decide on Nutro Natural Choice Grain Free Duck & Potato, which he seems to enjoy he ate quit a bit of it last night. I am reading the ingredients and trying to do research but no reviews just for dogs nothing on it for cats. These are the ingredients listed..

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, Natural Flavors, Soybean Oil (preserved with mixed Tocopherols), Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, DL-Methionine, Salt, Taurine, Vitamin E Supplement, Zinc Sulfate, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of Vitamin C), Iron Proteinate, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Copper Proteinate, Niacin Supplement, Selenium Yeast, Manganese Proteinate, Biotin, Riboflavin Supplement (Vitamin B2), Calcium Pantothenate, Potassium Iodide, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Vitamin A Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid, Rosemary Extract, Decaffeinated Green Tea Extract, Spearmint Extract

Guaranteed Analysis

* Not recognized as an essential nutrient by the AAFCO Cat Food Nutrient Profiles

I am wondering if this is all good ingredients from some research I've done I think it is but I want to make sure. We also bought some soft food to give him once or twice a week as a treat and its really low in ash 3%. But this dry food says nothing about ash. Please help, would love any advice and reviews. Sorry its such a long post!

We have a poster on here who works for Nutro and I am sure he will answer your questions.  He should be on later this afternoon.

Welcome to TCS, keep posting and checking and have a nice day.

Thank you, that would be awesome if he could answer my questions!

Another concern would be the Soybean Oil, cause I read that soybean are really harmful to Cats. The more I try and research ingredients and the right food to feed my cat the more confused and frustrated I get that there are so many dishonest companies making crap for people to buy for their pets. I wish there was just one food that was healthy and the best choice for cats, then I wouldn't have to worry I could just buy it for him.

I had a similar situation to yours, and I've done a lot of research. The best thing you could do for Milo is to get him on all wet diet. Wet food is better for cats than dry. You can read up on why at catinfo.org. Written by a vet, it has lots of great info. Since your cat also has allergies to something, I would recommend feeding raw if you can. It can be very difficult to figure out what he's allergic to with commercial foods because there are usually so many ingredients. You could try a limited ingredient canned food as well, preferably in a novel protein.

The best food for preventing urinary tract infections is wet or raw food. Dry just doesn't have enough moisture content to keep the urinary system nice and flushed.

Also, the whole ash argument for UTI's doesn't quite make sense because ash is just another word for the minerals in the food. You need those in there to make the food balanced and complete. http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/choosing-dog-food/dog-food-ash/

MelissaD said:

I wish there was just one food that was healthy and the best choice for cats, then I wouldn't have to worry I could just buy it for him.

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Raw.
You can buy it pre-made in pet stores now, Nature's Variety, RadCat and many others.
:nod:

Hi Melissa! I just saw your post and thought I would answer you. The new Natural Choice grain free products are brand new out. As of yet, I am not aware of any reviews about the new line of food but a lot of folks are really excited about it. I have tried all of the wet since it came out and my cats love all of them except the slices. They never have liked the slices in ANY brand. I think it's just a texture their noses can't identify with as food :lol3:

A LOT of factors play into a cat which has, or is prone to UTIs. Since cats are obligate carnivores, they are wired to gain most of their moisture through their food. They just are not geared to go to the water bowl for a big slurp like our dogs are. It is generally thought an all wet diet will help the cat with hydration and may help circumvent a multitude of problems which a cat on an all kibble diet might encounter. Of course, genetics play a huge role in the whole scheme of the cat's health as well. Just like us humans. Kibble tends to be carb and calorie dense so obesity and diabetes can be a possibility for a cat on an all kibble diet. That said, many, many cats do quite well on an all kibble diet if they are drinking enough water.

On to the wet. Since we already know the hydration benefits of wet food, let's examine what we know. about soybean oil. Soybean oil is widely used in pet foods as a source of protein and provided lineolic acid which is good for the skin and coat. Depending upon the manufacturing process, the antigens are removed and the benefits of it remain.

An all wet diet may help in in circumventing UTIs etc. but is not a guarantee your cat will never have any of the issues associated with an all kibble diet. Again, genetics play a role as well. This does not answer your question about reviews as of this writing, I have not seen, nor heard of any. Feel free to PM me with any additional questions or concerns you might have regarding any of the Nutro products. If I don't know the answer off hand, I WILL make sure I help find an answer for you.

I can't be of much help to you regarding a raw diet. I do not have enough knowledge, or experience to express an educated opinion on it. TCS does have a raw forum available to you at http://www.thecatsite.com/f/65/raw-feeding-for-cats You can check out the Nutro website at http://www.nutro.com/natural-pet-food/natural-cat-food.aspx

Thank you everyone for your advice and help!!!! Milo seems to love the Nutro Grain Free Duck, he eats it all every crumb which is amazing because he used to have such a mess around his dish with all the other brands I've tried. I'm not sure how much water they are supposed to be drinking a day but he usually drinks atleast 300 ml up to 500 ml a day, is that a good amount for cats? I tried to give him the slices wet food by Nutro and he would not touch it and I was thinking maybe he hates wet food but I'm glad you mentioned your cats never liked that Mike. I will try the chunky one I think, I am not home for about 12 hours a day so putting him on a raw diet wouldn't work I don't think. I love that I can set out dry food and he will eat when he's hungry but what I am thinking about doing is giving him half a can of wet in the am and the other half in the pm. Would that be beneficial for him? I would still feed him dry because like I said i'm not home for a long period of time and don't want him to starve. But I have noticed that him being on Nutro for a little over a week now, his fur is alot softer and he hasn't thrown up or had watery eyes since. I am hoping this is signs of good things to come for him, I hate not knowing how he's feeling. 

Just wanted to update from my last reply, we tried to feed Milo the wet chunky Nutro food. He won't even go near it, we tried to put some of his hard food in there to tempt him but he won't touch it. He will go to his hard food and eat that. But also when we got him as a kitten he wouldnt eat wet food either, we had to buy him hard food and add some water to it. I'm wondering if maybe he is just not a wet food cat.

MelissaD said:

Another concern would be the Soybean Oil, cause I read that soybean are really harmful to Cats. The more I try and research ingredients and the right food to feed my cat the more confused and frustrated I get that there are so many dishonest companies making crap for people to buy for their pets. I wish there was just one food that was healthy and the best choice for cats, then I wouldn't have to worry I could just buy it for him.

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Personally I refuse to feed anything made with Soy or Corn.  

I will try to limit my rant, but over 90% of the corn and soy made in the US is now Genetically Modified,

and most of that is either sprayed directly with Glyphosate, or has Pesticide DNA in it's genes,

which passes through in the food and tends to remain in the digestive tract of animals who consume it.

Search "GM Soy dangers" or "GMO Corn dangers" for more info than you can possibly read.     

I second the switch to as much wet food as possible.

Have you tried EVO 95% Turkey & Chicken?

Most Kitties seem to enjoy it.

My "budget" canned food recommendation is Friskies (or Grreat Choice) Poultry Platter.

Hate to make this more confusing, but I fed Blue Buffalo Wilderness for years with no issues,

and everyone was sofy, silky and seemingly healthy.

Roughly 6 months after I switched to exclusively GF foods,

(and switched from BBW to EVO and Innova Prime for their dry snacks)

one of my boys developed a bad UTI, and 3 others developed allergies.

I still feed mainly canned food, but I quit feeding anything with peas and potatoes.

Everyone's allergies are now cleared up.

I feed mainly California Natural Chicken & Brown Rice as their dry snack,

occasionally Evolve, and Wellness makes one dry flavor without P&P. (Blue bag.)

MelissaD said:

Just wanted to update from my last reply, we tried to feed Milo the wet chunky Nutro food. He won't even go near it, we tried to put some of his hard food in there to tempt him but he won't touch it. He will go to his hard food and eat that. But also when we got him as a kitten he wouldnt eat wet food either, we had to buy him hard food and add some water to it. I'm wondering if maybe he is just not a wet food cat.

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I hate to suggest a kibble but Nutro Natural Choice also has a grain free kibble out. You might try the transition info found here http://catinfo.org/ There are excellent articles on transitioning from dry to wet. Also, you might try one of the other brands of grain free wet to see if he likes a different texture or flavor.

We have a cat who would throw up every kind of food until I started giving her the nutro grain free.  Its expensive but its the only food my cat can keep down.  I get the senior version since my cat is over 10 yrs. old.  I wish I would of found this food sooner, as I only found it about a month ago.  So give it a try and see if it helps.  She also has a watery eye but they isn't really anything that will help that, as it can be something they can be born with.

We have a cat who would throw up every kind of food until I started giving her the canned chicken loaf nutro grain free.  Its expensive but its the only food my cat can keep down.  I get the senior version since my cat is over 10 yrs. old.  I wish I would of found this food sooner, as I only found it about a month ago.  So give it a try and see if it helps.  .

Gabby358 said:

  She also has a watery eye but they isn't really anything that will help that, as it can be something they can be born with.

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She may have Feline Herpes. Try giving her l-lysine, 250mg twice a day, and see if that helps.

One of my cats is a big fan of Nutro Natural Choice - the soft loaf texture.  Texture is VERY important to some cats - once you find what texture your cat prefers, stick to flavors in that texture.  Some of them also offer a decent amount of calories (esp the duck, catfish, and the turkey + cod).  I make some raw home made as well, and I was crunching numbers the other day.  Making raw food from chicken @ $1.70 a lb or so is cheaper than some of the better canned foods, but the minute you move out of those proteins into more expensive ones (rabbit, beef, lamb...) good canned food is equal if not a little cheaper per ounce. 

As far a extra ingredients, unless you go to a limited ingredient system (Wysong has one....you have to add their supplement to the food though) I have had the best luck with extra veggies or fruits.   I could swear my older cat has better elimination with a tiny bit of veggie in the mix, I doubt the fruits have much impact - but she doesn't really like canned food with any rice or other grains.

RE: your long work day.  Why don't you freeze a chunk of canned food then let it sit out so your kitty can have that later when it thaws?  Before you leave, put out some regular, fresh out of the can, AND some of the frozen in another dish?

Hope this helps.
 

Just started my 2 cats (1 year old, from pound) on Natural Choice by Nutro due to my calico having irritable bowel, sensitivity issues.  The other cat is along for the ride, since she will check out his bowl too.  She loves the Duck and Potato dry as well as the Salmon and Duck wet.  They LOVE IT and she has improved greatly in just a week.  Eyes less red, stomach not distended, coat silky and more playful/friendly.  She has been on Prescriptions perhaps 3 months with no improvement.  Nutro, sadly is more expensive (which is hard to believe).  Thought I would save money switching off it.  We give them each a half can a day and spray bottle the dry to moisten.  They do go to bathroom less often.  Perhaps will add more water to dry since hearing from you all and online about dry food not being preferable? 

These are our 5th and 6th cats, 4th ended up with crystals in urine at age 2.  He was put on Prescriptions food, lived until 12 on it, died with intestinal cancer (which heard online Prescriptions Food causes and Vets get a kick back to prescribe/sell?)  If so, what a racket and shame on them.  Online found some recipe ideas to make own wet cat food.  Have not tried; but I probably will.

gabby358 said:

We have a cat who would throw up every kind of food until I started giving her the canned chicken loaf nutro grain free. Its expensive but its the only food my cat can keep down. I get the senior version since my cat is over 10 yrs. old. I wish I would of found this food sooner, as I only found it about a month ago. So give it a try and see if it helps. .

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I just read your old post re Nutro chunky chicken loaf. Just started my cat on this. Do still feed this? How much per day. How, is, you cat doing on it. TKS.