We've had our 8 month old male for about three weeks now and we've been feeding him Nutro Natural Choice Complete Care dry cat food. He really seems to like it. Is it the best food for him?
There really is no "best" food, it's a matter of what your cat likes, does well on and fits into your budget.
I have fed Nutro Natural for 15 years and I don't have a single problem.
My 14 year old cat has never had a health issue nor has she ever needed a dental cleaning (though that may have more to do with the occasional raw meat and bones she gets).
I have weaned all of my fosters onto Nutro as well, it is a good food for tight budgets.
Is there better quality out there? Sure, but that doesn't mean that every cat will do better on it.
I do suggest though that you feed some canned food as well, daily would be great, but even once every few days or once a week is good.
Wet food goes a long way in preventing urinary tract problems by increasing moisture intake.
If you're interested I have some coupons for the food. I have no use for them (in the process of changing food) and posted a few days ago about mailing them to anyone in need--no cost. They are $2 off 8lb bag or larger coupons that expire 12/31/08, if you'd like them PM.
My boys have used the Nutro Max and Natural Choice and done very well on it, they really like the wet food as well.
I've had my two on Nutro wet and dry for two years - so far, so good. They were adopted as adult strays and are about 6 now. Vet happy, I'm happy, they're happy. But, the important thing, is whether your cats are happy, your vet is happy, and you're happy.
I use it and I think it's awesome because their poop comes out really well. When I was feeding them IAMS, it was like feeding a group of high schoolers McDonalds...lots of runny poop.
I used to feed my oldest cat the store brand of whatever i could afford before i found out about Nutro and have since switched her onto it. She's been on it for 3 years and all my other cats have been on Nutro from day one, once they were weaned, and doing very well. Their coats are shiny, teeth are good, and their feces are really good as well.
I definitely recommend it since, as was stated before, it's a good food and fits budgets. I feed Natural Choice, but Max is good as well.
It's not the best food out there (I don't think it's a premium brand), but it's also better than what a lot of people feed their cats (i.e. grocery store brands). Both of my cats did really well on it. I fed my cat Matilda the Nutro Natural Indoor chicken formula and she never had a problem with hairballs, liked the food, and it kept her at a reasonable weight. I fed Chloe the kitten version of Nutro Natural for several months and she also did really well on it. Her foster mom was using it to feed her.
For the price, it's a good choice. Other foods in that price range to look at are Diamond Naturals, Natural Balance, Nutro Max, Chicken Soup, and Authority.
If you want to 'upgrade', look at brands like Innova, Evo, Wellness, Taste of the Wild, California Natural, and Orijen.
Like others have mentioned, it's very important to feed your cat wet food in addition to dry.
I fed nutro natural choice until I upgraded to EVO (but had urinary and some allergy issues). It is a good food...of the foods at petsmart, I think it is the best for the price... I also really like chicken soup for the cat lover's soul, but it isn't as easy to find.
Keep in mind that nutro natural choice comes in several types but also two classes "regular" and "indoor". Of the two, I think the regular type has more fat/protien, so would be my choice over the indoor variety.
Nutro is very widely carried, so that's something to think about if you'll be moving soon..you'll probably be able to find it whereever you go.
Another plus with nutro is that they often run sales and/or come out with coupons often. If you go to nutro's website, you can join their frequent buyer program and they'll send you a book with ~ $20 worth of coupons in it
Also the nutro reps make rounds pretty frequently and they always have coupons with them.
After the UTI issues with my one cat, we switched back to nutro, but went with nutro MAX adult chicken. It has more... grains / fillers I think than the natural choice, but so far it is keeping my cat's UTI issues straightened out. If you have the choice between natural choice and max, I'd go with natural choice, even if it is a little pricier.
Authority is a petsmart brand and I think it is somewhat between natural choice and max in terms of quality. It is also about the same price as nat. choice, but hardly ever goes on sale.
If you want to include some wet food in your cat's diet (which is an awesome idea) I'd reccommend looking at the authority brand cans..cheaper than the nutro ones and I've had more success getting my cats to eat them than the nutro ones.