My husband and I adopted two basset hounds almost three weeks ago, named Moxie and Token.
I got Nutro Lamb and Rice formula for their dog food because it's what I'd used in the past (it's been 5 years since I've had a dog). However, I was doing some research today on the internet and found that Nutro has been making animals sick. While I haven't seen any vomiting or diarrhea, I'm worried that Nutro could make my pets sick. So I'm wondering what food I should switch them too after this bag runs out.

Moxie seems to be a finicky eater. She won't eat unless we hand feed her, and sometimes she'll turn her nose up at that unless Token shows interest. She will eat out of the bowl if I mix her dry food with wet. At first I thought she might have had a sore tooth, but the vet said her mouth looks really good.

Token eats all his food, but for the last couple days hasn't been finishing his bowl. This could be because he knows he's in a home now and doesn't have to forage for food like he did when he was a stray, but it's a new thing.

Call me the over-concerned parent- I know but I just want to make sure my babies are healthy and happy.

[reeskujo]

I've fed Nutro for a few years now and have never had an issue with my dogs getting sick...They really thrive on it.....I feed the Nutro Ultra.

i also used nutro before and it really worked for me..

[fioca98]

I would not recomend Nutro. The first ingredient listed is a meat product in meal form (which is good) but it's followed by 3 grain products ahead of the fat content. That means insufficient meat content. This product also has soy and wheat, which are ingredients linked to allergies. It also contains controversial fillers.

How about Innova, or Wellness? It has good ingredients, with substantial meat content and will fit well with basset hounds.

Natural Balance is definitely better then Nutro. However, neither food is that great compared to the higher quality foods like Innova, Wellness, Fromm, etc. Here are the ingredient comparisons -

Nutro Max:

-Chicken Meal (Good!)
-Wheat Flour (should not be in foods, no nutrition, filler)
-Ground Whole Wheat (low grade filler, causes allergies
-Rice Bran (good for digestion)
-Poultry Fat (bad as the type of poultry is not identified - means the company is hiding something)
-Corn Gluten Meal (the dried residue left over from processing corn, low grade filler)
-Ground Rice (good but should be left whole)
-Lamb Meal (good)
-Dried Egg Product (egg shells or eggs not fit for humans)

Natural Balance Original:

-Chicken (good, but meal is better as it has had the water removed meaning more meat in the food)
-Brown Rice (great)
-Duck (good)
-Lamb Meal (good)
-Oatmeal (good)
-Pearled Barley (good)
-Potatoes (good)
-Chicken Fat (okay)
-Tomato Pomace (tomato skins, okay but better if the whole fresh tomato was used)

Innova:

-Turkey (good)
-Chicken (good)
-Chicken Meal (great)
-Ground Barley (good)
-Ground Brown Rice (great)
-Potatoes (good)
-Natural Flavors (good)
-Ground White Rice (good)
-Chicken Fat (okay)
-Herring (good)
-Apples (great)
-Carrots (great)
-Cottage Cheese (good)
-Sunflower Oil (good)
-Alfalfa Sprouts (great)
-Egg (excellent)

I had VERY bad luck with Nutro foods. My dogs got very sick!

Innova is good, natural Balance is good also... other very high quality foods include Blue Buffalo, Wellness, Timberwolf Organic and Natures Variety.

One of my dogs is a funny eater and the other one has huge allergies. I tried Nutro and did not like it. A friend of ours told us about a wonderful and I mean wonderful food called Life Abundance. Its amazing and healthy!

[reeskujo]

Originally Posted by fioca98

I would not recomend Nutro. The first ingredient listed is a meat product in meal form (which is good) but it's followed by 3 grain products ahead of the fat content. That means insufficient meat content. This product also has soy and wheat, which are ingredients linked to allergies. It also contains controversial fillers.

How about Innova, or Wellness? It has good ingredients, with substantial meat content and will fit well with basset hounds.

That depends on which formula you're feeding....I feed the Ultra because my Akita is allergic to wheat and the Ultra doesn't contain any.....It does not contain all the fillers either.

I use the Wellness brand even though it breaks the bank I think I save money on not having to use any suppliments and such to get my dog to her peak! I've used a few of the other top brands but my dog hatted eating them and she really likes the Wellness brand. She has a great coat, lots of energy, and the vet is always impressed by her overall health and presentation.