Nutro Dog Food

A Word about Recent Pet Food Recalls

In light of the recent, massive pet food recalls, you certainly can't be too safe when it comes to choosing your dog's food.

To date, the recall has centered on wet pet foods sold in cans and pouches. These products were produced at Menu Foods, and the affected foods encompass many popular brands. Although three types of Nutro wet cat and dog food were voluntarily recalled due to possible contamination, none of Nutro's dry foods were involved, nor are they manufactured by Menu Foods.

There seems to be a bit of confusion on this point since a similar dry food that goes by the name of Nutra was recently recalled. Although the names are quite similar, the products are not manufactured at the same plant and have no relationship to each other.

Nutro dry dog food has undergone testing, and at this time shows no melamine contamination of its rice gluten.

About Nutro Dog Food

Nutro began producing dog food in 1926. The product was well regarded and sold regionally in the California area until 1976 when the company changed hands. The product then went national, but didn't receive significant attention until it began marketing the Nutro Max line of dog foods in 1985.

Since then, Nutro has become a well recognized player in the dog food industry and a leading force in pet food nutritional research. The mainstay of its products is a highly digestible formula based on chicken, lamb and rice.

Currently, Nutro dog food is divided into three major product lines. Let's take a closer look at each.

Max

The Max product line promises maximum nutrition for maximum health.

The chicken used is real chicken meal. There are no by-products included in the formula such as heads and feet. Corn is also absent from this product. Instead, Max uses a combination of rice and wheat that is more digestible than corn. This means your dog will garner more nutrition from a smaller portion, cutting down on stool volume.

This line offers formulas geared toward Puppies, Adults and Seniors, as well as a weight control formula.

Natural Choice

The Natural Choice product line boasts the use of only the finest natural ingredients to improve the condition of your dog's skin and coat. Although lamb, chicken and rice figure prominently in this line, venison, turkey, duck and oatmeal are also included in some formulas.

Many of the products in this line sound like items you'd find on a human dinner menu. How about Turkey and Vegetable Casserole, or Lamb and Pasta?

This expanded line also includes healthy desserts for your dog, such as:

• Natural Choice Healthy Desserts Carrot Cake
• Natural Choice Healthy Desserts Pumpkin Crumble

Ultra

Ultra provides holistic nutrition for your dog using a combination of chicken, lamb and salmon meal. Salmon is an excellent source of amino acids that nourish brain functions.

The Ultra formula also procures nutrition from non-traditional dog foods like cranberries, tomatoes and garlic. Additionally, Ultra contains none of the chemical preservatives found in other brands. Chemicals such as BHA, propyl gallate and ethoxyquin have been found to cause illness and allergies in a number of pets.

Choices, Choices

With three product lines and numerous formulas and flavors, it may see like there are almost too many choices. If you'd like to try Nutro, but you're having a hard time deciding which variety is the right one for your dog, you can make use of Nutro's Help Me Choose tool.

A pull down bar allows you to select your current brand of dog food, or a comparable one if your current brand isn't on the list. Armed with this information, Nutro will recommend which of their lines offers the smoothest transition for your pet. From there, make your selection based on your dog's age and whether or not he's at a healthy weight.

Try Nutro for Free

If you'd like to receive a free sample of Nutro Natural Choice pet food, the company will send you a coupon to use toward a five pound bag. The offer is limited to one coupon per household and the current offer expires March 31, 2008.