Nutro

[domari]

Nestle owns Purina, but they have other brands as well. Mars owns Nutro and other brands as well.

Many people thought Chicken Soup was the best food for their dogs and cats until they found out Chicken Soup was made by Diamond, which most consider trash. When there was a problem with one ingredient in Diamond pet food (which didn't even affect all varieties) all of a sudden people who always bragged about Chicken Soup being the best food, changed their tune and stopped feeding it. Taste of the Wild is also made by Diamond. I know a lot of people think it's no good because of the company that owns it.

[rannmiller]

Most of the time, the large companies own the smaller ones and let them do their own thing, for the most part. I know that Royal Canin has referred to Mars (who owns them as well) to being their "sugar daddy." They use them for the money and do their own thing with it. Conversely, Mars also owns Pedigree and Whole Meals, that doesn't mean that Nutro and Royal Canin are going to start adding whole ground corn, chemical preservatives, animal by-products, and artificial color just because they're all owned by Mars.

Anyway, the point is: judge a food by its ingredients and performance, not the overarching company it's owned by... and that Nutro and Purina aren't owned by the same company.

[rannmiller]

Okay, so I have a "friend" who works for Nutro as one of their reps. She turns in her time cards via fax after every shift as is required of her. Every now and then (12 or more times) the time cards don't go through or get cut off or blurred. She got in trouble for this because she didn't know this was happening, so she started sending them through 6 or 7 times each, to make sure that at least one copy would be legible or that they could piece them together or something.
Finally in May, she got an angry e-mail from her Territory Demo Manager (TDM) saying that she had 12 time cards that didn't go through, some of them from as far back as January. She'd had no idea, and was chastised for it. She collected all of these time cards and mailed them in to payroll to be taken care of.
Two weeks later she received another angry e-mail that said she still owed time cards from the first batch and now new ones that weren't coming in. Confused, she e-mailed her TDM back and called her telling her that she'd already mailed them in, so payroll had her only copy of them so there was nothing she could do about it short of forging signatures.
After no reply from her TDM for a month, she assumed the issue was resolved and tried to watch her pay stubs more closely to make sure it didn't happen again.
Today, her TDM called her, angry as usual, saying that these time cards were still missing and that she had e-mailed and called her several times regarding them (not true). The Nutro rep, confused, explained what had happened to her TDM who barreled on continuing to tell her it was her fault and her irresponsibility that causes these problems even though she's done everything she can to avoid them short of driving them the 9 hours to the payroll office herself.
The TDM ends the call with "I'll e-mail you some signed time cards so you can get this taken care of. If they aren't in within 24 hours of the day they are delivered to you, you won't be working that week and I will drive down and we can discuss what your problem is in person." In order for her to get the time cards in within 24 hours, she'll have to fax them, a method known for repeatedly failing in the past.
She's now extremely tempted to put in her two weeks notice with Nutro and get a better-paying job with a better, more organized pet food company or perhaps go work for the SPCA (not nearly as much money). Any advice for my "friend" would be greatly appreciated, thank you!

[domari]

What brands are better than Nutro, yet around the same price range?
Our Tractor Supply store sells Nutro Lamb and Rice or Chicken Rice and Oatmeal for around $35 fo 40lb bag.

[BoxerMommie]

What brands are better than Nutro, yet around the same price range?
Our Tractor Supply store sells Nutro Lamb and Rice or Chicken Rice and Oatmeal for around $35 fo 40lb bag.

I get Healthwise (made by Natura who makes Innova) that is a good food for a 40 pound bag for $38 and change. Also there's Avoderm and Blue Buffalo that are around the same price (maybe a few bucks more, but within that range anyway). There's also Canidae, where I would get a 40 pound bag for $35. They downgraded their product but it still isn't bad, it's just not as good as it was. Chicken Soup, I used to get that which is a 35 pound bag for $27 at a feed store

[domari]

I get Healthwise (made by Natura who makes Innova) that is a good food for a 40 pound bag for $38 and change. Also there's Avoderm and Blue Buffalo that are around the same price (maybe a few bucks more, but within that range anyway). There's also Canidae, where I would get a 40 pound bag for $35. They downgraded their product but it still isn't bad, it's just not as good as it was. Chicken Soup, I used to get that which is a 35 pound bag for $27 at a feed store

I feed my cats Chicken Soup dry food, along with Innova canned food, it works for most of them. I considered giving it to it for the dogs. I brought home samples of it before and it seemed a bit too rich for some of the dogs.
Since it has fish in it, and made by Diamond, wouldn't it have the same thing in it that's in Taste of the Wild that you said causes cancer?

I don't know if the store carries Healthwise, the name doesn't sound familiar. They don't have Avoderm or Blue Buffalo. Tractor Supply carries one variety of Blue Buffalo for cats, but it's too expensive, a lot more than the Chicken Soup.

[BoxerMommie]

I feed my cats Chicken Soup dry food, along with Innova canned food, it works for most of them. I considered giving it to it for the dogs. I brought home samples of it before and it seemed a bit too rich for some of the dogs.
Since it has fish in it, and made by Diamond, wouldn't it have the same thing in it that's in Taste of the Wild that you said causes cancer?

I don't know if the store carries Healthwise, the name doesn't sound familiar. They don't have Avoderm or Blue Buffalo. Tractor Supply carries one variety of Blue Buffalo for cats, but it's too expensive, a lot more than the Chicken Soup.

Chicken Soup used to use Ethoxyquin free fish, but that was oh 2 years ago that I used that food, I couldn't tell you if they still do or not you'd have to contact the company.

Healthwise is made by Natura if they sell Innova they can order Healthwise as it's the same company. The place I get it has to special order it for me but since they carry the contract with Innova it isn't a big deal, I just have to give like a week's notice on when I need more and they order it no problem.

[domari]

Chicken Soup used to use Ethoxyquin free fish, but that was oh 2 years ago that I used that food, I couldn't tell you if they still do or not you'd have to contact the company.

Healthwise is made by Natura if they sell Innova they can order Healthwise as it's the same company. The place I get it has to special order it for me but since they carry the contract with Innova it isn't a big deal, I just have to give like a week's notice on when I need more and they order it no problem.

I just thought all the ingredients in Diamond food would come from the same suppliers, so if one has it, they all would.

As far as ordering food, I wish it was that easy. I went through hell and back with the feed store as well as Tractor Supply and was furious because I got nowhere other than around in circles.

I get TOTW for two of the dogs from Tractor Supply, they carry only two varieties for dogs only but that's ok. I wanted to try it for my cats, so I asked if they could order it. Sounds simple.

The manager said they can only get what they get from the main warehouse. So I contacted the main headquarters of TSC and asked if they could get the cat food. Nope. Then I contacted Diamond to see if they could send a rep to TSC and find out if they could get the cat food. The regional sales manager from Diamond replied and said "Tractor Supply is only trying Taste Of The Wild in the dog formulas. It is only a trial basis in around 60 of their 700 stores". So I suppose if it doesn't sell really well, it will disappear off the shelves in a few months.

So I asked about TOTW at the other feed store which is a smaller NY state chain. First I went to the manager, who said it's not in their computer system so they can't order it. They carry other Diamond products, that's where I buy Chicken Soup for the cats. I also buy Innova canned for the cats, but they don't have Innova dry for cats. They carry all kinds of regular Diamond dog and cat food. So getting TOTW should be simple, right?? NOPE.

The local store manager said she couldn't order TOTW for dogs or cats. So I go over her head, to the main office, got absolutely nowhere, they didn't even reply to me by phone or email.

So I asked Diamond about contacting them, the sales manager told me that store has the ability to special order this product in. They have 11 stores and 3 of them are selling the full product line of TOTW! That really ticked me off. If three stores are selling it, why can't this one?

So back to the beginning... I'm going to the feedstore tomorrow to buy cat food and printing out the email that the Diamond sent me. Now I really don't even care if they get the TOTW cat food or not, the point is, they lied about the ability to order it in the first place.

I've had to special order Chicken Soup, and half the time they don't get it when they say they will.

This is probably why most people around here feed Purina or Old Roy. Just go to Walmart and pick up a bag, simple and easy.

[BoxerMommie]

I just thought all the ingredients in Diamond food would come from the same suppliers, so if one has it, they all would.

As far as ordering food, I wish it was that easy. I went through hell and back with the feed store as well as Tractor Supply and was furious because I got nowhere other than around in circles.

I get TOTW for two of the dogs from Tractor Supply, they carry only two varieties for dogs only but that's ok. I wanted to try it for my cats, so I asked if they could order it. Sounds simple.

The manager said they can only get what they get from the main warehouse. So I contacted the main headquarters of TSC and asked if they could get the cat food. Nope. Then I contacted Diamond to see if they could send a rep to TSC and find out if they could get the cat food. The regional sales manager from Diamond replied and said "Tractor Supply is only trying Taste Of The Wild in the dog formulas. It is only a trial basis in around 60 of their 700 stores". So I suppose if it doesn't sell really well, it will disappear off the shelves in a few months.

So I asked about TOTW at the other feed store which is a smaller NY state chain. First I went to the manager, who said it's not in their computer system so they can't order it. They carry other Diamond products, that's where I buy Chicken Soup for the cats. I also buy Innova canned for the cats, but they don't have Innova dry for cats. They carry all kinds of regular Diamond dog and cat food. So getting TOTW should be simple, right?? NOPE.

The local store manager said she couldn't order TOTW for dogs or cats. So I go over her head, to the main office, got absolutely nowhere, they didn't even reply to me by phone or email.

So I asked Diamond about contacting them, the sales manager told me that store has the ability to special order this product in. They have 11 stores and 3 of them are selling the full product line of TOTW! That really ticked me off. If three stores are selling it, why can't this one?

So back to the beginning... I'm going to the feedstore tomorrow to buy cat food and printing out the email that the Diamond sent me. Now I really don't even care if they get the TOTW cat food or not, the point is, they lied about the ability to order it in the first place.

I've had to special order Chicken Soup, and half the time they don't get it when they say they will.

This is probably why most people around here feed Purina or Old Roy. Just go to Walmart and pick up a bag, simple and easy.

Good grief! And no just because it's owned by Diamond, I *believe* (although I am not 100% sure) that Chicken Soup where owned by them does not receive their stuff from the same supplier and has their own processing plant as well, however I am not 100% certain of that. I know when I fed it it was Ethoxyquin free, however I haven't fed it in probably a good 2 years so I could not tell you for sure now.

I can't believe they are such a pain in the rear about ordering food! The place I order from is all too happy to order it, they even call me when it comes in. The other feed store I used to use was like that also. Love them both!

[domari]

Good grief! And no just because it's owned by Diamond, I *believe* (although I am not 100% sure) that Chicken Soup where owned by them does not receive their stuff from the same supplier and has their own processing plant as well, however I am not 100% certain of that. I know when I fed it it was Ethoxyquin free, however I haven't fed it in probably a good 2 years so I could not tell you for sure now.

I can't believe they are such a pain in the rear about ordering food! The place I order from is all too happy to order it, they even call me when it comes in. The other feed store I used to use was like that also. Love them both!

I remember when there was the big recall, Diamond products were all lumped together. A lot of people who swore by Chicken Soup decided not to feed it anymore because they said everything from Diamond was bought from the same suppliers. Diamond said that wasn't true, but a lot of dog food experts stopped feeding Chicken Soup.

Who was it that said Nutro quality was bad because it was owned by the same company that other brands, does Mars use the same supplier for all their food? Why wouldn't Diamond do that?

I'm not complaining about any of the Diamond products, just wondering why you'd say TOTW contains Ethoxyquin, but other Diamond products containing fish would not. Since I still haven't seen any proof that TOTW contains Ethoxyquin, I'm going to assume that Diamond gets their ingredients from the same suppliers and it's all good. Chicken Soup and TOTW should be just as safe to use.

Yes the feed store is a pain. You don't know how many times I had a fit going in there to get cat food, which they were supposed to order for me and put in the back with my name on it, only to find they didn't get it in. I've had to buy the little bags of cat food for $2.99 just to get by for a few days, then drive back up there when they get it in.