[Skylar]

Lucy is 9 months and boy, it sure would be cheaper to only be buying one large bag of that Nutro Ultra instead of two at $60!!! She is so active though I worry that she might not get enough fat from the adult food. I can't remember for the life of me when we switched Sam over. Any thoughts?

 

[Guest]

My Peggy is 6 Months now and she is on Big Dog Food and she is still growing she doesnt look too small and she acts great.

 

[Skylar]

Thanks Rich, I recently saw a post from someone else switching over at a pretty early age IMO so I was just wondering what everyone else was doing.

 

[Guest]

If anyone else has any information for this post I would enjoy reading it as well...

 

[HannaBanana]

Most kibbles are coming in all life stages, meaning that you can feed the same no matter what age.  I think it all depends on the protein levels when deciding.   IMO I think labeling anything as large breed, puppy, senior and weight management is a marketing ploy, yet the food should be fed according to the ingredients and nutrient content rather than that label printed on the bag.

Make any sense??  Puppies I do not go about 28% protein with the ideal being about 22-24%   Any dog over two can handle the higher protein like some grainless kibbles and Innova Evo.

 

[Guest]

RIght on thanx

 

[tootsie]

I would feel comfortable switching foods at nine months. Actually, I never fed a puppy formula, I always just fed an all life stages so I really never had to decide when to make the switch. I'm not familiar with the Nutro Ultra, so I had to look up the analysis but here is the Nutro ultra puppy analysis:

Crude protein (min.) 30%, crude fat (min.) 15%, crude fiber (max.) 4%

And here is the adult analysis:

Protein (min.) 26%, fat (min.) 12%, fiber (max.) 4%

The difference between the puppy and adult formulas really aren't that much, so I would go ahead and make the switch.  

 

[Skylar]

Ok, Heather, question...after what Lisa posted the protein on the NU puppy and adult is higher than your recommendation...now I am confused - is this not a good food for them (i.e. too much protein)? I was more worried about the fat and Lucy getting enough

 

[HannaBanana]

Its a little high for me but its not over the top, you will be fine.  (I say hi for me because I am doing canine sport with my two)  What you dont want is to feed a kibble like Innova Evo with 42% or anything like 36%.  Puppies are growing and the higher protein content allows for accelerated bone growth.  With that the supporting tissues sometimes cannot keep up at that faster growth rate hence giving and elevated percentage of injury down the road.

The 4% is not going to make a dig difference at all, however you dont want to start a puppy on a high protein, grainless kibble

 

[Skylar]

Ok, thanks Heather! I feel better now about switching her over to the adult anyway since it is lower in protein.

 

[HannaBanana]

You also have to look at the ingredients.  See what they are calling "protein".   Protein can come from plants (corn-glutten, soy) or from animals.   You can have two bags of food at the same protein level, carbs and fat, yet bag A's protein is more digestable than bag B's protein.    So technically you have to feed more of bag B to get to even somewhat of the nutrient requirements that the dog needs.   So hence why I tend to go with ingredients and levels over name

Hope that makes any sense?

 

[HannaBanana]

To ease your mind - if you look at the top ingredients of the puppy (first list) and the adult.  You can see the puppy formula has more protein because it its getting it from the same ingredients just different order.  So I am assuming that Rice Bran has a little more protein than the Ground Rice but not a heck of a lot.   Also puppy had a higher fat content because its in the top 5 ingredients where is like 7 or 8 in the Adult - so in reality there really is not that much difference in this food  So you are good to go!

Chix Meal
Whole Brown Rice
Rice Bran
Lamb Meal
Fat
Ground Rice

________

Then the Adults

Chix Meal
Whole Brown Rice
Ground Rice
Lamb Meal
Rice Bran
Soybean Oil

 

[Skylar]

Thank you soooo much Heather! Man, you and Lisa are the super speedy research experts! I was still looking up the ingredients... :lol: