Nutro Dog Food

Nutro Dog Food

 3.2/5 (2739 reviews)
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About Nutro Dog Food

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The Nutro Company has been committed to creating natural and delicious dog food since 1926. As pioneers in the natural pet food industry, each ingredient is carefully chosen with a purpose, to provide the best nutrients for man's best friend.

Overall Satisfaction Rating

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Pros

  • Lists meat as first ingredient
  • Suitable for all life stages
  • Grain-free options

Cons

  • Contains meat meals
  • Difficult for some dogs to digest

Bottom Line

Nutro Dog food available in a variety of textures and flavor profiles. Some reviews indicate the food might cause stomach issues.

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Nutro Dog Food Reviews

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Page 2 Reviews 10 - 40
Rated with 1 star
Verified Reviewer
Original review: July 28, 2020

I've been using Nature's Recipe dry puppy food, and I was looking for a wet puppy food to mix in with it to help him gain a little bit because he's underweight by a tiny bit. So I tried Nutro wet Puppy food since Nature's recipe didn't have a wet puppy food. I've been mixing it in for almost 2 weeks now. And twice I've only allowed him to have it by itself. Both times he has temporarily went blind in one eye. I'm furious. He is only 15 weeks old and should not be having these problems. I will never use this brand ever again.

12 people found this review helpful
Rated with 1 star
Verified Reviewer
Original review: July 18, 2020

One treat given to my dog with no other changes to her diet and within hours she has full body tremors and vomiting. I’m very upset. I’m awaiting a vet to call me to see how to help my beloved dog. I hate that I didn’t review this brand first. There are tons of these same issues with this brand.

11 people found this review helpful
Rated with 1 star
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Verified Reviewer
Original review: April 8, 2020

I got a big bag of Nutro dog food for free for my dog. I tried this dog food for my dog and started having problems a few days later. I finally looked at the reviews and decided not to feed my dog this food anymore. I wish I would have looked at the reviews first. I did mix his old dog food with it. 50 50 mix. I noticed the other night he was shivering for no reason. It was not cold in our house at all. Going back to his old food.

24 people found this review helpful
Rated with 1 star
Verified Reviewer
Original review: Feb. 19, 2020

I've been feeding this food to my 2 miniature pinschers since 2008. They have always been very healthy. I had this product on auto ship. I noticed the kibble was not smooth. The kibble is rigid and have grains poking out of the kibbles. Since receiving the latest batch (approx 1 month ago), my dogs have been vomiting often. Half of the time it's been undigested dog food. It was 3am this morning and one of my girls started licking profusely. She started trembling uncontrollably and threw up her undigested food in 4 parts. This had me very worried. I was searching online about what it could be. It was in the back of my mind it could be their food because why else would two perfectly healthy dogs start to get sick since receiving a new bag of dog food. SURE ENOUGH! NUTRO changed their formula.

Since the food was on autoship, I didn't know until I called Chewy customer service and they advised me that I had received a batch of their new formula. I won't be using their improved formula, I'll be looking for a new dog food for my babies. Ps. My brother's dog has been having stomach issues too (different household) and it's the same scenario, but different. UPDATE: I've started feeding Solid Gold and my dogs have not vomited or had seizure like episodes since feeding the new food.

28 people found this review helpful
Rated with 1 star
Verified Reviewer
Original review: Jan. 17, 2020

I started using Nutro Natural Lamb and Rice in 2011 when I got my second bulldog from a breeder that was using it. I did all the reviews and thought this was going to make a difference as previous bulldog did not have the best of health. AFter 9 years my dog started to get sick with seizures. She was perfectly healthy up until that time then she started having severe rhinitis. She was constantly throwing up her food. She lost 30 lbs in less than six months. She finally lost her battle to live. After 2 months I adopted another bulldog 3 years old in good health. I started to switch her dog food over to what we were feeding my previous bulldog. After her first day of all Nutro and nothing from the other food she started having seizures? I am now in transition of once again moving her off of Nutro. I have the dog food in a sealed container and would like to have it tested. I truly believe my dog died from this dog food.

44 people found this review helpful
Rated with 1 star
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Verified Reviewer
Original review: Dec. 30, 2019

We have fed our pets Nutro for years up until the 2008 recall. It tooks years to trust the brand again and we have used their dog food since 2012 (wet & dry). All was well until recently when our dogs' digestion started acting up with diarrhea and he oddly shivered. We did not suspect the food immediately, but started feeding rice and boiled chicken with carrots to recover him. He immediately perked up. Last night was the final straw as the shivering was very scary and it was clear that pup was nauseous. I gave him chicken broth and he had a rough night, had another bout of semi-soft poop and seems to be feeling better now. Apparently no product is being recalled, but I am disturbed to read so many poor reviews similar to our own experience. Never feeding Nutro again.

42 people found this review helpful
Rated with 1 star
Verified Reviewer
Original review: Dec. 27, 2019

I started my Yorkie mix on the canned Nutro dog food the same night as his new meds for incontinence and he was very sick with almost constant diarrhea and vomiting. I thought it was the meds so I stopped them but fed him his Nutro (I mix about a quarter of a can with his dry dog food, which is another brand he has been eating for awhile with no issues) and he continued to vomit undigested food, bile and watery diarrhea. At times he was going out every ten to fifteen minutes, usually every half hour, for almost 24 hours.

I started him on rice and slowly some turkey and it cleared up. I also stopped his meds. After he felt better the next night, I fed him his Nutro and dry food combo and within an hour he was vomiting and had frequent bouts of diarrhea. I will never feed him this food again. I will have another long, sleepless night of tending to my very ill dog because of this dog food. I googled it and was astonished to hear so many others with these symptoms.

24 people found this review helpful
Rated with 1 star
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Verified Reviewer
Original review: Dec. 26, 2019

I have a 12 yr old Boston and a 14 yr old Doxie. They had dental done and needed soft food afterwards. I tried Nutro, my Doxie refuses to eat it. My Boston ate the Nutro w/out issue. Two weeks post Nutro, on Christmas Day, my Boston started seizing. She is a very healthy dog, besides being blind she is very healthy and acts like a pup still. Nothing else in her routine or diet has changed, we were able to pin it down to the Nutro is the only difference.

28 people found this review helpful
Rated with 1 star
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Verified Reviewer
Original review: Dec. 23, 2019

My dog has been on Nutro Chicken dog food for approx 1-1/2 years. I opened a new bag and with in 24-36 hours my dog had severe diarrhea. I took him off of this and put him on boiled chicken and rice. I also took him to the Vet and was told after antibiotics to slowly put him back on this dog food. After 10 days I did this only to have it come back yet again 24-36 hours later! This was a brand new bag that I opened in the beginning. I took him back to the vet and they put him on a RX dog food and more antibiotics. Now we did blood work up. I contacted Nutro and they wanted a sample of the dog food only to tell me there was nothing wrong with it. It was never tested I am sure. My dog had pancreatitis which I am sure is related to this food. My dog also has high cholesterol. I will never use anything from Nutro again!

37 people found this review helpful
Rated with 1 star
Verified Reviewer
Original review: Nov. 25, 2019

I have had my baby on this food her whole life. Thinking it was the best thing I could do for her. She was diagnosed with a heart problem and died 2 weeks ago. Then I read this article my vet told me and this food killed my baby. Beware!!!

31 people found this review helpful
Rated with 1 star
Verified Reviewer Verified Buyer
Original review: Nov. 2, 2019

We've fed our dog Nutro since adopting him in January 2019. He's had worsening facial hair loss since we've had him and seen veterinary dermatologists, was on monthly shots since May to curb itching during allergy season, and the balding spots on his body improved completely but not on his face by his eyes. In September all of a sudden he started vomiting after every meal, almost immediately after eating. We thought it was because he was drinking too much water too fast right after eating, so over a week we reduced the amounts of water he had access to. But it kept happening and he was getting less moisture, so we added cooked white rice 50/50 with the Nutro dry food. This helped some, but in this last week it has not. He started vomiting completely undigested, full servings of his meals up to 4 hours after eating them. His eye also looks worse suddenly.

Our vet said this could be due to sensitivity of his stomach and I looked up the food brand on here to find stories that were similar. Maybe it's the food, or maybe just a bad choice for our dog, but I wanted to add our experience with Nutro here for the record. We've decided to switch his food permanently to one for dogs with sensitive skin and stomachs.

25 people found this review helpful
Rated with 1 star
Verified Reviewer
Original review: Oct. 9, 2019

I started feeding my dog Nutro canned food and for the first few days it was okay. After about 4 days of eating it, she developed horrible, uncontrollable diarrhea. I switched back to a different food and the diarrhea has gone away.

26 people found this review helpful
Rated with 1 star
Verified Reviewer
Original review: Sept. 10, 2019

I slowly switched my dog and cat to Nutro after reading all of the good reviews. I did as directed and started mixing smaller to larger amounts into their existing food, until they were both completely on Nutro. The cat adult indoor chicken and brown rice recipe, and the dog lamb and rice small bites are the foods we switched to. My dog has been throwing up bile and has had soft yellow stools, and my cat has been vomiting her kibble up. My cat has never been one to vomit, and understandably, she started avoiding her food. My dog doesn’t get scraps and has never had stomach issues. Both animals started having the same issues after we switched foods.

36 people found this review helpful
Rated with 1 star
Verified Reviewer
Original review: Sept. 10, 2019

My small dog was on her second bag of this dog food when she became to eat grass every time she went outside, vomiting in the middle of the night, had diarrhea, was losing weight, and was not her hyper self. After doing some research on this dog food, I found out that it has been proven by the FDA that this dog food causes heart failure in dogs and cats, plus has been recalled numerous times.

28 people found this review helpful
Rated with 1 star
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Verified Reviewer
Original review: Aug. 7, 2019

We bought Nutro Wholesome Essentials (Small Breed - Adult - Flavor Chicken, Brown Rice and Sweet Potato Recipe) for our pomeranian and the bag we bought made all of our dogs sick. Especially my pomeranian Biggie. He started out with black tarry loose stool that turned to a yellow diarrhea before turning to straight watery blood after 48 hours. My dog vomited twice and was in pain. We paid $400 to two vet hospitals to get my pom treated. We paid for blood tests and were given antibiotics that we are praying works for him along with a prescribed bland diet. We were ordered to stop feeding our dogs Nutro. When we came home from the vet we discovered our other dogs sick with yellow diarrhea because they were also eating Nutro. After we stopped feeding the food the dogs Nutro the vomiting and diarrhea stopped being sick.

I contacted Smart and Final in Camarillo where the product was bought to let them know what happened and that store pulled the product off shelves. I filed a formal complaint with the store in an effort to have the SKU removed from all Smart and Final stores. Nutro is dangerous and should be taken off shelves. I'm reporting to Consumer Affairs, BBB, and anyone else that will help in filing a formal complaint against Nutro further poisoning dogs with their substandard food quality. NUTRO IS TOXIC! BEWARE. Many recent consumer comments reporting dog poisoning.

Attached are photos of the Nutro Dog Food bag.
Info For Poison Bag of NUTRO Food Purchased with SKU:
Nutro -Feed Clean - Wholesome Essentials -Small Breed - Adult - Farm Raised Chicken, Brown Rice and Sweet Potato.
Bar Code SKU: 079105122177
Best By: May 20, 2020 (28_2)

921C2VICO8 17:22 CAPF00024

25 people found this review helpful
Rated with 1 star
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Verified Reviewer
Original review: Aug. 4, 2019

I started 2 of my 3 dogs on Nutro weight management (chicken formula) a few months ago as it was listed as a recommended product from my vet. They did not seem to have any issues and did lose a few pounds. HOWEVER..when I went to purchase a second bag, Petsmart only had the Lamb and rice formula. Because I was completely out, I purchased it. Within a few days, one of the 2 started getting up in the middle of the night to vomit. It had some full sized kibble in it. The food didn't occur to me as the source because I didn't change brands, only protein source. Two weeks later, my 2nd guy started to vomit. He has a tough tummy.

At the same time, my little Pomeranian was having diarrhea and I couldn't figure out why because her food had not changed. What I have since realized is that the Pomeranian was eating the kibble that fell from the big guy's bowls. Now that I've had them on a bland diet AND switched off of Nutro all together, all 3 dogs are completely fine. I was saddened to see so many similar stories and NO recalls or warnings. What more can we do here? The Petsmart manager said "unless the FDA has a direct correlation, we won't pull it". Ugh.

26 people found this review helpful
Rated with 1 star
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Verified Reviewer
Original review: July 8, 2019

I've been feeding my 5 y/o Boston Terrier Nutro Max since December of 2017. I had no complaints until now. I started using a new bag about 4 days ago. The first feeding he vomited up undigested food. Same the next day. He's been eating very little of it. Last night he started vomiting up bile, and has been doing so steady throughout the night and this morning. I will be changing food and no longer using this brand.

31 people found this review helpful
Rated with 1 star
Verified Reviewer
Original review: July 2, 2019

I started to feed my 9 month old puppy Nutro Essentials puppy food (chicken/rice/sweet potato). I purchase a small bag at Wal-Mart and my dog seemed to enjoy the food clearing her bowl (which was not done with her previous brand). As I was near the end of that bag I purchased the next small bag at Pets Supply Plus. My dog ate one serving and threw up undigested food a few hours later. At the next feeding time she again ate but threw up undigested food a few hours later and proceeded to vomit bile throughout the night.

The next morning she would not eat the food or even go near her dish nor would she would drink water. I gave her ice cubes to chew on plus the bland homemade diet of rice and boiled chicken for two days. She ate and digested the homemade food without problems. I started to re-introduce the Nutro but even with only a small amount (1/4 cup) mixed into the homemade food she began to vomit bile. I stopped feeding the food and notified Nutro but no response. I will no longer be purchasing or feeding Nutro.

34 people found this review helpful
Rated with 1 star
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Verified Reviewer
Original review: June 29, 2019

Our Cocker Spaniel has been in Nutro Chicken dry food since a puppy. She is now almost three. We decided to mix the Lamb and Rice in with the Chicken. Within a few days, had vomiting issues and started refusing to eat. I added some boiled chicken which regretfully made her eat the food. She became extremely lethargic. Would just sleep all day with no interest in anything and no energy. Took her to vet - took fecal sample and blood test but he couldn’t find anything wrong. Finally dawned on me about food and I went back to the chicken only. Within a day, she was back to her old self. The only thing we changed was her food.

23 people found this review helpful
Rated with 5 stars
Verified Reviewer
Original review: June 18, 2019

I have two Yorkies, one 16 year old with stomach issues & 12 year old with collapsed trachea issues. They absolutely love this food. I alternate and give them both (dry & wet). They have been on this food for about a year. My 16 yr old no longer has stomach issues!! Unfortunately, they discontinued only the wet chunky gravy. Luckily, the kibble was not. Onto a my journey to find something similar that they will love. Nutro Ultra please bring back the wet chunky gravy!!!

35 people found this review helpful
Rated with 5 stars
Verified Reviewer
Original review: June 7, 2019

Nutro Essentials Dry Dog Food Toy Breed has the smallest bites that I have found. The perfect chihuahua dry dog food. My chihuahua had stopped eating dry dog food, for several years. I tried just about every dry dog food there was, and she refused to eat even the best, including Blue Buffalo. She loves Nutro Toy Breed and has for several years now. She does not like the Nutro Small Breed as much as the Toy Breed. She just loves these tiny bites.

12 people found this review helpful
Rated with 1 star
Verified Reviewer
Original review: June 6, 2019

Three of my four dogs started vomiting. We took them to the vet and they were prescribed medication which didn’t help, in fact had to make an emergency call on a Sunday! They vomited their food either right after they ate it or around 3 o’clock in the morning! It was undigested food! After changing to a different brand the vomiting stopped almost immediately!

27 people found this review helpful
Rated with 1 star
Verified Reviewer
Original review: June 6, 2019

I've been feeding my dog Nutro lamb and rice since he was a 12 week old pup, started with the puppy food and then switched to adult. He is now 15 months old. About a month ago (after buying a new bag of Nutro lamb and rice) he started to throw up his food several hours after eating. This went on for 3-4 days and then he refused to eat the food. I called the Vet and started him on a bland homemade diet, he immediately stopped throwing up. After over a week on a bland diet, I started to intro Nutro again, just to have him suffer with horrible stomach gurgles and really bad diarrhea. I contacted the Mars Pet company via email with my pet's detailed story to get some info, have they changed the recipe?

Unfortunately, they sent me back a generic email with a number to call. Not helpful at all, I would have called in the first place without wasting my time had I known I would just get an automated response. Anyway, I went back to homemade food. He is doing great, I just started to introduce a new kibble (different company) and have had no issues. The last bag I bought of Nutro lamb and rice made my dog sick and I'm lucky I caught it in time before he suffered further. Please note this is a recent issue. I had senior dogs a few years ago and I feed them this same food with no issues for most of their lives. I'm very disappointed with the food and the customer service experience.

39 people found this review helpful
Rated with 1 star
Verified Reviewer
Original review: June 5, 2019

Purchased a bag of Nutro lamb mix dry food and it near killed my dog along with a friend's dog as well so I complained about it and all it was is a ** show from insurance guys sending me false information and documents from Mars and the insurance company!!!! Steer clear of these douche bags as they're criminals in every way possible.

34 people found this review helpful
Rated with 1 star
Verified Reviewer
Original review: June 4, 2019

We purchased Nutro at Walmart. Our dog has been having yellow diarrhea on & off. Now I’m reading other people are experiencing serious health issues with their pets & the use of WALMART NUTRO!!! I will never buy Nutro again or dog food from Walmart.

24 people found this review helpful
Rated with 1 star
Verified Reviewer
Original review: June 2, 2019

Long time user of Nutro Lamb and Rice small kibbles for a 17 pound adult dog. The day after opening a 6 lb. bag purchased in April 2019 our dog did not want to be touched and did not want to lie on her side. Two days later, the dog developed a yellow watery diarrhea. Her appetite and water consumption did not change during this time. Kept giving her the daily food for 3-5 more days. Diarrhea did not change. Took her to the vet who prescribed a bland diet (in limited amounts) of rice and boiled white chicken meat. Continuing the bland diet for another week, did not slow the yellow watery diarrhea. Doctor then prescribed a different probiotic and Purina EN kibble. Today is the day after the first Purina EN diet day. This morning's stool was formed, not watery, and not yellow in color. Except for Nutro purchased in April, I cannot identify other factors that might have caused the digestive upset.

28 people found this review helpful
Rated with 5 stars
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Verified Reviewer
Original review: May 13, 2019

I have fed this food for years! And have had many dogs that I have rescued off the streets even on it. I see their coats get better within a week. I currently have 3 dogs that are mine, and they have been on Nutro their whole lives. I have never had a problem with them getting sick or diarrhea. Now that everyone is out of puppy stage, I feed my 3 year old Aussie and my 1 yr old Lab mix the Nutro Ultra Adult (chicken/lamb/salmon) and my 12 year old Staffie the Nutro Ultra Senior food (chicken/lamb/salmon).

I will always feed my dogs this, it has never done me wrong. They have tons of energy, shiny and soft coats, and everything. No reason to change. Any time they have gotten diarrhea or threw up has been because they have eaten a weed in the yard that didn't settle well with them. So don't blame the food, it all depends on the dog and if they have an issue. That's why there are so many dog foods out there, not every dog can eat the same thing. Try a small bag and see how your dog's reaction is on it, and then go from there.

31 people found this review helpful
Rated with 1 star
Verified Reviewer Verified Buyer
Original review: May 9, 2019

It first happened "coincidentally" around the same time Nutro started selling in WalMart. I opened my dogs food and it looked wrong, but smelled fine, package intact. My pet wouldn't eat it. They had changed the formula, reducing the lamb content and increasing the chicken content - a cheaper ingredient. Both of my dogs require special diets, and cannot just change foods, which is what Nutro did. It was not on the product packaging unless you read the ingredients, or ANYWHERE on the product page of their web site - I discovered it by digging into their FAQ's. I contacted the company for a refund of my pricey dog food and when I REALLY pushed they conceded that all the lamb formula dry dog foods were being changed to increase chicken - which wasn't even supposed to BE an ingredient in my other dogs "Limited Ingredient Diet Lamb & Rice formula".

I began changing his dry food immediately to avoid the sudden ingredient shift but kept them on the Nutro canned food since it didn't appear to be having the same changes and my dogs can't change food easily. Well, 9 months later, I get 3 autoship orders in a row of the wrong kind of canned food. I even asked when I called if Nutro changed the food, but what I received is still being sold a a distinctly different product from what I ordered, and as far as the seller knew they are separate and their own warehouse had screwed up several times.

Today it happened for a fourth shipment and I was on the companies web site to get the VERY SPECIFIC info for the warehouse and discovered the product I ordered shows in a tiny picture on the side a "new look". Old product, "Chunky Chicken and Turkey Stew" "NEW LOOK" is "Turkey Sweet Potato and Green Bean". That. Is. NOT. A NEW. LOOK. The ingredients (on the actual LABEL and the ingredient list) are completely different, and once again CHEAPER. My CANINES don't eat sweet potatoes. Every product that gets a "NEW LOOK" but says nothing about the formula change is a straight bait and switch tactic to swap out for cheaper ingredients.

40 people found this review helpful
Rated with 1 star
Verified Reviewer
Original review: April 24, 2019

My lab has been on Nutro for the last 4 years. When we opened the most recent bag purchased in April 2019, my dog was sick with diarrhea that same night. She was sick for the next 4 days until we finally stopped feeding it to her and started her on a bland diet. I reached out to the company a week ago and have yet to hear back. They either changed their ingredients or something went wrong at the plant, Either way a recall is needed in my opinion. Would not recommend until they release information on what happened this spring and publish how they will fix.

48 people found this review helpful
Rated with 1 star
Verified Reviewer
Original review: April 22, 2019

I bought the adult lamb and rice Nutro dog food and started mixing 1 cup with 1 cup Purina puppy food as I was transitioning my puppy to adult food. It took about a month to get through the 15 lb bag. Then I stopped the puppy food and went solely to the Nutro. About a week in, my 6 month old border/aussie started having liquidy, yellow diarrhea. It took me about another week to realize it was the Nutro. My dog had stopped eating as much and then didn't want to eat the food at all. We thought she was sick and this was why. I would mix in a little chicken broth so she would eat (after the fact, I regret forcefeeding her this poison). She also drank very little water, which was worrisome because of the diarrhea.

She no longer played, mostly just slept, and wasn't herself. She would have accidents in the middle of the night when she was already fully potty trained. Both pees and 'poops'. They also were the most disgusting smell in the world. Nothing like a normal dog poop smell. It smelt like rancid meat and chemicals. The picture attached is not my own, but it is what her poop looked like-sometimes even less solid and almost with a gelatinous nature.

I read reviews here (luckily after only 2 weeks) and threw away the Nutro. I started feeding her a bland diet of boiled chicken and white rice. It took about 4-5 days before she took her first solid poop again! She also regained her energy and went back to being her normal, hyper little self. I kept her on chicken and rice for another 2 weeks then switched her to Fromm dog food. She has been perfect ever since (that was 4 months ago). I believe NUTRO would have killed her had she eaten it 1 more week. Why is there no recall yet? #doglivesmatter

31 people found this review helpful
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Nutro Dog Food Company Information

Company Name:
NUTRO Pet Foods
Website:
www.nutro.com