Have you been recently disappointed by your favorite pet food brand and presently on a quest to find a pet food with long years of experience that would be perfect for your dogs and cats?
Well, today is your lucky day because this article provides a detailed overview while comparing two of the most sort after brands presently topping the pet food charts.
Taste of the Wild (TOTW) and Nutro pet foods have all it takes to be called premium pet food brands.
They are undeniably nutritious and scientifically tested and proven brands that have stood the test of time, however, the distinctive differences between these brands would aid your choice on a better fit for your furry companion.
During the course of this article you will not only get first hand information on which brand is best by our standards, but you will also learn how to make the best pet food choices by comparing parameters and carefully observing nutritional determinants as well as taking safety measures.
After you are done with this awesome comparison check out Taste of the wild and Nutro here to see the different flavors and pricing.
Contents:
- 🤔 Taste of the wild vs Nutro FAQ
- ⚖️ Taste of the wild and Nutro Pros and Cons
- 😻 Types Of Pet Food
- 🥕 Nutritional Value Comparison
- 💰 Price Comparison
- 🤤 Ingredients and Flavors
- 🏡 About Taste of the wild and Nutro
- 🙀 Product Safety and Recalls through History
- 🏆 Taste of the wild Vs Nutro: And the winner goes to…
🤔 Taste of the wild vs Nutro FAQ
What is guaranteed analysis?
The concept of guaranteed analysis on pet food products is to assure purchasers of the precise nutrient content of each consumable. Emphasized by AAFCO, guaranteed analysis by food labels must meet certain requirements such as an exact value for the minimum percentage of crude protein and fat, as well as the maximum percentages of crude fiber and moisture on the basis of dry matter obtained. All of the percentages that I use in this comparison are averages of dry matter basis. Learn about dry matter basis here.
Which one has more protein?
The Taste of the Wild brand provides higher amounts of protein than the Nutro brand for dry and wet dog foods as well as dry cat food whereas the Nutro brand offers 7.3% more protein than Taste of the wild for all wet cat foods.
Which one is cheaper?
The Taste of the Wild brand is significantly cheaper than the Nutro brand across all meal types, whereas the Nutro brand is also considered to be very affordable
Which one has more flavors?
The Nutro brand has 205 flavors while the Taste of the Wild which has only 18 flavors.
Which one has received more recalls?
Nutro has had 4 recalls while Taste of the Wiid has only been recalled once.
Check out the current prices, recipes and flavors for Taste of the wild and Nutro
⚖️ Taste of the wild and Nutro Pros and Cons
Taste of the wild Pros:
Taste of the wild Cons:
Nutro Pros:
Nutro Cons:
😻 Types Of Pet Food
| Product (Dog Food) | Taste of the Wild | Nutro |
| Dry Food | 9 recipes | 65 recipes |
| Wet Food | 5 recipes | 52 recipes |
| Treats | ❌ | 28 recipes |
| Product (Cat Food) | ||
| Dry Food | 2 recipes | 25 recipes |
| Wet Food | 2 recipes | 53 recipes |
| Treats | ❌ | ❌ |
| 😻 See all Taste of the wild recipes | 😻 See all Nutro recipes |
With the Nutro pet food brand hoarding an impressive 223 flavor, you have a wide array of flavors to choose from but this is slightly different for the Taste of the Wild brand that offers only 18 flavors.
🥕 Nutritional Value Comparison
Without proper understanding of your pets’ nutritional requirements, purchasing the most expensive or popular pet food brand would only be a waste of time, energy and money.
Well, with the help of a trained and experienced vet paying close attention to our pets feeding habit and proper research, we should be able to predict what their nutritional requirements are in order to maintain good health and vigor.
Having established that, it’s only wise and profitable to compare that information to the nutritional content of the pet food brand you intend to purchase.
All the information you need regarding the nutritional content of a pet food brand, from nutrients to their compositions, are all found on the guaranteed analysis printed on the label of the pet food bag or can.
Below is a comparison of the nutrients and percentages guaranteed by both brands
| TOTW | Protein(dry) | Protein(wet) | Fat (dry) | Fat(wet) | Fiber (dry) | Fiber (wet) |
| Dog | 31.9% | 45.6% | 18.0% | 22.2% | 5.0% | 5.6% |
| Cat | 41.1% | 44.4% | 18.9% | 16.7% | 3.3% | 8.3% |
| Nutro | ||||||
| Dog | 27.0% | 42.5% | 15.1% | 23.7% | 4.6% | 5.8% |
| Cat | 38.8% | 51.7% | 17.5% | 23.1% | 5.3% | 5.2% |
| 🥕 See more Taste of the wild info | 🥕 See more Nutro info |
Protein
Protein is an essential nutrient of every dog and cat diet because it supplies the essential amino acids that our pets cannot synthesize by themselves. These amino acids aid in the building, repairing and maintenance of our pets’ muscles, bones, hair, skin and other organs.
However, our pets’ protein requirements differ thus we must first understand our pet nutritional requirement before purchasing any food for them.
While some may prefer animal rich proteins others may require plant rich proteins and the major difference between them is the number and types of amino acids they contain.
Fat Content
Do you know that fats help with the retention of water and other body fluid in cats and dogs? Well, fats play very important roles in pets’ nutrition and a deficiency could result in dry and itchy skin, hair loss, dull coats, diabetics, fatigue, indigestion and constipation, irritation and inflammation, loss of appetite, and declining immunity.
Like amino acids, essential fatty acids are obtained from either plant or animal based fats when broken down. Linoleic acids, arachidonic acids, omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids found in pork fat, lamb fat, krill oil, flaxseed, fish oil or safflower oil are some of the common essential fatty acids required by our pets.
Taste of the Wild has more fats in its dry foods than Nutro but the reverse is the case for wet foods.
Fiber Content
The fibre content of pet’s diet is usually found in grains or plant based ingredients in their meal such as beet pulp. Cats and dogs do not derive any form of energy from fibre consumption yet it’s present in their diet reduces loss of energy and water. Some fibre are broken down to fatty acids that are responsible for hindering the growth of harmful bacteria in the intestine.
Taste of the Wild has more fibre in its dry dog foods and wet cat food than Nutro, while Nutro has more fibre in its wet dog food and dry cat foods than Taste of the wild.
💰 Price Comparison
Have you been buying pet foods without adequate knowledge of how to actually weigh their nutritional costs?
Well, there are two metrics used in the costing of pet food, either the cost per calorie which factors only the dry matter of the meal or the cost per pound that does same but factors in the moisture content too. It is advisable and wise to use the cost per calorie when budgeting for your pet food.
Let us compare the prices of Nutro and Taste of the Wild pet foods using the average cost per calories and the average cost per pound.
| Dog Food | Nutro (dry) | Nutro (wet) | TOTW (dry) | TOTW (wet) |
| Per pound | $2.27 | $5.20 | $1.86 | $2.79 |
| Per calorie | $0.0014 | $0.0130 | $0.0011 | $0.0060 |
| Cat Food | Nutro (dry) | Nutro (wet) | TOTW (dry) | TOTW (wet) |
| Per pound | $2.91 | $6.43 | $2.29 | $4.26 |
| Per Calorie | $0.0017 | $0.0123 | $0.0013 | $0.0100 |
| 💰 See the best Taste of the wild prices | 💰 See the best Nutro prices |
So where is the best place to purchase these brands? Good question! Overall, chewy.com has the cheapest prices.
They also offer 30% on your first autoship order which saves you a good chunk of change and makes your pet food ordering process automatic. Overall, this has saved me a ton of time.
🤤 Ingredients and Flavors
Although artificial flavors in pet foods haven’t resulted in any health problems or product recalls, most pet owners still brand such foods as low quality maybe because they do not give that natural taste we desire and we all aim to provide an all-natural, organic, balance and complete pet food for our furry family members.
Taste of the wild
Duck, buffalo, duck and chicken digest, salmon, potatoes, lamb meal, ocean fish meal, lamb, chicken meal, lamb and vegetable broth, venison and quail are some of the exotic ingredients used by the brand.
Now you see why the brand comes highly recommended and your dogs and cats cannot get enough of it despite its low number of variants.
Popular flavors
- Venison and Garbanzo beans
- Bison in gravy
- Roasted Bison and roasted Venison
- Salmon in Gravy
- Fowl in Gravy
Nutro
This brand prides itself with the fact that it uses holistic and natural ingredients highly recommended for growing dog and cats with allergies.
These ingredients provide the different flavors found in the 223 recipes owned by this brand. They include deboned salmon, pork meal, sunflower oil, brewer’s yeast, rice bran, flaxseed, oatmeal, rosemary extract, soybean, brown rice, peas and much more.
Popular flavors
- Chicken, Brown rice, and Sweet potatoes
- Lamb and Sweet potato recipe
- Venison meal, Brown rice, and Oatmeal recipe
- Salmon and Lentils
- Tender Chicken, Carrots, and pea stew
Check out the current Taste of the wild and Nutro recipes here
🏡 About Taste of the wild and Nutro
Taste of the wild Information
The US based pet food brand is owned by Schell and Kampeter Inc. debuted 2007 but its production sector is being managed and operated by Diamond Pet Company. Diamond pet Company has its manufacturing plants in California, Carolina and Missouri.
The company uses reverse osmosis in its purification process to rid its products from organic and inorganic contaminants as well as microorganisms. Two of the nine recipes dedicated to dry dog meals are used for adult dogs alone.
Nutro Information
The Nutro brand offers different formulas ranging from soft canned foods to dry kibbles. The brand is one of the pioneers of the pet food industry that introduced the all-natural pet foods.
The Nutro pet food brand has a wide distribution network with manufacturing plants in three strategic locations in the United States. Nutro Product Incorporation found in 1962 owns, operates, manufactures, distributes and markets the products of this brand.
🙀 Product Safety and Recalls through History
Companies make scheduled recalls on products that may have a foreseen defect or safety issues. The importance of a recall is to conduct further safety tests in order to effect changes to
Taste of the wild Recalls
- May 5th, 2012 – Salmonella
Nutro Recalls
- Sept. 30th, 2009 – tiny pieces of melted plastic
- Dec. 13th, 2015- Mold Contamination
- May 21st, 2009 – inappropriate levels of zinc and potassium
- March 16th, 2007 – Melamine Contamination
🏆 Taste of the wild Vs Nutro: And the winner goes to…
It has been an exciting comparison between these two great brands. Despite the similarities of these brands, Taste of the wild is the winner of this comparison because it has stood out in every way except for the number of flavors it has.
| If you want | Then you should choose |
| Higher levels of protein | Taste of the wild |
| A cost effective option | Taste of the wild |
| A wider variety of flavors and ingredients | Nutro |
| Safety, based on number of recalls | Taste of the wild |
| A balanced diet for all age levels | Both brands |
