# Natural Balance



## Postal (Jan 23, 2009)

I have seen mixed opinions and reviews on this food. Dogfoodanalysis.com gives it a weak 4 star rating (could be worse), but I read that this website was biased on grain free foods which isn't always necessarily HEALTHIER, just better for a lot of allergies if your dog is experiencing them. Well, I have been feeding my dog Natural Balance topped with the Solid Gold Seameal powder twice a day. He seems healthy, his coat is shiny and soft, his teeth are bleach white, and he seems to have a lot of energy when you ask for it. If I'm busy working on the house, he just follows me around and sleeps all day. 

I was just wanting to see if I could get a thread concentrated on Natural Balance. I hear a lot of talk about Orijen and Wellness Core, but I just don't have a lot of options financially. Is Natural Balance a good product, especially topped with SG's Seameal?


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## Guest (Jan 27, 2009)

A 4 star rating isn't weak at all.

Natural Balance is a quality food, reasonably priced, and readily available. Your dog is doing very well on that (with the Seameal). You are getting good results. 

IMO, how you can tell whether the food you are feeding your dog is working --- just as you described it: healthy coat and skin, energy, teeth condition, normal poops.

Just because Natural Balance received a 4 star rating doesn't mean you have to change.


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## Postal (Jan 23, 2009)

That's what I like to hear.. I think I'm going to pair this kibble with a little bit of the RAW diet to see which he prefers and how his condition changes, if it does. Comparing RAW prices to Natural Balance's prices, RAW is still cheaper depending on what you buy..

We'll see, but Natural Balance seems to be a quality kibble for the time being :biggrin:


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## LabradorRetriever2009 (Jan 29, 2009)

Natural Balance? It's okay...Acana would be better though.


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## Guest (Feb 6, 2009)

LabbieMama said:


> Natural Balance is a quality food, reasonably priced, and readily available.


As an addition, the Ultra Premium formula is what I tend to recommend to adopters of dogs that I have fostered for Lab Rescue. (I've been fostering Labs and Lab Mixes for a little over 2 years now.) I always make a point of asking the adopters what they plan to feed their new dog. I always send each foster dog home with a Ziploc bag of Natural Balance which is what I like to feed my foster dogs. 

Yesterday I got an e-mail from a previous adopter who adopted one of my previous fosters. She said that she has both of her dogs on Natural Balance for 6 months now and they both are doing fine on it. (When she adopted my foster dog, she had a Weimeraner at home that was being fed Iams.)


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## TJ99959 (Feb 4, 2009)

I regard the DFA web site to be an opinion, and not Gospel.

In my opinion Natural Balance probably make the best "alternative" foods for problem dogs out there, but I question using them as a main stay, because then their value as an alternative becomes diminished.


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## rannmiller (Jun 27, 2008)

I like only a couple of the Natural Balance formulas. I think the Ultra Premium (blue label) one is decent (despite being so very grain-heavy and containing yeast), and their AMP formula is good aside from its containment of beet pulp and yeast. For the price, it's a pretty decent food, as far as non-grain-free kibbles go. 

The problem with their other formulas is that they are way too light on their meat content, even their so-called "grain-free" options are mostly made of potatoes and dog should not be surviving off of potatoes, IMO. 

So my opinion of Natural balance is *shrug* it's alright.


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## Guest (Feb 6, 2009)

Well, I just feel it's my responsiblity to suggest to adopters a decent quality brand that is not too expensive and is easy for them to find. The brands that I like to feed my own dogs (Wysong, Nature's Logic, and Showbound Naturals) are very expensive and are difficult to find.


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## rannmiller (Jun 27, 2008)

No I completely understand that concept! It's definitely one of the best kibbles as far as availability and price go, and definitely good for people who are feeding way lower quality foods too.


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## ChattyCathy (Nov 22, 2008)

Good to see your post. I have to say I was feeding my dogs Wellness Core and Innova Evo and I just now switched to Ultra Natural Balance. I believe that Wellness and the Innova are great foods but my dogs are not active and I believe that because of that I needed an alternative kibble and I decided on Ultra Natural Balance. It's too soon for me to see any results, but I only started them on it a couple of days ago. Good to "hear" that it isn't too bad considering.


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## foxtrdogma (Mar 3, 2009)

Hello, We are new to this site but it has been very helpful. So we should say thanks to everyone for all the interesting information.

We have a rescue fox terrier who has been having slight bouts of colitis. (He came from a very abusive environment and lived his life completely in a cage.) Our vet (who is wonderful) recommended Natural Balance potato and duck. It has helped some but hasn't been perfect. So we are thinking of trying their lamb and rice formula.

I was wondering if anyone has any experience with their lamb and rice formula? 

Also, has anyone noticed that their kibble has become very irregular in size? 

Our last two bags have been either twice as large as the regular little perfect disks or smallish and malformed. I know it seems a bit picky but I'm concerned that perhaps their production standards have changed. I like the fact that they post their testing results of the food on their site.

Thanks so much!


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## Guest (Mar 5, 2009)

I'm not familiar with any of the formulas except for Ultra-Premium (the blue bag). That's the only formula I know about and recommend to others. A lot of people tell me that their dogs have had good results with the Ultra-Premium formula. It doesn't seem to be as heavy on grains as the other formulas.


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## Doc (Jan 17, 2009)

I use their Lamb and Rice for my pups. They like it. Size has been uniform for me.


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## ChattyCathy (Nov 22, 2008)

foxtrdogma said:


> Hello, We are new to this site but it has been very helpful. So we should say thanks to everyone for all the interesting information.
> 
> We have a rescue fox terrier who has been having slight bouts of colitis. (He came from a very abusive environment and lived his life completely in a cage.) Our vet (who is wonderful) recommended Natural Balance potato and duck. It has helped some but hasn't been perfect. So we are thinking of trying their lamb and rice formula.
> 
> ...


I don't know anything about the other kibble formulas but my dogs have just started out on the Ultra Natural Balance and they are doing much better (stool wise). Before this they had soft stools and Natural Balance has firmed their stool up quite a bit. 

Did you call the company and ask about the size difference of the two bags? I would just to see what they say. If you do please let me know as I'd be curious as to what they say.


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## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

foxtrdogma said:


> Hello, We are new to this site but it has been very helpful. So we should say thanks to everyone for all the interesting information.
> 
> We have a rescue fox terrier who has been having slight bouts of colitis. (He came from a very abusive environment and lived his life completely in a cage.) Our vet (who is wonderful) recommended Natural Balance potato and duck. It has helped some but hasn't been perfect. So we are thinking of trying their lamb and rice formula.
> 
> ...


My little old dog has colitis and didn't do well on the Natural Balance. One of the oils that they use in it just doesn't agree with her. She can eat their biscuits and treats just fine though, but not their food as a main diet. She does better on Innova Senior Plus (not the regular senior) and Wellness, along with California Natural canned. All of them are free of Salmon and Salmon oils along with olive oil that sets her colitis off. It took a lot of narrowing down of all the dog foods that she has eaten and figuring out the common ingredients in which ones made her sick before I finally learned what ingredients I had to avoid with her but once I did, it opened up a lot more foods that I was able to give her. It might just be one thing in the Natural Balance Duck that doesn't agree with your pup and if you avoid it, you can find a variety of choices to try.


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## foxtrdogma (Mar 3, 2009)

ChattyCathy said:


> I don't know anything about the other kibble formulas but my dogs have just started out on the Ultra Natural Balance and they are doing much better (stool wise). Before this they had soft stools and Natural Balance has firmed their stool up quite a bit.
> 
> Did you call the company and ask about the size difference of the two bags? I would just to see what they say. If you do please let me know as I'd be curious as to what they say.


Hello,
A friend who bought a bag with kibble that was also irregular in shape and size emailed them and Natural Balance responded (as I understand) that the kibble could vary due to the cooking process but that the formula has not changed. They seem very responsible so I'm thinking that it is okay. But I've never seen kibble that varied so. 

Another friend who is a long time user of Natural Balance speculated that since Petco picked up the food and it has grown in popularity that perhaps mass production has led to the irregularities.


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## foxtrdogma (Mar 3, 2009)

chowder said:


> My little old dog has colitis and didn't do well on the Natural Balance. One of the oils that they use in it just doesn't agree with her. She can eat their biscuits and treats just fine though, but not their food as a main diet. She does better on Innova Senior Plus (not the regular senior) and Wellness, along with California Natural canned. All of them are free of Salmon and Salmon oils along with olive oil that sets her colitis off. It took a lot of narrowing down of all the dog foods that she has eaten and figuring out the common ingredients in which ones made her sick before I finally learned what ingredients I had to avoid with her but once I did, it opened up a lot more foods that I was able to give her. It might just be one thing in the Natural Balance Duck that doesn't agree with your pup and if you avoid it, you can find a variety of choices to try.


Thanks for those recommendations. 

I see from this site in general that Wellness and Innova are working well for people. I like the idea of finding something as simple as possible to try to rule out the trigger. The Natural Balance Lamb and Rice seems to only have lamb, rice, and, I think, canola oil. I've wondered if the Salmon (as well as the Duck) may be a bit "rich" for him--your advice is really helpful. Best wishes to your little guy!


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## ChattyCathy (Nov 22, 2008)

foxtrdogma said:


> Hello,
> A friend who bought a bag with kibble that was also irregular in shape and size emailed them and Natural Balance responded (as I understand) that the kibble could vary due to the cooking process but that the formula has not changed. They seem very responsible so I'm thinking that it is okay. But I've never seen kibble that varied so.
> 
> Another friend who is a long time user of Natural Balance speculated that since Petco picked up the food and it has grown in popularity that perhaps mass production has led to the irregularities.


That does seem strange though that every bag is different. It makes me wonder about their quality control and why they don't note this on the bags then.

I'm going to watch what happens because when a big box store picks up the product sometimes their quality does go down. Thanks for the response! :smile:


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## ChattyCathy (Nov 22, 2008)

foxtrdogma said:


> Thanks for those recommendations.
> 
> I see from this site in general that Wellness and Innova are working well for people. I like the idea of finding something as simple as possible to try to rule out the trigger. The Natural Balance Lamb and Rice seems to only have lamb, rice, and, I think, canola oil. I've wondered if the Salmon (as well as the Duck) may be a bit "rich" for him--your advice is really helpful. Best wishes to your little guy!


Innova Evo and Wellness are wonderful, high quality foods. My dogs were on them and even though I was feeding them the correct amounts and lowering it to try to stop the soft stool, my dogs still had soft stool. I wish I could still feed them Innova because it's such a good food but had to change to Natural Balance and they are doing much, much better. Not all dogs take to Innova or Wellness. But, I always say try it first and then determine if it is the food. :biggrin:


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## foxtrdogma (Mar 3, 2009)

That is one of the issues we discovered with Natural Balance--that he does best on the lowest recommended amount. Perhaps if I lowered it a bit more, he may become more consistent. 

I don't want him to get too hungry. When he came to me he was only 14 pounds and he is now 20 which is what he should weigh. It took him awhile to muscle up. 

I think part of his problem adjusting is due to his history. The vet believes because he was used for testing that he may have some pre-existing gastro-intesinal issues. I'm pretty sure that some of his episodes occur when he gets too excited. So for him, I'm thinking something mild should be good and it seems like lamb and rice would be a good choice.

I agree with you regarding quality control--I never experienced variation in kibble before. I may write to them myself to see what they say. But they do seem to be very attentive to their foods.

Thanks again for the advice and supportive words.


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## ChattyCathy (Nov 22, 2008)

foxtrdogma said:


> That is one of the issues we discovered with Natural Balance--that he does best on the lowest recommended amount. Perhaps if I lowered it a bit more, he may become more consistent.
> 
> I don't want him to get too hungry. When he came to me he was only 14 pounds and he is now 20 which is what he should weigh. It took him awhile to muscle up.
> 
> ...


Give him less and see how he does, if he loses weight then you need to give him more. 

I'm glad they're responsive, it makes me feel better. But, remember just because a company is responsive doesn't mean the food is quality. 

Have you checked out the dog food analysis yet? I've added at the end of this post. It will give you ratings on dog foods. Check it out... it may help your decision on what you want to feed your dog.

Dog Food Analysis - Reviews of kibble

:biggrin:


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## foxtrdogma (Mar 3, 2009)

*Thanks again*

Hi,
Thank you for the recommendation on the dog food rating site. It is very helpful.

In regards to contacting Natural Balance, I wrote them myself yesterday and they replied immediately. They said that the kibble varies due to the cooking process and that they only use one "co-packager" in manufacturing. They requested that I send them a sample of the kibble in the mail which I will get off to them today. 

Thanks again. We bought a bag of their lamb and rice and the kibble looks very consistent. I'm hoping that will help him out a little more.

Best wishes! Thanks for all the advice.


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## ChattyCathy (Nov 22, 2008)

foxtrdogma said:


> Hi,
> Thank you for the recommendation on the dog food rating site. It is very helpful.
> 
> In regards to contacting Natural Balance, I wrote them myself yesterday and they replied immediately. They said that the kibble varies due to the cooking process and that they only use one "co-packager" in manufacturing. They requested that I send them a sample of the kibble in the mail which I will get off to them today.
> ...


Good luck!


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## foxtrdogma (Mar 3, 2009)

*Update on Kibble*

Hello,

Just in case anyone is interested--yesterday at the pet supply store I mentioned to the clerk that my two bags of kibble varied considerably in size and form. 

She said that they had a number of customers remark on that and they had checked into it. She said that Natural Balance had changed manufacturers for their dry food and that the kibble had become less consistent since the change.

I know it isn't earth shattering news but I thought it was interesting.

Thanks again for the tips and for starting this thread!


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## ChattyCathy (Nov 22, 2008)

foxtrdogma said:


> Hello,
> 
> Just in case anyone is interested--yesterday at the pet supply store I mentioned to the clerk that my two bags of kibble varied considerably in size and form.
> 
> ...


Oh darn! I'm going to have to watch Natural Balance because it may become a less quality food. I guess I'll go check my bag and see who manufactures it. thanks for letting me know!


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## Forestwood (Feb 20, 2009)

*Natural Balance is now manufactured by Diamond.....*



ChattyCathy said:


> Oh darn! I'm going to have to watch Natural Balance because it may become a less quality food. I guess I'll go check my bag and see who manufactures it. thanks for letting me know!


It is still a separate company but the food is made at a Diamond plant.


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## ChattyCathy (Nov 22, 2008)

Forestwood said:


> It is still a separate company but the food is made at a Diamond plant.


Thanks for the info. I'm not real fond of foods made at a Diamond plant. and, my dogs seem to like it and their stool is now more normal than before! I'll let them eat it for awhile before changing. I think I may go back to their old dog food that they use to eat. It was a decent food. Thanks again for the info.


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## foxtrdogma (Mar 3, 2009)

Hello again,

What food did you feed before? My guy is doing better this week. We cut back a little again (per your suggestion) and I've added a little warm water. But since is problem is periodic, it is hard to tell if this is an improvement.

My impression was that Diamond was involved in the large recall a few years ago--is that correct? 

I noticed in another thread that some has posted information regarding where foods are made and has noted that Natural Balance has some oversight regarding the manufacture of their food. I'm not sure what that implies, however.

Thanks again!


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## foxtrdogma (Mar 3, 2009)

Forestwood--That is really interesting information--thanks again.


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## ChattyCathy (Nov 22, 2008)

foxtrdogma said:


> Hello again,
> 
> What food did you feed before? My guy is doing better this week. We cut back a little again (per your suggestion) and I've added a little warm water. But since is problem is periodic, it is hard to tell if this is an improvement.
> 
> ...


I fed something that isn't on any of the food lists to compare ratings. It was Nature's Select Salmon and Sweet Potato kibble. It took me a long time to find this one and it stopped one of my dog's very loose stools. But, the dogs got tired of it. But, maybe I just needed to switch foods for them to like it again when I go back to it. (Nature's Select is a boutique-type pet store. They deliver free to your home, which is great!) 

I don't know what that means either... oversight regarding the manufacture of food. Does anyone know what this means?!??


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## Doc (Jan 17, 2009)

Diamond is a huge producer of kibble in the US - many products are processed at Diamond plants. Natural balance being one of them. Canidea, Kirkland, as well as others. Kirkland formulates its kibble then it is processed and bagged in a Diamond plant is my understanding.


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## foxtrdogma (Mar 3, 2009)

*Changes in formula*

Hello again,

I noticed from Natural Balance's website that they are making changes in the Duck and Potato. They can't get the quality of duck meal so they are removing it and adding more fresh duck and potato.

I'm not sure it is in the stores yet and what this means but thought people in this tread might find it interesting.


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## levelhed (Mar 28, 2009)

My dog has been using the Natural Balance Ultra for a few years with good results (best stool of those I've tried anyway). Seems she doesn't like it so much anymore so I was thinking of changing up. I might try the Innova again, but when I tried it before she seemed a bit constipated.


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## AMonkey (Mar 14, 2009)

Sorry for the Off Topic. What about the Canidea wet food? 
Where is that handled?




Doc said:


> Diamond is a huge producer of kibble in the US - many products are processed at Diamond plants. Natural balance being one of them. Canidea, Kirkland, as well as others. Kirkland formulates its kibble then it is processed and bagged in a Diamond plant is my understanding.


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## flozram (Jan 26, 2009)

*Natural Balance LID Fish & Sweet Potato*

Hello,

I need your thoughts 
I have a 4yr old Lab Mix who had terrible allergies, constant scratching/licking
Started him on:
Science diet as a pup: I Know now that’s was a mistake
As allergies started :
Canidae (all life stages): Scratching improved but then came back
TOTW Prarie formula: No improvement at all
Natural balance Fish & Sweet Potatoe:
He has been on this for about 2.5 months and is a happy healhty dog again.
I think we have learned that he has a Grain & Chicken allergy from this.
The questions I have for you all are:
Should I keep him on this, Is there enough nutritional value?
I don’t want a non scratching dog who is getting sick in some other way.
Please chime in with your thoughts
Thank You.


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## wags (Jan 31, 2009)

The only problem with Natural Balance is not enough meat content. You can top it with Canned food Evo~ Innova~ Prairie whatever works for you so you have more meat content. You can also top with turkey chicken whatever.
But as for 4 star so is Fromm, Artemis, Blue Buffalo Organics, California Natural alot of foods that are really good quality foods. Out of these I have fed my dogs Fromm, Artemis, California Natural. Just add some meat and waahlaah its all good! If your pups are doing well on what your feeding continue on! They will Love you unconditionally for it!:biggrin:


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## wags (Jan 31, 2009)

flozram said:


> Hello,
> 
> I need your thoughts
> I have a 4yr old Lab Mix who had terrible allergies, constant scratching/licking
> ...


Have you tried any of the california natural products? They are for limited allergies so this is another option for you! They have the herring and sweet potato which is good for allergies and sensitive stomach issues.


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## Rodney (Jul 28, 2009)

Insufficient meat content


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