# Anyone having trouble with Natural Balance



## Shamrockmommy (Sep 10, 2009)

Jack has been eating the LID potato/duck dry food for the last three months for his sensitive stomach and has been throwing up about half his meals for the last couple weeks. Anyone else having issues?


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## K9Pro (Mar 11, 2012)

Dick Van Patten’s Natural Balance Pet Foods is owned by Del Monte. Their product lines include Natural Balance Alpha, Fat Dogs, Fat Cats Limited Ingredient Diets, Original Ultra, Synergy, Vegetarian, and Delectable Delights. Natural Balance has had 17 pet food recalls since 2005 resulting in approximately 7.45 million (7,449,358) recalled units (bags/cans/pouches).
On April 16, 2007, Natural Balance informed the FDA that they had received complaints from consumers regarding a select amount of Venison & Brown Rice Dry Dog Food and Venison & Green Pea Dry Cat Food. Some animals were reported to have vomited and a few experienced kidney failures. Natural Balance immediately issued a voluntary recall for all its Venison dog products and its dry Venison cat food after lab results showed that some of the products contained trace amounts of melamine. The source of melamine was believed to be from rice protein concentrate.
On April 27, 2007, Natural Balance issued a second recall for three canned dog food and one canned cat food. Like the first recall, the contaminants were melamine in rice protein concentrates. As with the venison based formulas, rice protein concentrate was not on the list of ingredients of the four products. This time, Natural Balance claimed that their canned food manufacturer American Nutrition, Inc (ANI) added the rice protein concentrate without their knowledge or consent, calling it a “manufacturing deviation”. In response, ANI issued a press release denying any deliberate or intentionally wrongful conduct, claiming that “customers specifically required rice-based formulations”. Along with Natural Balance, other pet food organizations such as Blue Buffalo and Menu Foods were affected by the contaminated products and issued recalls.
Additionally, back in July 2007, a small lot of certain Natural Balance canned pet foods were recalled after it was determined that they may have been involved in a large-scale Botulism outbreak, associated with its producer Castleberry’s Food Company. No illnesses were reported with the pet food. 

• On June 19, 2010, Natural Balance Pet Foods, Inc issued a voluntary recall of the Natural Balance Sweet Potato & Chicken Dry Dog Food because it was possibly contaminated with Salmonella bacteria.
• In December 2011, Diamond Pet Foods discovered Salmonella in their production facility in Gaston, S.C. As a precautionary measure, they announced a massive recall for their brands, including Natural Balance. The following Natural Balance dry dog foods were recalled: Sweet Potato & Venison, Lamb Meal & Rice, Sweet Potato & Bison, Vegetarian, Lamb Meal & Brown Rice Large Breed, and Lamb Meal & Brown Rice Small Breed.

Those are the facts. This may not help you assess things at your home today; but they also MAY help you.


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## Aspen (Jun 24, 2015)

Hi, 

Did you end up switching your dog to another pet food? Melamine is kind of scary to me. I am glad I feed a raw brand that has no processing or chemicals (Steve's Real Food). I don't want my dogs eating plastic! It is scary how much stuff goes into what we eat, and we have no idea until it is too late.


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## 1605 (May 27, 2009)

Aspen said:


> Hi,
> 
> Did you end up switching your dog to another pet food? Melamine is kind of scary to me. I am glad I feed a raw brand that has no processing or chemicals (Steve's Real Food). I don't want my dogs eating plastic! It is scary how much stuff goes into what we eat, and we have no idea until it is too late.


By your own admission in another thread you WORK for a raw food manufacturer. So these posts are self serving and quite off topic. 

No one asked in this thread about feeding raw!


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## Aspen (Jun 24, 2015)

Someone is a Negative Nancy! 
Yes, I work in the raw pet food industry, and I make that very clear as much as I can so people can be aware that is the fact. I don't try to hide it. But working in pet food has given me a lot of insight into what is going on in the market that I feel can benefit people, and I feel driven to share my knowledge with as many people as possible. That is why I comment and post, because I spend all day long researching and writing about issues surrounding pet food of all kinds, and not everyone has the time and opportunity to do that. By feeding raw, and making sure that my food comes from a small company, that is open about it's manufacturing processes and 100% USA sourced, I can protect my pet from scary things like illness, plastic fillers, melamine, and recalls for dangerous products that have killed thousands and thousands of dogs. If the knowledge I have acquired from working in pet food can help save a dog's life through sharing and commenting on these threads, I am going to do it. I genuinely wanted to know if Shamrock mommy had switched to a different pet food, and I was curious about which one so I could use my resources to look into it for her. I don't see anything wrong with that. I am not trying to convince people to switch to any certain product, but raising awareness about what to look for and how to keep our pets safe benefits everyone.


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## naturalfeddogs (Jan 6, 2011)

The "raw" you are feeding may be from a small company, but it's still commercial. You don't know for sure what is in it, any more than kibble. There could still be other "junk" in there you aren't aware of. Try feeding prey model, where you supply the meat/bone/organ. Actual single proteins, whole cuts of real meat, you buy yourself from butchers, groceries, farmers etc...

If you continue to fed commercial, you continue to run a risk of recalls, "raw" or kibble.


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## Aspen (Jun 24, 2015)

Very true. Everyone in the raw industry believes that feeding raw yourself is the healthiest option - if it is done right, which takes a ton of research and experience that not everyone has time or money for. The commercial pet foods exist for those who do not have that time but still want to give their pet optimum nutrition. I happen to know exactly what is in the food I sell, I have visited the farms, I have visited the factory, I know the manufacturing process from beginning to end, and I have seen it made. Because it is federally regulated it is at risk for recalls, but experience and expertise teaches that not all recalls are made equal. Recalls for salmonella and e-coli, that are naturally occurring in dog's digestive tracts anyway, are pretty pointless, especially since studies show they are in up to 40% of meat sold to humans anyway. But the original point of the thread was question about things that are actually dangerous to dogs, such as melamine and listeria. I just wanted to know if they had found a product with a safer track record for those things. My original comment was not even about the question of raw, the point was that it is important to know where your dog food comes from. For many people that means making it themselves, and that is great. If you can't do that safely because of lack of time or expertise, my philosophy with every aspect of my life is to buy from small, independent companies that are open about their business and manufacturing processes. I just wanted to know if they had found something better, I didn't realize I would have to defend an entire industry in the process. Can we please get back to the original point?


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## naturalfeddogs (Jan 6, 2011)

That was part of the point, actually. It's still commercial, still the same risk regardless of the company. Commercial is commercial. If you have time to research the better brands of commercial kibble or raw, you have the time to research real raw. As long as you are comfortable and confident in the company you are currently feeding, and seem knowledgeable about it, you shouldn't need to find a new one.


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## 1605 (May 27, 2009)

Aspen said:


> Someone is a Negative Nancy!
> Yes, I work in the raw pet food industry, and I make that very clear as much as I can so people can be aware that is the fact. I don't try to hide it. But working in pet food has given me a lot of insight into what is going on in the market that I feel can benefit people, and I feel driven to share my knowledge with as many people as possible. That is why I comment and post, because I spend all day long researching and writing about issues surrounding pet food of all kinds, and not everyone has the time and opportunity to do that. By feeding raw, and making sure that my food comes from a small company, that is open about it's manufacturing processes and 100% USA sourced, I can protect my pet from scary things like illness, plastic fillers, melamine, and recalls for dangerous products that have killed thousands and thousands of dogs. If the knowledge I have acquired from working in pet food can help save a dog's life through sharing and commenting on these threads, I am going to do it. I genuinely wanted to know if Shamrock mommy had switched to a different pet food, and I was curious about which one so I could use my resources to look into it for her. I don't see anything wrong with that. I am not trying to convince people to switch to any certain product, but raising awareness about what to look for and how to keep our pets safe benefits everyone.


Again, I'd like to point out that the OP was about one particular brand of pet food. It has nothing to do with raw.

People on this site tend to be conscientious about doing their research on what type of food best fits their needs and those of their pet(s). Not to sound condescending, but I don't believe your "resources" would be any less thorough than anyone else doing due diligence on their dog food, including sourcing the ingredients list.


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## Shamrockmommy (Sep 10, 2009)

I stopped feeding NB months ago and Jack has improved as has Darby who was eating it. Jack was throwing up and diarrhea after several month on the LID food and Darby was so miserably itchy that she was pulling hair out from her legs, belly and back. 

I have been using Fromm Gold ever since and they are both perfectly healthy now. Not one episode of vomiting, diarrhea or itching. 

Something is not right with NB imo, and I'll not feed it ever again. And raw is not an option for me here but thanks.


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## Georgiapeach (Jan 24, 2011)

My foster, 7 lb. yorkie-poo does very well on both NB Potato and Duck Small Bites and Sweet Potato and Fish Small Bites. He doesn't have tummy or poo issues on this kibble. He also does well on all of the Acana Singles kibbles.


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## 3DOGS4US (Sep 16, 2014)

*My two little dogs have no issues with NB .. They have been eating L.I.D for months and do very well on it . It is the only kibble my Shih Tzu can eat without getting diarrhea or watery eyes .. *


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