Dog Community

Natural Balance (opinions?)

Posted : 3/31/2007 10:49:25 PM

Well, I have finally made the decision to switch Spirit away from Canidae. He just doesn't seem to like it all that much. I was at Petco today and a lady had a booth set up for the Natural Balance food/treats. I didn't think much of it but ventured over there anyway because I love researching different brands and their ingredients just for the heck of it. She ended up giving me tons of samples and brochures before I managed to talk my way away from her booth. I still didn't think much of it until I got home. I really didn't want the samples, but knowing me, I HAD to look at the ingredients anyways. Hmm, they look pretty good! So, I browsed over it on the Internet. Sounds like a decent brand. Then I fed Spirit the little sample bag. He liked it! So, I went back to the store and bought a bag of the Ultra Premium food. I mixed it in with his Canidae for a gradual changeover. Well, that failed miserably. All the Canidae is now scattered all over my floor and he devoured all the Natural Balance. SO, I was wondering if anybody has any experience with this dog food as I would love opinions on it.

Misskiwi67

Posted : 3/31/2007 11:34:17 PM

If your dog has allergies, there is nothing better. If your dog doesn't have allergies, use the fish formula, and don't feed the duck, just in case your pup has allergies later in life.

sooner

Posted : 3/31/2007 11:39:02 PM

The Ultra Premium is great, as long as your dog handles multiple protein sources well. Some don't and in that case their simpler formulas are great too.

papillon806

Posted : 3/31/2007 11:54:35 PM

Wolfie has been doing wonderfully on the NB Potato and Duck formula. They really are some of the best allergy formulas you can find....and the Ultra-Premium formula isn't too bad either.

ColleenC

Posted : 3/31/2007 11:57:10 PM

I have been using it for a while now and have been very happy with the results. I was using Bil-Jac and was very happy with that too. The only reason I changed was that I can get the Natural Balance cheaper through my work. The dogs like it and have great coats and small stools!

bichinpanda

Posted : 4/1/2007 12:05:39 AM

Dweezil has been doing wooooonderful on Natural Balance over the last few months. Not even the allergy formula...just the Ultra Premium, but she's itching a lot less, and only Number 2-ing twice a day (it was four times a day on Wellness...ick). Good stuff, in my opinion!

sooner

Posted : 4/1/2007 12:11:12 AM

I was doing some further reading on Natural Balance related to other threads and I've read that the company frequently dodges and ignores questions, and that they've given false and contradictory information relating to the manufacture of their foods. So if company integrity is important to you, this might be one to think twice about. PM me if you want the links.

papillon806

Posted : 4/1/2007 1:00:34 AM

Can you post them here Kelly?

Edie

Posted : 4/1/2007 1:57:02 AM

So if company integrity is important to you, this might be one to think twice about.

Just as with Timberwolforganics i am more worried about the food then the companies "integrity" and what they do and dont say etc etc.

I think the A1 results pet owners get with Natural Balance and not to mention the great ingredients all speaker louder volumes to me!

Can you post them here Kelly?

Papillion i would take up Kellies offer of Pm'ing [

] Because i would hate to see another thread head down the same path as past Timberwolf ones..

glenmar

Posted : 4/1/2007 6:40:43 AM

At this point, I too would prefer that links remain in the PM arena. Kelly, thank you for NOT posting them here. I do think we're getting enough panic as is.

However, if the links relate to the recall, perhaps we shoud all have the opportuntity to see them.

sooner

Posted : 4/1/2007 8:09:35 AM

ORIGINAL: Edie

Just as with Timberwolforganics i am more worried about the food then the companies "integrity" and what they do and dont say etc etc.

IMO, the quality of the product is the total package - ingredients, ingredient quality, manufacturing, quality control, customer service, and company ethics.

Papillion, your PM box is full.

DakotaSpirit: I don't have any personal experience with feeding Natural Balance. I've contacted them twice, once for samples which they were nice and helpful with and sent a good amount of, and once to ask a question (and I can't remember what the question was right now) and did not receive a response. That's the limits of my personal experience with them, but I do know of several people who feed it with good results.

Glenda: the information can be navigated to from links that people have posted previously

Thalie

Posted : 4/1/2007 8:31:02 AM

I am currently feeding Natural Balance Ultra Premium to both my Lab and my Golden. The Lab has been on it for almost 4 years, the Golden for 2.

I have looked at lots of other foods and while there are other good ones out there, I see no reason to change at this point. The dogs are thriving and they love the food (of course, a Lab and a Golden are food inhalers by definition). The only thing I noticed is that the Lab's poop tends to be very compact and dry (I added extra fiber to her diet) but the Golden's is perfect (yeah, perfect poop, how exciting [

]). The kibble size is a bit small for large breeds but that is not a major problem.

I contacted their consumer services twice by e-mail with different questions and have gotten satisfying answers both times. I also use the rolls for training treats and they love those. Just my personal experience with the brand.

jenns

Posted : 4/1/2007 8:31:28 AM

I have fed Zoe the Ultra Premium formula and got fantastic results - her thinning spots started growing back in, her energy levels were more steady and she loved the food. Problem is it made her a little constipated to we switched back to Innova which she is now refusing to eat, but that's another story.

As far as my experience with the company, I emailed them about a month ago with a question about canned food size and received a response within hours. They also sent me generous free samples. I absolutley take company ethics and customer service in account when I choose a food brand and I've only had great experiences with this company. Their website is very informative and DVP cares greatly about animals and their well being.

I have to say I hear about more good results with NB than any other food, on this board and another breed specific board I frequent.

Bobsk8

Posted : 4/1/2007 10:26:45 AM

ORIGINAL: sooner

I was doing some further reading on Natural Balance related to other threads and I've read that the company frequently dodges and ignores questions, and that they've given false and contradictory information relating to the manufacture of their foods. So if company integrity is important to you, this might be one to think twice about. PM me if you want the links.

I have contacted Natural Balance several times with questions about their foods and each time I received and answer a few hours later via email. They also snail mailed me discount coupons and free samples... A+ customer service in my opinion.

I started my dog on the Sweet Potato and fish since she was supposed to have allergies when I adopted her. Since then I have tried every flavor of Natural Balance Kibble, and she likes them all. I discovered though all this that she does not have any allergies and now I feed the Ultra along with some canned NB every day. She licks the bowl clean, no matter which one I feed her, and her coat glistens...

Gizmo83036

Posted : 4/1/2007 11:05:20 AM

the person who originally made the dodges and ignores remark asks really in-depth questions. those are the ones the company does not always want to answer but also the ones it can be important to get an answer to.