Natural Balance Pulling Venison Dry Dog Formula

Theresa, it's right on the homepage when I pull up the site:http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/

NOTICE:
We are receiving consumer complaints regarding the Venison & Brown Rice Dry Dog Food, and Venison & Green Pea Dry Cat Foods. We do not know what is wrong with the food at this time, but we have heard that animals are vomiting and experiencing kidney problems. Although the problems seem to be focused on one particular lot, as a precautionary measure, we are pulling all dates of Venison & Brown Rice Dry Dog Food and Venison & Green Pea Dry Cat Food from the shelves. Please discontinue feeding all Venison and Brown Rice Dry Dog Food, and Venison and Green Pea Dry Cat Food. We are working closely with the FDA.
We will update this website today, as more information comes available. NO OTHER NATURAL BALANCE PRODUCTS ARE AFFECTED.

On other forums, other people could not see the updates either.  Well, they couldn't on AOL but they could on firefox, so if you can't see it it's not just you.  Weird though...

Thanks for posting what is says Kelly.
Lauralin I think you figured out, I am on AOL and cannot see it. But I went through IE and can see it. That is weird!

This is what I found on another board that is was just from people switching foods to quickly but they want to be safe and very careful so they are pulling it....IM GUILTY of this as I type.... I have one I switched to fast with one of my Westies and her tummy and poop went off the charts Im still working on getting her back to feeling good.
 
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Natural Balance Pulling Venison Dry Dog Formula
Itchmo has confirmed an email from Natural Balance that they are removing two products from sale:

Venison and Brown Rice Dry Dog Formula
Venison and Green Pea Dry Dog Formula
This products do not contain wheat gluten. No deaths or serious illnesses have been reported and no recall warning has been issued. The warning applies only to products sold in the last week, according to Natural Balance.

Please know that at this time we are removing this product from the shelves, as we have had some phone calls indicating gastric upset after eating this formula. At this time, we are unsure if this could just be a particular batch problem, or simply customers switching diets too fast. However, in the meantime while we are looking further into this matter, we are not recommending to feed this formula, and are suggesting to feed our Potato and Duck or Sweet Potato and Fish Dry Dog Formula.

I just looked and they still haven't updated the web site. The customer support person at NB told me this morning that they would update it today.  She said that they were not at all certain that there is any problem with the food, but are just being cautious rather than doing what Menu Foods did ( knowing about a problem  for 3 weeks before recalling the food) ..

I couldn't see the info on NB page either when I went over there..I did a reload and it came up...using netscape...you could try clearing you're cach..or try a reload when your on the site

it shows up for me and I'm on firefox.

I'm sure there will be many.  I don't want to be a cynical &#(&*, but there are many people who like to stir things up, and I honestly think this is coincidental.  Like with the Menu foods issues, there are many people trying to pin their dog's pre-existing conditions on the food when it may not be the case.  Age of the animals in question also needs to be analyzed.  I also know 2 people who I spoke with today who have fed the food for over a year and have had no problems.  "He said, she said"

Of course, we could find out there is something going on.  But, I tend to agree that it might be a customer issue rather than a NB issue. 

My thinking is that since the Menu recall a lot of people have all of a sudden realized they needed a better quality food.  So, it could very well be a lot of these dogs who have been eating lesser stuff for so long simply are having issues adjusting to the new foods. Especially, venison, that's a big cry from meat by product and real gamey.  Some dogs might not be able to handle it at all.   And, it's not much of a stretch for me to think that a dog fed junk food all it's life and goes to the vet for tummy issues then finds out they also have a kidney problem--that probably they've had but went undetected--because most people don't bring the dog in unless they are sick. 

And, don't forget Natural Balance is right at Petco.  Simple to get for people looking for something "better", something new.

I'm just going to monitor the web site and see what happens here. 

I can't believe this though. 

And, don't forget Natural Balance is right at Petco.  Simple to get for people looking for something "better", something new.

 
I know I have a friend that did just that. Was using Nutro for her bichons...and just told me Friday night that she is really happy that her dogs were pretty picky and didn't eat very well.. and since the recall she switched to Natural Balance and they LOVE it! Not sure which formula though, but this is exactly what people are doing,,,they don't have a choice if they were using recalled food.  
I only hope THAT is what it is and NOT an ingredient making pets ill!

I just tried to call them and the customer service recording is still from yesterday.  They should be open so I'm wondering why nobody is answering the phone. 
I'd like to know what's going on as they said they would let us know today.

We got a call from our distributor today and were told to pull any of the vension formula's we had for the driver to P/U and a credit would be issued. They are going to email us the lot numbers. When they do this, I will post them for all of you here that may be affected or know someone who uses this formula. There was NO mention of any of the other formula's, so my feelings are if it IS the food, is must be something with the venison.
 
We have a elderly rescue that has been eating the venison for the last 30 days or so and has had no problems, so I would imagine that this is a very isolated problem and may not even be related to the food itself.

Thanks to everybody for the info--I bought a 17lb bag of venison and brown rice a few days ago and wouldn't have known otherwise.  I've been feeding this formula for about 4 mos and it has been great.  Clean ears, great coat, etc.  I'll suspend for the time being but I really hope it's just an isolated event.  Local Petco here is just now starting to pull it off the shelves and have offered to refund my money for the bag I bought last week. 

She said that they were not at all certain that there is any problem with the food, but are just being cautious rather than doing what Menu Foods did ( knowing about a problem for 3 weeks before recalling the food) ..

 
Just when did the problem come up.  I have seen no date .  Is there any way folks can know for sure that it didn't exsist 3 weeks ago?  That they did something the minute they knew something was wrong? 
 
One one forum one who works with insurance claims said it is what is between the lines that scares her--she sees to much of it and know they tell as little as possible..and hope nobody reads between the lines.
 
like little johnny comes home, mom asks where he was and he tells her he was at Grandmas for cookies and milk.  What he doesn't tell her is that on the way he walked down the center stripe of the highway, was chased by a mean bull when he went into farmer browns field to swipe an apple or two, spent time time trying to catch a cottonmouth in the creek, removed some boards from a cave and went in and let a fire with m atches he wasn't suppose to have, spent time swinging on vines over a deep, rock filled ravine...and then went to Grandma's for cookies and milk.  he told the truth, he did go to Grandma's for cookies and milk.  He just didn't fill in all the scarey, dangerous stuff things he did that he was not suppose to do.
 
I think many of these companies (and this includes drug companies, etc) do the same thing. Tell you what they think will appease you without knowing the entire story.

Sandra-I don't think Natural Balance would mess around with hiding a potential issue after what Menu just went thru.  In fact, I doubt any company would take a chance right now. 
 
I've never used the venison.  I have trouble with exotic meats.  It's a personal thing but I just don't like the idea that the meat needs to be shipped so far to get here.  It's such a trip, something could happen in the packing, shipping, etc.  I just don't see the need to take the chance.

I guess because of my dealings with Fort Dodge over Proheart6 and my SIL dealings with their parent compnay, Wyeth over Phen Fen, i just dont' trust companies when things go wrong.  It was known in July 1997 that Phen Fen was causing heart problems, yet it wasn't removed until 2004.  Wyeth denied problems, only making changes in the warning labels at the FDA's demand.
 
ProHeart was killing dogs, we were being told it wasn't, yet undercover labels were being changed to include all the adverse reactions.  as the FDA demanded. I was on Vioxx for a while and then stopped on my own, to find it out was so dangerous, had been known, but we were not told.
 
So, i tend to be a little skeptical of companies trying to cover their butts. And as far as things being held back , why did Menu hold back all those weeks after what Diamond went thru.  It is all a mess and i wonder which company will be next.