Dog Community

*** Van Patten Natural Balance

Posted : 7/18/2006 8:46:40 PM

Is there anyone feeding their MS *** Van Patten Natural Balance my MS is not a picky eatter but I want her to have the proper diet & nutritious for her.

What is your opinion on this brand?

Jennifer

INGREDIENT LISTING

Chicken, Brown Rice, Duck, Lamb Meal, Oatmeal, Pearled Barley, Potatoes, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols - source of Vitamin E, Citric Acid, and Rosemary Extract), Natural Flavor, Tomato Pomace, Canola Oil, Brewers Yeast, Lecithin, Choline Chloride, Carrots, Potassium Chloride, Whole Ground Flaxseed, Dried Kelp, Sodium Chloride, Parsley Flakes, Calcium Carbonate, Zinc Proteinate, Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin B-12 Supplements, Ascorbic Acid (vitamin C), Taurine, Yucca Schidigera Extract, L-Lysine, Manganese Sulfate, Niacin, Riboflavin Supplement (Vitamin B-2), Copper Proteinate, Copper Sulfate, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin A Acetate, Inositol, Folic Acid (Vitamin B-9), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B-6), Thiamin Mononitrate (Vitamin B-1), D-Activated Animal Sterol (source of Vitamin D-3), Biotin, Ethylene Diamine Dihydriodide (source of Iodine), Cobalt Sulfate, Vitamin K1 Supplement, Sodium Selenite

Sarah

Posted : 7/18/2006 8:55:22 PM

Mhm, it's a very good food. I suggest it. I haven't personally fed their kibble before, but I have fed their canned duck & potato formula once before with no problems.

B L Stroud

Posted : 7/18/2006 9:15:52 PM

I tried it with my husky. Took her several days to actually eat it , she would just eat the other food around it and leave it. Then, she ate it for a few days and prompty began having the worst "potties" she's ever had, loose and smelly, and a bit of gas too. So she wouldn't eat it anymore. so now I have a bag of food to donate to my dad's dog. My other dog can't touch the poultry. And I must say I'm bewildered and unimpressed with the tomato pomace in there.

Jennifer

Posted : 7/18/2006 9:54:46 PM

Geez that sucks! Misty hasn't had any loose stool yet & no smelly gass yet!

Not all dogs are the same just like people

B L Stroud

Posted : 7/18/2006 10:04:08 PM

Geez that sucks! Misty hasn't had any loose stool yet & no smelly gass yet!

Not all dogs are the same just like people

no, they're not are they [

]. If it works for your furbaby, then I say go for it, but my babies won't touch it.

brookcove

Posted : 7/18/2006 10:36:53 PM

NB saved my cat's life so I'm not a very objective witness on this! But the Duck and Potato is one of just a few foods Ben can eat - since he reacts to even traces of the things he's allergic to, it makes me feel very confident about their QC methodology. I've had good luck with their customer service, also. I don't feed Ben much of the dry food in comparision to his total diet but it seems to complement his feeding regime well.

sarah_b

Posted : 7/18/2006 11:44:43 PM

Experimenting with a couple foods..and I must say, the guys here - Bearded Collies - do extremely well with the Sweet Potato and Fish. I suspect it is the lack of grains and the high amount of fish...this breed seems to do well on this. (fish in general for Beardies) Have not tried the Duck. Have tried the Ultra and the venison, but for my guys the the SP & F seems to settle well.

stardancnminpin

Posted : 7/19/2006 12:11:49 AM

We feed our MinPin Jezebelle, the regular NB, and I have to say, she does wonderful on it. Her coat is thick and glossy, and her bowel movements are nice and small and firm enough to deter any anal gland problems. When I had to take her in earlier in the month for an ear infection from a grass seed, the vet was very impressed with her coat and overall health. We tried a few others like Wysong and Chicken Soup, but her coat was thin and she didn't like it. We like what the NB does for her .

kjh

Posted : 7/19/2006 7:35:08 AM

I have a 4 year old Boxer who is extremely picky and has allergies. I used to feed her Nutro Natural Choice for Sensitive Stomachs. I tried Nutro Natural Choice Ultra but her system didn't like it. I tried Wellness but she wouldn't touch it. I switched to Natural Balance about 6 months ago. The difference it has made in her skin allergies is amazing. It's been months since I've had to put anti-itch cream on her paws! And she used to have gas that could clear a room in under a minute [:'(] but now she rarely ever gets gas. Natural Balance has made a world of difference!

dasher

Posted : 7/19/2006 7:41:30 AM

I switched to NB about 1.5 years ago. I love it. My dogs/cats are doing great on it. We used to feed Nutro for years any our guys did fine on that, but when our older lab started having yeast infections in her ears and itchy skin, I started looking into different foods. Did some research online (and I-dog). We switched to NB and her yeast infections are gone and no more itchy skin!! [

]

cindy w.

Posted : 7/19/2006 8:05:01 AM

Its in my rotation.
I really like the foods, my dogs do very well on it, and they love the taste.

Stef w

Posted : 7/19/2006 8:13:22 AM

My lab-x that has had skin problems (vet said grass allergy) since we got him and about 2 months ago I switched him to NB Venison and Brown Rice. His skin problems have completely cleared up - the difference is incredible!

Melissa Camiel

Posted : 7/19/2006 10:24:50 AM

I love Natural Balance and wish that Jetta would eat it becuase she has really bad allergies. But she won't touch the food!! She went on a hunger strike for 3 days before I finally gave in and took the food back to the store. But if she liked the taste of it, I would definately feed this food. The allergy formulas seem great.

jessies_mom

Posted : 7/19/2006 11:14:02 AM

I have a question about the Natural Balance Fish and Duck formulas; potatoes or sweet potatoes are the first ingredients in the duck and fish formulas, followed by meat and meat meal. It looks like there are more potatoes than meat but when the water is removed from the potatoes that should put the meat meat first; is that correct? I hadn't noticed the statement before that veterinarians had tested the foods by feeding them to dogs with allergies and had great results; it explains why many members have dogs that do well on their formulas. Jessie does well on Eagle Fish except for some dandruff even though the food has menhaden fish oil; I wonder if the Natural Balance Fish would help her dandruff?

sarah_b

Posted : 7/19/2006 3:51:39 PM

jessies - of course as many have made clear on this forum, all dogs do differently on different foods. But it might be worth a try. All I know like others here, when I use the NB without "grains" all yeast and red dirty ears go away. I called NB and asked what the Vit. E % is in the two formulas. 750 IU /kg !! That might explain some of it! I have noticed that most Beardie's skin and coat, etc, maintain much better with a diet rich in vit.E. Also, I do believe the omega's from the fish help tremendously all the way around. They digest this food really well too.
I absolutely love the Eagle fish food, but alas, my guys seem to develop yeast and dirty red ears after a while on it. Drat. I am not sure what causes it - grains, beet pulp...what. And Eagle isn't the only food with that reaction. So for now my guys will stick with the sweet potatoes and fish! Have not tried the Duck, but may give it a try.