Has anyone ever fed Natural Balance food roll by itself?

    • Gold Top Dog

    Has anyone ever fed Natural Balance food roll by itself?

    My husky is refusing to eat her kibble since she was sick last weekend. I've tried everything - adding food toppers, withholding food/treats, etc. but she will still turn her nose up at it. I want her to eat since she is old (14) and could possibly have failing kidneys (we have to go back for a recheck next week to do blood work again). As of this morning she has not eaten her kibble in 3 days.

    I was feeding her Canidae kibble - which she always liked before. Since she's been sick I have tried to mix canned Canidae in which worked for a couple of days. Now the only thing that she's interested in is the Natural Balance food roll that I usually use for treats. So, I wonder if I should just make that her meal full time. It doesn't seem all that balanced though.

    Any thoughts? 

     

    P.S. Her stomach doesn't tolerate drastic changes to her diet at all. 

    • Gold Top Dog
    when i've used the NB food rolls as treats, it seemed to make my dogs more thirsty. if her kidneys are in question, i would be reluctant to feed the rolls because of that. NB kibble *seems* to cause UTI's -- i don't know if the same is true of the other NB foods.
    • Gold Top Dog

    I *think* it's intended to be a nutritionally complete food all by itself, although it would probably be pretty expensive, especially with a larger dog. Once Cassidy went off her food, just decided that what she'd been eating since she was weaned wasn't going to work for her anymore and she didn't eat for two days. I picked up some of the Natural Balance rolls, and she was on that for a couple of days, but not long term. I ended up switching her to a different food and mixing in some chopped NB for awhile.

    You could always email the company and ask them - I've found them to be very responsive to their customers. OT, but when the last round of food recalls hit over rice protein concentrate I emailed them because my dogs had been eating some of the recalled canned food. I got a response within a half hour with a name and phone number to call. I got through to her right away, and she answered all my questions and eased my mind that my dogs were not at any risk - turns out that as soon as they found out that American Nutrition, which made their canned foods for them, had added the ingredient without their knowledge or consent they immediately issued a complete recall. They had the foods tested and found that none of them contained melamine and were perfectly safe, but I really liked that they took immediate action that probably damaged their reputation (NB foods were recalled!!!) to protect consumers. Most other companies issued recalls for particular lot numbers after they tested and found the foods tainted, but by then it was too late for many pets.

    My dogs aren't on NB kibble or canned any more, I've switched them to Wellness Core, but I still use NB rolls for training treats. 

    • Gold Top Dog

    try some green tripe. Or some boiled hamburger with mushy over-cooked rice.

    • Gold Top Dog

    What is green tripe and where would I find it? 

    • Gold Top Dog

    I *think* green tripe is cow stomach with the contents. Have you thought of feeding a canned food by itself? She probably wouldn't have digestive issues with a lower fat level one like Chicken Soup Senior:

    http://www.chickensoupforthepetloverssoul.com/products/dogs/canned_food/senior_dog_formula/

    • Gold Top Dog

    Well, I tried giving her canned Canidae by itself and she just sniffs it and turns her head. Literally, the ONLY thing she is interested in is that Natural Balance food roll. She won't even eat normal treats anymore. 

     

    Hmm that has some good ingredients though. Maybe I'll check out a can to see what she thinks of it 

    • Gold Top Dog
    The Natural Balance rolls are labelled for being complete to feed alone. They have sucrose in them, so I wouldn't want to feed them long term. But if your dog needs to eat, then she needs to eat! I wonder if she would like Natural Balance canned since it has the same smoke flavor as the rolls.
    • Gold Top Dog

     Well I'll stop by the pet store on my way home and report back. I'm thinking juicy smelling canned is the way to go with her from now on if I can get her to eat it. I'm just not comfortable feeding NB by itself even though they say its fine.

    • Gold Top Dog
    I really strongly recommend choosing a canned food with about 5.5% or less fat. After dry matter conversion, canned food is MUCH higher in fat. I think around 26% is average, which is higher than any kibble that I know of. Especially with a senior dog that doesn't handle digestive changes well, I think the fat level is going to be very important.
    • Gold Top Dog

    If she likes the NB rolls feed her those for a few days with anything else she feels like eating.  I'd just get her eating again and worry about a long term plan later.  She might go back to her kibble after a few days anyway. 

    • Gold Top Dog
    I just thought of something- have you tried grating the NB roll over the kibble? That's what they suggest on their website and it seems like it would probably work well.
    • Gold Top Dog

    Yeah, I did that today when I went home at lunch. She ate a bit, mostly trying to get the pieces of NB.

    I just went and bought a few cans of Merrick Senior (thanks for the fat tip), NB senior and Chicken soup for the sole senior to see which one she'll eat mixing with kibble. She just ate almost a half can of the merrick mixed with Kibble so I'm happy about that. there's no way she's getting enough food though for her weight (56 lbs). I'll just keep trying to feed her through out the day and hopefully she'll get enough over all.

    • Gold Top Dog

    Does she like cheese?  Willow will eat anything if there is cheese involved. 

    • Moderators
    • Gold Top Dog

    may be her sense of smell is off since being sick?  I use food rolls for kongs and it has a very strong, smoky smell.

    I bought some canned SG green tripe called Green Cow (I think) if its the lack of smell in kibble that is upsetting her the canned tripe ought to do it Ick!

    I hope she gets back to eating soon!