New Natural Balance Recall (not Menu related)

luxor eats nb........but maybe i'm wrong but there just doesn't seem to be enough information to warrant me stopping his food.

Well, it says the dogs had stomach upset...nothing else known at this point...and it mentions they aren't sure if it could just be from a fast change in diet. That seems very, very likely to me. There are countless numbers of people worried about pet food now, worried about Menu in particular. I can imagine that a lot of people have recently switched to NB, since they are one of the very few that are both non-menu, AND so readily available at Petco. So I can see that a lot of very worried people have switched their foods suddenly...and also would be worried (more than usual) about symptoms like stomach upset. I hope it makes sense.

Basically, to sum it up ...I don't see this as much of a concern YET.

hear hear.

glad to know it's ok to not over-react

And it's a good idea to post it. I'm glad you did. I forgot to say thanks.

Just chiming in, as a fan of Natural Balance foods, and what I am experiencing currently:

We just switched recently and I am echoing Beandip here but this is an important point to keep in mind-

Sudden dietary changes in dry foods tend to cause tummy rumbles, though I always thought cats were more affected. And I speak from immediate experience because of our recent change to NB.

Even though I *thought* I did a gradual changeover, 2 of my 5 cats have been 'off' the last 24 hours. The other 3 cats are thrilled at their new food and won't accept their Purina One now. So I am thinking 'sensitivity' but this will pass.

The recall has led to the largest and fastest changeover in diets (for our pets) across the globe, no doubt. I am sure anything out of the ordinary gets us worried, and a change in diet can mimic sickness, albeit temporary. Many people are going to panic and it will lead to even more vet appts and confusion. It is very scary and frustrating because we lose our ability to trust our own judgments.

Even with what I know I am worried about my 2 who are kind of 'meh' today. I will watch them but everything points to a little stomach upset.

I just cannot wait till all this passes. Just not sure there will ever be resolution, nor can we ever feel 100% again

I am very concerned about this....
A pet food company will not recall a food just because a few people say their animals tummies were upset.

I hope that it is nothing serious.

STAY calm... I am now very suspcious cause I worked Petco for last two days and venison and br rice dog was mysteriously out... I didnt have to show anyone the cat so I dont know

That's interesting I bought few cans to try and my kittens ate all of it but they all had loose stool and Marbles started throwing up everywhere. I stopped feeding it thinking it probably didn't agree with my guys. I only gave them two cans in the span of two days. I like to rotate their canned food and was looking for something other than Felidae to rotate their canned food. I won't be buying it again only because of my experience with that but it's interesting to find out that other animals had the same reaction to this food. I guess my guys will have to eat mostly Felidae and I am still waiting for Merrick to delivery canned food I ordered from their website. I hope Merrick works out as I really need something to rotate my guys with Felidae.

hi... if you read some of my posts from a few months ago you will see that i switched my cat to venison and green pea natural balance dry... she then developed serious problems including severe itichiness, rolling skin, chasing her tail, and blood in stool. i took her to three different vets, all of whom said it was allergy related. i took her off the natural balance after about a month and then she was fine again. i can't beleive this... i wonder now if her problems were all due to contaminated food.

Are you joking me!? I just bought a bag of NB and some NB wet food to start my cats on because of the wheat gluten scare and now this!? I just opened the bad(it wasn't the venison one thank goodness) and gave them each a handful to see if they'd eat it. Now I'm not sure I want to feed it to them anymore.
What cat food is safe? I feel so let down by all the cat food makers. If anything happens to my cats in the next couple of days, I'll be LIVID!
When are they going to fix this? When thousands of animals die? I am so mad right now I want to scream! And the sad thing is there is no one I can call or email about this. I want to know, what are they doing to rectify the situation RIGHT NOW so that animals can eat without us wondering if we are killing our beloved pets?

For those of you deciding looking for something to switch your kitty onto if you're not sure about the natural balance- i recently switched all mine onto Chicken Soup for the Cat / Kitten Lover's Soul- they are all doing aweome with it- it's gluetin free, uses only grains/things made in the US and Candada...and the first listed ingredients are REAL food like chicken, duck,salmon,etc...it's all holistic too. For a great food like that you can't beat the price eithor!

i just know that during the month i was feeding ashley green pea + venison dry, i took her to three different vets... all in all, a total of four vet visits. this was during december to january. i am going to call natural balance tomorrow.

Uggh....I JUST bought some cans of NB yesterday thinking that it would be a good choice to rotate with the Merrick that my cats are presently eating I Should've known not to try any new foods right now.
It's not venison/pea does that mean that it's safe? Should I return it??

honestly, i wouldn't chance it even if it's not the specific forumula on the recall. it seems like more are added every day. if the brand is questionable- avoid it to be safe. i would take it back and ask for a refund

That's what I thought, thanks

The blog I read said something about it only being within the last week if I read it correctly. Still, I am tripping about this, I mean I change food to avoid wheat gluten in the Pro Plan and now I might be endangering my cats still because of something bad in the new food? Comeon, I can't deal with this. Everytime I open a can or bag of food I feel like I'm playing a sick game of Russian Roulette with my cats lives. What can I feed my cats without putting them in danger?

RIght now ... MOST dry food is still safe for canned I would talk with the vet about homemade ... I am using Natura ( cal natural ) , Nutro ( the stuff made by them not MENU ) , Wellness, By Nature and Solid gold for the one who eats canned

Ashley gets the By Nature canned too, and she seems to be doing well on it.

so - the venison and pea wet is out, what about the dry? sharky are you feeding wellness wet?

That 2nd link above, is very interesting....
Early last week, I was at PetCo attempting to find a safe canned food for my kitties.

NB, small cans, looked like a good option to try but after I discovered that cans of the turkey & giblets and the chicken pate, both still shrinked wrapped and in their cases ----were rusted on the bottoms, I showed them to a PetCo clerk who took them off of the shelves.....I hope.
Now, after this silent recall...
I find this very disturbing.

Yes I picked up a few cans... I do have to revisit GARLIC and cats with my vet after realizing it is still in there... kandie loved it

My cats all eat the NB venison and pea dry food. So far they have been fine on it. They were eating the NB canned also (not venison and pea) but I just ran out. I just ordered another bag of NB venison and pea dry food from petfooddirect.com last week. When it comes I don't know whether or not I should feed it.

I'm just ready to cry. I thought I finally found something that my cats would eat that's also good quality, not menu related, and no wheat gluten. Now this? I just ordered $100 of food from PetFoodDirect, and most of it Natural Balance (cans). What do I do now?

I won't feed Wellness because of the garlic, they won't eat Chicken Soup, they won't eat Felidae, they won't eat by Nature, the Solid Gold I got was manufactured in Thailand so I won't feed them that. Is there anything I can feed them where I don't have to worry I'm poisioning them?? I hope somebody frys for putting us all through this (although I know they won't).

Ok. I think I woke up with hives this morning; that is how anxious I am about all this. I thought I was fairly under control before this NB news.

First of all, as someone said upstream, we have to stay calm. The more stressed and confused we get, the stressed and confused our cats get.

The more food switches we make and watching/hovering over our cats we do, then they certainly will have reactions. Animals are truly empathic creatures.

It's good to be vigilant but speaking as someone who can feel panic setting in, I just want to do a group check!

Question: Has anyone found any actual statements by Natural Balance foods? I cant' find anything on their websites. I *DEMAND* their full disclosure and attention to this matter. Not only have countless people trusted their food over time, but countless have *switched* to NB after the recent recalls and after weeks of research.

One of the links provided had some wild back and forthing between posters who say NB has been lying all along. This totally confuses me?! Other posted that NB is just being responsible and careful in light of all the recalls and stepping up to the plate to voluntarily remove questionable batches, despite lack of documented tamperings.

I have ordered both NB and Chicken Soup for Cat Lover's and still have plenty of Purina One standard variety on hand. I can just imagine the confusion and frustration and worry in pet households I posted earlier that I do believe a couple of my cats are going through a new digestion process and changeover can take a few days, but until there is a response to THIS latest news, I am on full guard.

FWIW, I have found that to be the case with many of the foods at *my* neighoborhood Petco. I always have to sift through dented, rusted cans with FADED labels, etc...in ALL brands. To me, locally at least, it seems to be a handling/storage problem with PETCO.

ETA: I see this as nothing more than a rumor at this point. I don't know what to say. The story in the 2nd link could happen to any brand...especially if it's handled poorly, as I have observed at Petco (dented cans are vulnerable).