Thoughts wanted on Natural Balance

lilblu

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How safe is Natural Balance dry and canned food? I know some of the food was recalled in 2007. I think it's owned by Diamond, right? I know they've had ongoing issues with recalls since 2005. I don't know if that's good or bad.

I may have to feed my cat both the dry and canned Duck & Green pea formula. I'm just hesitant to do so because of the recalls. I'm afraid my cat could get sick and die from eating this food.

How do you all feel about it? How safe do you think it is? What do you think about the company that makes it?
 

sharky

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IMHO after recalls foods are safer as many put in extra safety measures ... I used to feed NB routinely , local store does not carry it is why I do not feed currently
 

goldenkitty45

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Among our brands of canned food we only get the Natural Balance in Chicken and Green Pea, and the Venison and Green Pea. I was getting the duck for awhile but read in here somewhere that duck was not good to be feeding the cats, so I stopped buying it.

I've had no problems with the canned.
 

addiebee

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The venison version was a hit in my house. It smells really good and is very meaty. The duck - well - the boys weren't very interested in it and my vomity boy, Tex, "brought the subject back up for a vote" - it got a resounding NO!
 

shanynne

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My cats do *really* well on Natural Balance. It's a limited ingredients formula so I think that makes a huge difference. Wellness is another good brand and they have some grain free formulas as well.

For dry I do like Royal Canin...err rather I should say my cats love it.

So you can feed your cat the Natural Balance with confidence. However, if you are switching him over from another brand, make sure to do it very slowly!

Hope this helps!
 
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lilblu

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Originally Posted by Snake_Lady

My opinion on NB lays within my most recent experience with them:

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...hlight=plastic
I'm not sure what to think of that. I mean, I don't know if I should be totally put off by that. Stuff like that happens with human food too. One time I found one of those super hard plastic ties (the kind that are so hard they can barely be cut with scissors) in my hamburger bun. I bit right into it. I can't remember the brand but it was a brand name bread company. One time I found a dead cricket in a can of Green Giant green beans. Of course, nothing creeps me out as much as that time I found a live worm in a home grown tomato. Yuck! One of my mother's co-workers found a quarter in a donut she bought from a bakery.

But still, finding that plastic in the food is rather disturbing.
 

snake_lady

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Originally Posted by lilblu

I'm not sure what to think of that. I mean, I don't know if I should be totally put off by that. Stuff like that happens with human food too. One time I found one of those super hard plastic ties (the kind that are so hard they can barely be cut with scissors) in my hamburger bun. I bit right into it. I can't remember the brand but it was a brand name bread company. One time I found a dead cricket in a can of Green Giant green beans. Of course, nothing creeps me out as much as that time I found a live worm in a home grown tomato. Yuck! One of my mother's co-workers found a quarter in a donut she bought from a bakery.

But still, finding that plastic in the food is rather disturbing.
Yes, it is definately not a deal breaker as to whether to buy the food or not.

However, the whole incident made me question the quality control aspect of their food. I mean if that was allowed to enter the tinned food, what else has been "missed".

I did get notice from the company that they have added more screening...whether it is true or not, I do not know.
As well as when they recieved the plastic, I was told it looked like wrapping from the meat blocks. Fine and dandy, but I don't consider 7cm long to be a small piece of plastic.... I can see small pieces accidently making it into the food (I'm not saying it should, but it makes more sense that screening would miss a 1cm or smaller piece of plastic over a 7cm long piece. It circled around half the can)

I do feed their food.... I recieved a voucher for a case of food, and yes I used it. I am very cautious, making sure I chop up the food.... but I don't know. I will not be using their food in the long run.... too many issues as of late.

They seen to have problems with their food as of late...between the mold (or should I say "oxidized peas") and finding plastic in my food.... I question the company.

That said though, I think you'd find most foods have a history of recalls/or issues of some sort. In my searching, I have not been able to find a food that has never had a problem. So it comes down to weighing the pros and cons of each food.

I'm no help am I LOL
 

snake_lady

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Originally Posted by lilblu

I just read these two disturbing reviews - http://www.amazon.com/Natural-Balanc...rBy=addTwoStar


I wonder what's in their dry food. I wonder if they're any better than Hill's?
The plastic complaint listed wasn't mine, but I did find it in the same formula. (6mos or so after the date of that posting) Which disappoints me... A single incident, I could forget/forgive.... it happens, implement a stricter QC and learn from it.... but several repeated incidents of the same thing


I redeemed my voucher for the Ultra formula, and have not had any issues with it. (again though, it is not a company I feel happy with giving my money to, and will not be buying it out of pocket). I do chop up the food quite well to make sure there is no added "ingredients".
 

strange_wings

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I would be curious to know if the plastic problems were coming out of the same plant -possibly the same run? The only way to know is if people would list the complete lot numbers on the cans - if you won't share these it's not even worth mentioning the problem to warn others in the first place.
If it's one plant that suggest human error or someone not reporting incidents. Every single pet food plant has recalls, and little mini recalls of food that gets destroyed before it ever gets on store shelves.
The one near me has had a few glass incidents over the last few years - though none of that food was ever on shelves. (they go nuts over glass, so I always hear about it)

With dry foods they can use metal detectors to scan for metal - not sure about the wet before it goes into the cans. There's nothing to really scan for glass, plastic, or burnt pieces of food. (if someone wants to invent a device for finding small pieces of plastics in foods, please do)

I'm currently feeding mine natural balance duck and pea. I have one that has problems with chicken and I'd rather not feed a fishy food. I have no complaints - everyone has nicely formed stools. The bag I opened yesterday was a couple of shades lighter than past bags - though the food looks and smells fine.

I wouldn't let reports of foreign objects be too distressing. It happens, unfortunately - always check foods. What can we do about this sort of human error? Find a way to completely automate everything and take away a major source of jobs?
 
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