Any experience with Natural Balance, Serengeti, or Pinnacle?

jcat

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I'm the "designated buyer" for a whole group of cat owners in my German town, and make bulk purchases on line. Due to new import regulations, the producer of Innova, Health Wise, and California Natural now refuses to export to Europe, and I'm looking for replacements. Nutro, Solid Gold, Eagle Pack, and, to some extent, Felidae are still available here, but I need replacements for Innova and CN, as some cats are just plain picky. I got a trial delivery of Natural Balance and Serengeti dry food today, and various flavors of Pinnacle canned food. Has anybody had any negative experiences with any of these foods? I don't want to distribute "samples" of anything that might cause problems.
 

amy-dhh

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I've been feeding Natural Balance to Cosmo since about two weeks ago (guessing at the time frame). I switched from typical super-market brand to the NB. He really seems to love it and other than a little bout of diarrhea two days ago (which I don't think was attributed to the food), I haven't had any problems. I did look through the ingredients of several foods before switching, and NB was the one that impressed me the most.
 

nano

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I fed Nano a sample bag (~3 day supply) of Natural Balance. It was okay and there were no problems but I ended up going with another brand.
 

nern

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I've been extremely pleased with the Natural Balance. My cats, with the exception of my feral kitten, did'nt like the Serengetti (if thats Timberwolfs that your referring to) when I tried it. I've heard that the formula has changed since then though and that its more palatable now.
 

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My youngest like NB venison formula//// The older one didnt like the orginal formula..

I did figure out something.. In the uk you have max and natural choice but it is all called choice.. the salmon flavor is called max cat in the states...I have an email out on availability... Sorry no more news..
 

aussie_dog

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Both my 2 kitties were on Natural Balance until early March. They did fine on it, Buffy's coat was really shiny (harder to tell with Willow). I switched to Royal Canin, though, to see if they could improve on it, and Buffy's coat has gotten much shinier and Willow's coat is much more obviously shiny. Plus, Buffy had a baggy-belly (well, there was a flap of skin just in front of her back legs that hung a little low) since long before I'd had her on Natural Balance, and when I moved her to Royal Canin that flap of skin disappeared. Plus, Willow has gained so much more energy.

But if Royal Canin somehow stopped being served in my city, I'd gladly go back to Natural Balance. I love Natural Balance, I just happened to get slightly better results from a different food.
 
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jcat

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Originally Posted by nern

I've been extremely pleased with the Natural Balance. My cats, with the exception of my feral kitten, didn't like the Serengeti (if thats Timberwolfs that your referring to) when I tried it. I've heard that the formula has changed since then though and that its more palatable now.
It is the Timberwolf food, with bison, chicken and salmon. Jamie and ZsaZsa are going out of their minds over it. I haven't tried the Natural Balance (Ultra Premium) on them yet.

Originally Posted by sharky

I did figure out something.. In the uk you have max and natural choice but it is all called choice.. the salmon flavor is called max cat in the states...I have an email out on availability... Sorry no more news..
That explains it. I was ordering Nutro Max Cat for Jamie, and then all of a sudden it was Nutro Natural Choice, but didn't seem to be any different.

Originally Posted by Aussie_Dog

I love Natural Balance, I just happened to get slightly better results from a different food.
Royal Canin is readily available here, but not something I can use, because Jamie is allergic to it. It apparently has too much beet pulp in it for him.

Thanks for the quick replies!
 

nern

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Originally Posted by jcat

It is the Timberwolf food, with bison, chicken and salmon. Jamie and ZsaZsa are going out of their minds over it.
The inclusion of bison was one of the changes made. There was no bison in it when I tried it. I will probably try it again in the future.
 
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jcat

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Originally Posted by nern

The inclusion of bison was one of the changes made. There was no bison in it when I tried it. I will probably try it again in the future.
I checked out the Timberwolf Organics website, and the cat food they have listed there is without bison. I wonder if they simply haven't updated the site, or if the new food is being test marketed in Europe? My supplier is currently breaking down and repackaging 45 lb. bags sold to zoos and exotic owners, but says 5 - 10 lb. bags will soon be available.
Jamie loves the stuff - he managed to get the cabinet open last night, and help himself.
 

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I gave Dori Pinnacle a few times. She liked it and I didn't notice any problems with it. That was back when I was deciding which wet food to give her and I ended up going with another brand.
 

nern

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Originally Posted by jcat

I checked out the Timberwolf Organics website, and the cat food they have listed there is without bison. I wonder if they simply haven't updated the site, or if the new food is being test marketed in Europe?
I think they just have'nt updated the site yet. There is a woman on another forum that uses it and she is in the US...she's actually the one that told me that the formula had changed and that her cats love it now (with the bison) but did'nt like it previously.
 

sofiecusion

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Summer has been on Natural Balance for over a year, and she seems to be doing really well on it. The rescue I got her from fed the cats Nutro Natural Choice (pretty darn good for a rescue organization) so I fed her this when I first got her. However, after doing research, I found that corn and other fillers weren't necessarily good for kitties, and Nutro has corn gluten meal as its 3rd top ingrediant. Natural Balance was readily available in my area, it doesn't contain any fillers. The price per pound of Natural Balance is $1.67 compared to Nutro's price of $2.00 a lb....so better quality and better price definitely helped this poor college student and her kitty out!

 
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jcat

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Originally Posted by squirtle

I gave Dori Pinnacle a few times. She liked it and I didn't notice any problems with it. That was back when I was deciding which wet food to give her and I ended up going with another brand.
Jamie and ZsaZsa both like the Pinnacle canned, but I'm sceptical, because they're supposed to be getting twice the amount per day of their other canned foods.
Originally Posted by nern

I think they just have'nt updated the site yet. There is a woman on another forum that uses it and she is in the US...she's actually the one that told me that the formula had changed and that her cats love it now (with the bison) but did'nt like it previously.
I've gotten feedback from three neighbors on the bison formula - it looks like I can order the 45 lb. bag - the kitties are all going nuts over it!
 
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