New Natural Balance Recall (not Menu related)

[sadie's mom]

Originally Posted by Misty8723

You are not the only one with the stress getting out of hand. I'm sitting here at work and I can barely concentrate, I'm just being eaten alive by anxiety. My husband thinks I'm "over reacting" so he is just adding to my stress. I just called and told him to give them Fancy Feast for their afternoon snack. I don't know what else to do.

OMG, can I relate to how you're feeling.....
I know NBalance is saying it's only with the venison and green pea, but just 1 day ago those foods weren't even listed on the recall list. To make matters worse, I noticed yesterday that Sadie's pee wasn't as large as usual (but we were staying overnight at a friends so I figured it was because of that). But, now I'm so stressed thinking this is a sign Sadie is sick. Anyone else feel like they're going to throw up over this?

 

[littleraven7726]

Originally Posted by Sadie's Mom

Anyone else feel like they're going to throw up over this?

yes. i don't know if i should keep feeding it or just buy something else.

i absolutely can't concentrate either. i was ok until it went up on the website and was certain. i keep hoping that since it was venison and pea flavors that it is just something to do with the venison.

 

[jpawz]

Originally Posted by Misty8723

You are not the only one with the stress getting out of hand. I'm sitting here at work and I can barely concentrate, I'm just being eaten alive by anxiety. My husband thinks I'm "over reacting" so he is just adding to my stress. I just called and told him to give them Fancy Feast for their afternoon snack. I don't know what else to do.

I guess all we can do is stay as informed as we can possibly be and stick with the foods not on current lists, and foods our cats have done well with.

I am trying not to vent too much because :

A) I havent' lost a pet or dealt with possible health issues as of yet

B) I am not trying to feed a shelter or colony of animals and dealing with large quantities of food and health care

I cannot imagine the pain and confusion of those individuals

I was trying to hope that the NB issue was more a proactive response out of bad timing and coincidence. But if there ARE indeed sick pets as a result of another batch of NON MENU foods (?) then I am at a loss. A sheer loss.

 

[sadie's mom]

To everyone who is as worried as me about this

 

[jenny82]

Originally Posted by Sadie's Mom

To everyone who is as worried as me about this

Thank you, I needed that.

 

[jennyjen]

AAAAAAAAGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!! I can't STAND this anymore!!!!!!! I was already under enough stress with Bailey's digestive issues and trying to find a food that she'd actually eat without puking up. Now I feel like I can't safely feed her anything, and I honestly don't trust myself to put her on a raw diet (I don't even make food for myself!).

I guess it's good that she didn't like the Venison & Green Pea dry formula anyway, but I have been giving her the canned. She just puked it up yesterday for the first time though, so I was already planning on not feeding it to her since once she pukes up any particular flavor of food, she will never eat it again. I'm just so frustrated. I'm running out of options. Right now, I'm down to Merricks and Evangers, and she'll only eat about 5 flavors combined between the 2 brands. If I keep feeding her the same 5 flavors, she'll eventually tire of those, and then I'll have nothing to feed her! I know I'm supposed to stay calm and not freak out, but I've been pretty darn calm ever since they initially announced the recall a month ago. In addition, now she needs dental work, which I was already freaked out about, and I'm growing paranoid and feel like I can't trust any vets or food manufacturers or anyone, and I wish I somehow had the ability to give her everything she needs MYSELF.

I think we all share the same feeling of worry every single time we open a can of cat food. And even though dry food hasn't been widely recalled, I don't feel I can assume THAT'S safe either. I'm losing my mind spending so much time stressing over my cat's health. They're going to have to come take me away pretty soon.

Sorry about the rant, but I needed to get out a small FRACTION of my frustration, stress, paranoia, sadness, etc.

 

[rang_27]

I'm just glad I'm not the only one totaly freaking out over this.

Not that I want anyone to be stressed, but it helps me to know I'm not alone. I know so far it's only the dry food, but because I just fed the venison & green pea wet last night I'm totally freaking out. I guess my poor babies won't be enjoying venison for a while. They love the stuff.

 

[sadie's mom]

I just placed a call to Sadie's vet to get some more guidance on whether or not to discontinue feeding the Ultra Premium. She did say earlier that it was probably the venison causing the problems but she was going to do some more research. So, once I speak with her, I'll let you know what she says.

 

[littleraven7726]

Originally Posted by Sadie's Mom

I just placed a call to Sadie's vet to get some more guidance on whether or not to discontinue feeding the Ultra Premium. She did say earlier that it was probably the venison causing the problems but she was going to do some more research. So, once I speak with her, I'll let you know what she says.

thanks.

i'm a mess right now. i'm feeding ultra too. i've been feeding it since about the first or second week of the recall for their dry food.

 

[rang_27]

I just saw a post on another site (sorry, now I can't find it again) that NB gets thier venison from New Zeland because it is the only country with no chronic wasting disease & now mad cows. I have no idea if this is true or not & I will try to find the link.

EDIT: here's the link, the post is down a little.

http://chihuahua.meetup.com/boards/v...ager.offset=20

 

[followedbydolls]

Hello everyone, new to the forum

anyways, Before all this recall menu foods mess began my cats were on nutro dry and wet products. I then switched my cats[and dogs] over to Natural Balance, altho not the wet as they were not fond of that.

Unfortunately, i was feeding the cats the venison as well as the original flavor.

I guess at this point i am beyond frustrated, i am still struggling with wet foods and was, well i thought had found a decent dry replacement.

None have shown any signs of illness from my DVP NB dry venison but of coarse are no longer feeding it, regardless. I admit i am concerned about the regular formula[and the dogs variety for that matter]

I have tried numerous cat kibbles with them and i have no idea what to do next. I admit they were doing fine on the nutro natural choice, my breeder was also using it.. so they have spent the majority of their lives[2yrs, 18mth, 1yo] on that brand.

I am almost tempted to bring their nutro NC back out again, despite their wet food issues, but i admit i am unsure if that is proper choice either....

 

[followedbydolls]

Another freaked out person.

I am new to feeding the DVP brand, after doing a change over since the menu foods recall began.

I am such a ball of mixed emotions, i really hope the company can sort out what the problem is shortly.

 

[misty8723]

Originally Posted by Sadie's Mom

OMG, can I relate to how you're feeling.....
I know NBalance is saying it's only with the venison and green pea, but just 1 day ago those foods weren't even listed on the recall list. To make matters worse, I noticed yesterday that Sadie's pee wasn't as large as usual (but we were staying overnight at a friends so I figured it was because of that). But, now I'm so stressed thinking this is a sign Sadie is sick. Anyone else feel like they're going to throw up over this?

I've been going through the same thing with Swanie and Cindy's pee not being as large or as much as usual. I've had Swanie to the vet 4 times and Cindy 3 times getting blood test and urinalysis, and general checkups, and they tell me everything is okay. I've had 2 separate blood tests for each of them, and 3 urinalysis for Swanie and 2 for Cindy. Two different vets have told me they're fine. But they still aren't peeing as much, and they have no answer for me as to why, expect that "maybe they aren't drinking as much." This started shortly after the recall was announced, so you can imagine how crazy I've been driving myself. I was finally starting to relax a bit, and now there's a problem with the food I switched them to after the recall. I know for now it's only the venison and pea, but what if this recall expands as well? It's a shame because they really like the canned food, and now I"m afraid to give it to them.

I'm definitely pitching the Ultra dry food, which is another issue because wouldn't you know I mixed it in with their California Natural. So now I guess I'll be pitching that as well, I guess.

 

[crt]

This makes me sick. I have been feeding both my cats NB canned for a number of months and they both like it. It took forever to find a wet food they would eat, and now this. The only other wet food my female will eat is Eagle Pack, but I quit feeding her that when I realized it was manufactured my Menu. I realize the canned is not on the recall, but this scares me. I also have opened maybe 2 or 3 cans in the last couple of months that were obviously spoiled. I reported it to Petco and they just refunded my money. What am I going to do? I guess for now, continue feeding NB canned until we have more information. I don't know what else to do. I feed them Nutro dry. I'm trying not to panic, and I am really becoming very angry.

 

[sadie's mom]

I just talked to the vet. She told me to continue giving Sadie the Ultra Premium as it is not listed on NBalance's site (but, she did say to continue checking the site on a regular basis as that will give us the information first).
She also said that this probably isn't linked to the Menu recall, as that was due to a very specific ingredient and it was isolated to specific foods.

She said that the decrease in Sadie's pee size is not a concern. If anything, it was due to her having been to the vet that day, then was in the car for 2 hours and stayed overnight at someone else's home. She said that a decrease is NOT kidney failure related. Kidney failure would have increased size and amount, not decreased (phew!)

She stressed the importance of keeping an eye on our babies for very radical change of mood, amount they are eating, etc. This will be your first clue that something is just not right. Unfortunately, she said, that kidney failure won't show signs until 75% of the kidney is diseased.

I know this has made me feel a little better, but I'm still not at 100%.

Based on what she said, I will continue to feed the Ultra Premium and I've just put the NBalance website in my favs so I can check it every half hour.

 

[jenny82]

Should I gradually switch my babies off NB venison and pea dry onto something else or switch completely tonight?

I know you are supposed to do very gradual switches with dry food but I am worried. I would rather their tummies be upset for a couple days due to a sudden switch than continue to feed them even small amounts of a recalled product.

 

[jpawz]

Sadie~~

I agree with your vet's input (though I am still uber wary as we all are).

Cats drink less when they are stressed (generally) so it would stand to reason any stressful times they have had would result in less urine amount. We all just want to make sure they are indeed urinating and not holding back or straining, of course.

The one cat in question here, Grayboy, is the one I just put through the ringer for a battery of tests (there had been prior sudden window marking a few months ago) to rule out uti and other issues. He came back clear, but he is a very anxious cat so combine temporary isolation (post vet), a food switch and me hovering over him 24/7 and he is going to be weirded out.

I have such a headache. Hives & headaches. Good times.

 

[sadie's mom]

jenny82, sorry I didn't ask about switching the food as I wasn't feeding the pea venison. It is definitely worthwhile to ask your vet to be sure.

 

[littleraven7726]

thanks for that info. i will have to chat with my DH today after work and see what he thinks. my cats have been doing great on NB Ultra so i am unsure what to do.

at least i do have evo (i bought for treats) and a sample of royal canin 35/30 at home that i can use if i need an emergency switch of kibble before getting to a store.

 

[jenny82]

Originally Posted by Sadie's Mom

jenny82, sorry I didn't ask about switching the food as I wasn't feeding the pea venison. It is definitely worthwhile to ask your vet to be sure.

Okay, thanks. I appreciate your info and help.